[bluebubbles]

So, one of my friends moved and gave me his betta fish ... but I think he just got them on a whim - they were cramped in a tiny little tank. I didn't do much research when I got them, but I bought them bigger glass bowls... somewhere around 1.5-2 gallons??? I'm not really sure. Anyway, today I was watching them swim around and wondered if they were happy haha, so I started doing some online research about betta fish. I definitely need to get a new tank, I just don't know what to get. I looked at Walmart and Petsmart and Petco and on Amazon for 5 gallon tanks, but most of them are kind of pricy, and the ones that went for $25-40 had filter problems or leaked or weren't available in the actual store and some of the reviews said the tanks were broken on arrival *SIGH* I am in college and don't have enough money to spend on an expensive tank, especially because I need two tanks because I have two Bettas (Claude and Armando). Should I get them something smaller??? How small is too small? I mean, 2.5 is supposed to be okay... but should I get something bigger? Does anyone know a good store to order/buy a tank from, or should I just get a 2.5 gallon from Walmart? I feel so bad... they are probably actually miserable in their tanks right now.

 

[jessiepbg]

Kritter Keepers are awesome for tanks. I usually buy the 3 gallons for $11 apiece because I'm a bit lazy about water changes, but I think they make a 2 gallon that's cheaper. Walmart and Petco for sure carry those and I think Petsmart does too. One of the most important pieces of equiptment is the heater; they like to be kept around 76 degrees F. Some like it warmer and I think there's some that like it cooler. You can get a cheap preset heater from Walmart for like $13. I usually like to go for adjustable ones myself, but they'll cost you more. Thermometers are good to have too. If you've got a preset heater, then at least you can keep track of whether it's still functioning right and whether a recent temperature swing due to cold water change water or a big room temperature change might cause them stress. They're like $1.50 at Walmart.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[GreenTea]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Thats nice of you to take those bettas in. I hope this information will be helpful for you

Clean warm water is what's most important. In a bowl that size change the water twice a week and add conditioner to remove chlorines and such from the water. Try to keep the water between 76-82. A great cheap place to get tanks is goodwill, craigslist, salvation army, etc. There are some really amazing deals if you keep looking! My advice is to keep them in their current tank and just keep up on water quality, they will be fine. Once you can find a bigger tank for them cheap some place go ahead and upgrade! I'd also like to add that they like hiding spots, so if they currently don't have a place to rest or hide I'd add a mug or something (just needs to be opaque) to their tanks. My best deal on craigslist was two 10 gallons and 15 lbs of new gravel for $15.

It is possible to divide a larger tank for them and then you'd just have one tank, but you should do some research into divided tanks first. They have their pros and cons just like having two individual tanks would

Feel free to ask me questions! Hope this is helpful. I do not recommend buying anything from wal-mart as they treat their employees and bettas absolutely terribly. Buying things cheap is nice now, but supports a bigger idea of disregard for life for the benefit of profit, which just doesn't sit with me.

 

[Pataflafla]

I think Walmart sells a 5 gallon kit for around $30. That comes with a filter, hood, and hood light. After that, you'd need to either get or make a divider (There's a tutorial for an effective and cheap one somewhere on this site), get decorations, and possibly some gravel. And depending on where you live, a heater.

Overall, for everything, I think it'd cost you about $60-70 to get the 5 gallon and have both boys in it (Divided of course).

You could go to a Petsmart and get the medium to large sized kritter keepers for them, but that would mean 2 heaters (Which are harder to find for smaller tanks as well as expensive in some areas). But with that you wouldn't need the divider.

2.5 gallons can be a very good home size though. I don't know how much your Walmart sells them for, as mine does not even sell tanks that size (Spent $15 at Petsmart for just a 2.5 with a glass lid)

 

[jessiepbg]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Thats nice of you to take those bettas in. I hope this information will be helpful for you

Clean warm water is what's most important. In a bowl that size change the water twice a week and add conditioner to remove chlorines and such from the water. Try to keep the water between 76-82. A great cheap place to get tanks is goodwill, craigslist, salvation army, etc. There are some really amazing deals if you keep looking! My advice is to keep them in their current tank and just keep up on water quality, they will be fine. Once you can find a bigger tank for them cheap some place go ahead and upgrade! I'd also like to add that they like hiding spots, so if they currently don't have a place to rest or hide I'd add a mug or something (just needs to be opaque) to their tanks. My best deal on craigslist was two 10 gallons and 15 lbs of new gravel for $15.

It is possible to divide a larger tank for them and then you'd just have one tank, but you should do some research into divided tanks first. They have their pros and cons just like having two individual tanks would

Feel free to ask me questions! Hope this is helpful. I do not recommend buying anything from wal-mart as they treat their employees and bettas absolutely terribly. Buying things cheap is nice now, but supports a bigger idea of disregard for life for the benefit of profit, which just doesn't sit with me.

I absolutely agree that Walmart is an awful corporation, but when something goes wrong in my tank at 2 am(which seems to be a favorite time for disasters), I thank my lucky stars that there's a 24-hour department store up the street. I did luck out in that the fish section in my local store is actually always very clean and the Bettas seem as healthy as those at the Petsmart I like. That being said, I do avoid shopping there except in emergency situations because I don't like being accused of shoplifting every third time I try to buy something.

 

[Thunderloon]

The 10 gallon divider kit is usually about $9.00 and can be cut down carefully with scissors and a hack-saw.

You CAN get just a 5g tank for about $13.00, sponge filter for about $8.00 (+8 for pump) and cut some acrylic sheet (about $10.00 for two lids) then use desk lamps or hanging lamps to light the tanks.

All depends on budget. If you don't mind spending for a pair of 5g glass tanks and doing a little work, you can house two boys luxuriously for less than the price of a Hex-5. Or you could blow $90 and get a pair of Hex-5... XD.

Wish I had income to spare, I'd be mailing em everywhere.

 

[NoahG]

First off: welcome to the forum! And good on you for wanting to do what you can for your fish!

If you want to go with a divided tanks, PetSmart currently has a PetPerks deal on a 10-gallon kit from Tetra which includes a Whisper 10i filter and a hood with incandescent lights. So you'd still need to buy a heater and stuff, but it's $5 less than the 5-gallon that was mentioned from Wal-mart and would offer them twice the space.

If you don't already have a PetPerks card, they're free to sign up for and there's always things you can save money on with one (I know from experience myself that, as a college student, every little bit counts).

Or, as has been said, you could buy a couple of Kritter Keepers and set them up in those.

Also, if you can find any smaller, local pet or aquatic stores they can be worth checking out: sometimes they have a lot of good stuff in them for good prices, as well.

Good luck, I know it can seem like a lot of work figuring out what to get and, furthermore, where to get it.

 

[gidgeystartedit]

I want to warn people buying Kritter Keepers... Before set-up once I dropped it so when I put water in it, it leaked! I was so sad.. I did so much setting up and it had a leak in it. So if you get it be SUPER careful!! Their not the strongest and best tank but its a cheap alternative...