Hey all, I just joined up on this site and I am still a little new to things. As my profile says, I am pretty new to owning Betta fish, but I am already "hooked" on the fish (heh...fish hooking humans...if that isn't something!). Anyways, right now my setup is as follows: 2.5 gallon tank with two dividers (to make 3 separate rooms) for my 2 females and my male. Right now I have one female, Jenny, on the far left with a filter on her side. Lief, my male, is in the middle with a live plant and a Styrofoam cup cut in half so he has a little floating grotto (and yes, he has access to the surface for air). On the right side is Rapunzel, my newest addition to the family, with a mini heater buried under her side. The thermometer is on Jenny's side and reads a solid 80 degrees. I was wondering if that was alright to keep them divided like that, or if that was too small of a space for each of them. I made sure that their decorations did not crowd them too much, but Lief often gets caught in the Money-wort plant I got him (it doesnt seem to be doing him any harm...he still has plenty of room to swim around, but its when he is flaring at one of the females that he sometimes gets a little stuck). Anyways, I am hoping to get a halfmoon male soon and will move Lief into a 5 gallon tank (split in half) to share with the halfmoon. Any suggestions or comments?
Oh, also, I was wondering if I moved my male and removed the barriers, would the 2.5 gallon aquarium be too small for 5 females? The ones I have right now are pretty small.
It's too small devided. It's also way too small for five females. It'd be fine for the three you have now but way too small devided. I'm sure more of a veteran will come along...
I figured it would be too small for 5 females, but I thought I'd ask anyways lol. One female seems to be fine with the small space, while the other seems only ok with it. I think Jenny might be kind of crowded with a fake plant, a fake rock, and the filter...I will take the rock out. The main plan at first was to breed her and Lief together, so I needed a hiding spot for her...so I put it in there for her to get used to, but I dont see them breeding anytime soon (as I think Lief may be past his prime...he was a pet store Betta). At first, before I bought Rapunzel, I had one area sectioned off for Jenny, and Lief swam around the rest of the tank enjoying himself and flaring nearly nonstop at Jenny...but now he is stuck between the two females. He now averts most, probably all, of his attention to Rapunzel and flares his gills at her and nearly ignores Jenny. Does this mean he is attracted to Rapunzel, or does he dislike her more? haha...she is red, so she is brighter than Jenny who is blue and black.
Hmm it could just be he's trying to show off. If he was attracted to her and wanted to mate he would have began building a bubble nest I think. If you are planning on breeding still I'd give them a chance to adjust. As long as they're not overly stressed I think they'll be okay. It might work out better depending on the length of your tank. As long as they're comfortable. It sounds like aside from Jenny being a little stressed that your doing pretty well.
I dont really think breeding would actually be a very good idea right now anyways. I wouldnt be able to watch them and dont have adequate space to separate all the fry. I wouldn't want to breed simply for my own amusement and end up killing them all...Im not THAT heartless ;) I did, however, take into consideration to ask the local pet stores if I could surrender most of the mature fry to them and they, of course, said yes...but like I said, I don't have the adequate spacing for them all right now. *sigh* In the future though, maybe when I get my own apartment :)
The suggested minimum for bettas are 2.5 gallons a piece but they can survive in 1 gallon if you do water changes every day. If you currently have three I'd reccomend getting a 5 gallon for your 2 females and leaving your male in the 2.5 or getting a 10 gallon and starting a sorority or you could divide the 10 gallon into 3 but a 2.5 is way too small to be divided 3 ways.
And also so you know I used to have my two boys in their own one gallon tanks. I thought they were okay until I bought a 10 gallon and divided it in three and got another betta. Now they're happier than ever. It really does make a difference.
For males, I suggest at least 2.5 gallons, and for females, at least 1 gallon. Females are quite a bit smaller, so if you go by the one inch of fish per gallon rule, they don't need as much space.
2.5 gallons for three males is much too small. Only one fish can live in 2.5 gallons, IMO. For a sorority, I would say 10 gallons, heavily planted as the minimum.
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
Similar Threads
