Crown tail Betta Tank

[JennH]

Hi,
I'm new around here so please forgive me if this has already been asked, but I and my brother both have crown tails and we have noticed that his always makes his tank really murky and dirty right after the tank is cleaned. We use proper water filtration liquids to make the water safe and it's also supposed to make the water stay clean. Why does this breed of fish create a dirty home? Is it just the breed or are we doing something wrong? I have both a Halfmoon Betta and a Crowntail and my Halfmoon always stays clean whereas the Crowntail doesn't. Very weird.

Thank you to anyone who can help us out with this!

JennH

[Sakura8]

Hi JennH and welcome to the forum. That's an interesting question. I'm not sure the crowntail is to blame (but maybe he's just a messy bachelor? ^_^) It sounds like it's more a matter of you and your brother having different ways of changing the water. If you pour the replacement water in very fast, it can stir up the waste from the gravel (this stuff is called mulm) and make the water murky. Do you and your brother use a gravel vacuum to suck the mulm out of the gravel once a week?

Also, it seems that halfmoons are often prone to constipation so your halfmoon may not be passing as much waste as your crowntail, therefore there may be more waste in your crowntail's tank than your halfmoon's tank.

How big are the tanks and how often do you change the water?

[JennH]

Thank-you for the welcome :) And thank-you for replying to my post so quickly. The tank my brother has is about 2.5 liters and my guys are in Aqua Boxes - not sure if you've seen them? I've not been able to find them at many places so I'm not sure how popular they are really. But they are about 1 litre or just under. Not sure exactly. We do not use any kind of vacuum when cleaning our tanks - I just rinse out the rocks I have for my guys and he doesn't have anything on the bottom of his... he tried using rocks once but I guess he didn't like them or something, not sure what the deal is with that.

I'm still learning about Bettas - though I have owned them since 2005 or so. But I've always had the same bread - this is my first time having a Halfmoon and a Crowntail .... so yeah. I'm really learning now. haha. Whatever information that can be given to me would be awesome!!

Thanks for your help Sakura8!

[Sakura8]

Sure, no problem. I'm always glad to help. So your brother's bettas aren't in Aqua Boxes? Otherwise I'd say it was the sand. By the way, I know the website says to change the water only once a month but I guarantee your bettas will get very sick and die from ammonia poisoning if you don't change the water at least once a day.

And uhm, actually *a bit embarassed* the Aqua Boxes are currently the target of a hate thread right now so they're not popular at all. But if you change the water very frequently, then your bettas will probably be okay. My main concern is the buildup of ammonia. Uhm, it's nothing personal, really. ^_^ No one knew there was a responsible betta owner who did keep their betta in one. We're all mad about the irresponsible owners.

What are your bettas' names and what colors are they? Can you post pics? We always love to see pics of bettas.

[JennH]

No, his Betta is in like a square kind of box... lol - hard to explain. I can take pics of it tomorrow - I'm at his place right now - we don't live in the same city so I can't take pics of mine - but when I get home I can... I used to have pictures of them, but I don't anymore. My Betta's names are Samuel and Tyler and my brother's (Andrew) fish is named Fish. He has no sand or rocks in the bottom of Fish's tank. I have rocks...

Oh... I didn't know Aqua boxes are frowned upon =S I got them only because they have a lid on it - I have a kitten who likes to try and get my boys out of their homes... I don't want that happening. What do you recommend? Andrew is getting a glass aquarium for Fish soon - I would like to - but I don't have room for two aquariums in my room.... not sure what to do. Please don't think of me as a bad Betta Owner.... I just got the Aqua Boxes this year - I had other tanks for previous fish... I'm sorry... I hope no one thinks badly of me...

My fish have been fine with me only cleaning once a month - they are healthy and vibrant. Andrew changes the water at least once a week with Fish.

[Sakura8]

No, no, of course I don't think you're a bad fish owner. Any owner who posts here asking questions is a good owner. And I totally understand about the lid, I have 8 cats. Plus, bettas are jumpers so a lid is good to keep them where you want them to be.

You can get a 5 gallon Aqueon Minibow tank and divide it. Or you can divide a 10g. Here's the Aqueon tank:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...26amp%3B+Bowls

I'm glad your boys have been fine so far, that's great, but I would still worry about the ammonia buildup. Samuel and Tyler. They sound cute.

[JennH]

That tank is pretty neat! I showed Andrew and he seems to like it too - maybe I'll see if I can go pick up a few!

Tyler and Samuel are my babies, lol, I love them to pieces. Samuel is cute too because he pays attention to me when I work at my desk =) And if you talk to him, he'll look at you too and won't swim away or anything until you are done talking - he's amazing company!

[Sakura8]

Bettas have so much personality, don't they? I totally understand, I love my bettas to bits too.

[JennH]

Yeah they do - I've had many different ones with different personalities - it's been great. Any other tips you can give me for my boys in general?

[Sakura8]

No real tips unless you have specific questions.