Betta and Tetra

[jamina1]

Hey everyone!
I had a betta about 4 years ago when I was in high school and he lived for a good 2 years before he passed on. He was a very spunky fish and now that I'm out of school and settling down I'd love to get another one - especially to rescue one of the sad ones in the pet stores that are cooped up in the tiny containers.

My last betta, Kahless, lived in a glass vase with a plant in the top (I used a slurpee lid to hold it in the vase top and punched a straw through it to feed him with) I'm thinking of getting a small tank this time, even though he seemed really happy in his vase (he would sleep in the roots, was so cute).

I tried to give him tank-mates but he murdered all four tetras I put in there with him, even though the pet store said it would be fine.
He got along very well with a snail that lived with him for most of his life. Helped keep the tank clean too! ^_^


Anyway, just looking for some tank/toy suggestions - mainly will be shopping at walmart probably.

[Lupin]

Welcome to Fishforum.com, Jamina.

I wouldn't recommend the use of vase with plants stuck to it as a suitable home for bettas. However, I appreciate your move to give it a tank which would a better home to it. What size is it? Your tank could be too small to accommodate any more fish. Overcrowding can often result to disastrous results such as aggression beefed up by overcrowding.

[beetlebz]

10 gal tank from petco for 12 bucks, and a tetra 10 filter for it for another 12 or so bucks, cant really go wrong ;) its a bit over kill for one betta but im sure he would appriciate the space!

its usually a bit more expensive to get the smaller 1, 2.5 or 5 gallon betta tanks, some times silly expensive. I have 4 females in a 10gal and theyre my favorite tank so far!

[russp]

I've had a 10 gallon going for about six months now with a betta, three white clouds and two melinas cories. The betta occaisionally chases a few of the others but everyone seemed to do well except one cory never gained any size and just recently died. I'm looking for another of the same type to replace him. I've considered a divider to keep the betta in about 2.5 gallon of tank and the others in the remaining 7.5 but I'm worried about water flow.

[willow]

Originally Posted by russp

I've had a 10 gallon going for about six months now with a betta, three white clouds and two melinas cories. The betta occaisionally chases a few of the others but everyone seemed to do well except one cory never gained any size and just recently died. I'm looking for another of the same type to replace him. I've considered a divider to keep the betta in about 2.5 gallon of tank and the others in the remaining 7.5 but I'm worried about water flow.

hi
a divider,the only thing i can think of would be netting,
but i don't know how you would be able to attach it to the
tank other than buying some suction cups.
i don't think that it is enough space for them to
swim around in to be fair on the fish.JMHO(just my honest opinion)

[russp]

I've seen premade dividers from Penn Plax that mount with some type of rail. I not convinced this is needed, the fish seem to be doing well except for the cory who never grew. I already found another to replace and also found that they are Panda cories, not Melinas.

[sillypony]

Jamina- My betta likes caves (ie places to hide) and i've read they particularly enjoy plants- mine loved to play in the live ones I got from my local LFS.

And the ten gallon is a great size- mine does laps, and explores and is great to watch playing in there.

As far as tank mates, most tetras are a BIG no- if he doesn't kill them, they'll tear his fins apart. No nippy fish allowed.

Corys make good tankmates if the Betta accepts them, just keep them in shoals of 3 or more to get the most enjoyment out of them (of the same type!).

In a ten gallon, that would probably be plenty to please the eye (IMO) :)

Also- If you don't have a heater, I'd recommend picking one up- room temp is survivable, but they'll be happier and show better color at tropical temps