First off I want to start off by giving every one on here a big THANK YOU. A few mothes ago my family got me a male betta for my birthday. It was my first fish so my parents said we would buy this one from WalMart. The guy at the store sold me a 1 gallon "tank"(vase) with marbles and a small decrotive turtle. Along with some betta flakes. He said to replace the water once a week and wash the tank with soap and water. (I recently found out on this site that this is very BAD for fish)
Three days ago while washing the tank it broke. I found this site while searching for a new tank. The point is that I have now a 2 1/2 g tank with lighting, a small cave, and fake plants. I've read the FAQ and standard care posts and now have a more accurate idea of how to properly care for my betta. I am looking to eventually get a 10 g tank with maybe 5 fish(including betta). My question is does anyone have any recommendations for what these fish should be, what kind of tank I should get, and roughly how much $ is it going to cost?
Welcome to the world of Bettas! Be warned, they are addictive. I started off with two females, I know have four females (getting a new one tomorrow), three boys (maybe getting a new one) my mom has one, and my sister has one!
Well, first off, you should make sure your tank is a good temperature! :D Bettas are tropical fish who like warm water. I believe the range is 76 -84 degrees (don't take my word on it though). I keep mine at about 78 - 80 degrees.
Depending on what you want included in your tank, it is usually cheaper to go with the kits that include the tank, hood, lighting, filter, heater etc. I just got a big ten gallon kit that included all of the above for $80.00. If you want to pick and choose the brands of all of your things, you may want to start for scratch. I have seen plain ten gallon tanks for as cheap as $20.00. I find Hagan a good company to use.
There is a compatibility section on this website, you may want to have a look at that. depending on the betta I know you can have shrimps, snails, african dwarf frogs, cories, and I believe guppies (if they are not too brightly colored), and not all at once obviously. Because bettas are territorial, you need to be careful stocking your tanks. You could also divide the tank, and house multiple bettas in one tank. I have a 5.5 gallon tank that I divided in half to hold two bettas. There is a sticky somewhere on the website on how to make your own dividers for fish tanks.
Here's a big tip I learned on here: NEVER listen to the pet store workers. They don't much! LOL. The worker at my LPS (local pet store) said I could house two female bettas in a one gallon bowl! YIKES.
Oh. People also use LFS and LPS a lot. LFS stands for local fish store.. LPS stands for local pet store. Sorry if you find that silly of me to write, but when I joined, I had no idea what it meant! LOL.
Last thing, everyone here LOVES pictures of fish. -hint hint hinty hint- ;D
Thanks for your response. And for telling me the acronyms I sort of got what they meant in context but did not know what they literally stood for. $80 isn't that much, I'll save up for a little bit. I was fearing that it would be like $200 dollars or something; everything just sounds so fancy! :)
Last edited by Tigerfish1704; 04-25-2011 at 06:24 PM.
It can get expensive... but once it's all set-up the maintenance is cheaper than a cat or a hamster (if you wanted a comparison). Unless they get sick.. then its possible that it can get pricey again, but as long as you care for them correctly the chances of them getting sick is slim. I lucked out on my 10gal and my 7gal. My 10gal was given to me and I paid $5 for my 7gal.. both with filters included (just no cartridges). Picking and choosing what I wanted cost me $45 to start up my 10gal so if you're looking for a little cheaper route, try craigslist, newspaper, Goodwill (if you have one), and rummage sales can possibly find tanks for real cheap maybe even with stuff included!! Depending on how many fish you plan to have, I'd keep at least 1 1.5-2gal bowl around just in case one gets sick and you need to quarantine them. Btw~ Welcome to the Forums and like kathstew said.. POST PICS! :D haha!!
watch for sales too, petco had a sale that just ended for the aqueon deluxe kits which have filter/heater/etc, I got a 10 gallon for about $40 after tax, and I have a $5 mail in rebate to send in also
It's cute! Should try and find a small heater for it though. Actually what's the current temperature in it? My first Betta did okay in 74F.. (below the recommended temp. but he was okay, but loooves his 82F home more). Since you're looking to upgrade would save you the money in buying a temporary 25Watt heater for that tank if the water temp is "okay". Unless you planned on using that tank for another Betta. :P Do you condition the water too? Btw that's a cute froggy/cave deco.. I wish I could find cute things like that around here!
CyerRyn - I kinda freaked out when I found out they needed 83 degree water. I tested the water and it was 73 degrees. After more freaking out I wasn't sure what to do. He seems fine. Should I just save for the bigger tank or get a temporary heater? Also is there any specific heaters that did well for your tank?
Pekemom - Besides a bigger cave nothing else yet. I am saving for when I get a ten gallon. Is there anything you suggest?
Last edited by Tigerfish1704; 04-26-2011 at 11:33 AM.
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
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