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My new Bettas

8K views 85 replies 7 participants last post by  PuggySs 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello everyone, I am Josh brand new to the Betta community. Was randomly searching my local Classified and found a woman giving away 5 Betta fish and my Sister and I decided to pick them up. We don't know a lot and would love to learn. Currently, they are feeding on Nat Geo Betta Flakes and/or Aqueon Betta Food Pellets, wondering how good these foods are. If there are not good please recommend some better ones! Was also thinking of picking up some freeze dried bloodworms as a variety food. All the bettas are in 1 gal tanks until we can upgrade them, Just wondering if I need to pick up a thermometer and/or a heat lamp. Any advice would help a ton THANKS!!

Mine(Namless)


Mine(Namless)


Mine(Namless)


Sisters(Flounder)


Sisters(Sunset)
 

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#3 ·
Your crew's gonna need a few things to survive in the long term:

Around 2.5 gallons of water each, or higher

Filters

Heaters

The cheapest and easiest way to house that many bettas efficiently would be to go to Walmart, buy two 10 gallon tanks for $14 each, then make/purchase 2 dividers for each tank, making 3 sections per tank. Grab two adjustable 50 watt heaters (two brands I use are the Marina 50 watt and the Hydor Theo 50 watt) and two filters, put heater/filter in each tank.

You can also buy a gravel siphon to make tank cleaning and water changing ridiculously easy. I have 7 bettas in setups exactly like mentioned above and I spend a maximum of 20 minutes a week on tank maintenance. Maintaining big tanks is actually incredibly easy compared to the effort it takes to maintain multiple bowls.

If you need any further help with any of the above, please let me know. I'd be glad to explain anything or help you with setup.

And welcome! Having multiple bettas is a lot of fun. As mentioned, I have 7 and I'm even looking to add about 4 to 6 more to my crew in a few months. Just need more shelf space first...
 
#4 ·
Thanks DZIM for the advice one problem my mom refuses to lets us get tanks like that as she thinks they will leak and ruin her floor, my sister and I are thinking of getting Tetra 26447 Submersible Aquarium Heater 50w, as they are small and would be able to fit in the fish bowl.
 
#5 ·
It's a good start. Maybe you could buy several multi-gallon Kritter Keepers and put heaters/filters in those? It's not as cheap as the divided tanks (because you'll need to get a heater and filter for each keeper) but it will work.

That said, just a word of advice: for as long as they're in those unfiltered containers, you'll need to change 50% of the water in each container daily. Toxins like ammonia build up rapidly in those conditions and it's very important to kep the water stable. When you get filters, the filters will do that work for you, so you'll only need to change 50% once a week at that point.

Some of those fish don't look like they're in great health... they've probably been kept like that way longer than they can reasonably tolerate before succumbing to stress and health deterioration, so if you want them to survive it's really important to start getting them into shape ASAP. Bettas have a way of bouncing back once they're treated right though, so I think the outlook is good for you guys.
 
#6 ·
Well, I just adopted them like that so I am trying to give them the best care possible, I am really trying to warm my mom up to get a bigger tank it will just take time like I said she is very worried they will leak and ruin the floors. Will look into the Kritter Keepers and then talk to her.
 
#9 ·
What I did when I got my new tank is put the tank in my shower with some cardboard under it and filled the tank up with water. I let it sit for quite a few hours checking every now and then to see if it was leaking. Even the smallest leak would have been very noticeable since the cardboard board would have turned darker wherever the leak was. There was no leaks, so I used a siphon to get the water out the tank, I aimed the water at the drain since I really didn't want to deal with sopping wet cardboard, finished carefully rinsing the tank out and it was good to go to set it up. My older 5 gal tank has been set up and running for almost 3 years now and it has never leaked.

Good foods are Northfin Betta Bits, New Life Spectrum, and Omega One.
 
#7 ·
Leaky tanks aren't common unless you buy one that's used and needed to be resealed. Tank leakage is also usually really slow, so you guys would notice it before it got bad enough to ruin the floors. If water holds for 24 hours, then it's not going to leak. Tell her you could just put a towel under it until you see if it holds.

Heh... parents can be such a nuisance to the aquarium hobby.
 
#13 ·
Dividers can be made out of black craft mesh, found at most craft stores. Less than a dollar a piece. You can silicone them in place or check youtube for other suggestions on how to make them stay in place.

Check Petco for the dollar per gallon sale. It's still going on in a lot of stores. You can get 2 10 gallons for $10 each and use plastic wrap to cover the top until you can buy lids. Also grab a bottle of Seachem Prime since you'll be cycling your tanks (you would need it for the bowls anyway). You need at least 2 heaters (rated for 10 gallons each) and 2 thermometers. No way around it.
Ideally each section should be treated as its own tank and have its own little filter. If you can't get a filter for each section you can start with just one filter per tank and work your way up. Sponge filters are a very cheap option that your parents might like. One sponge filter per tank and one air pump rated for 20 gallons. You can use a splitter to run airline tubing to both tanks. Your other option is two separate filters (I prefer hang on back over in tank). Are you allowed to shop online? On Amazon you can get an air pump rated for 20-40 gallons for $12 and sponge filters are only a few bucks. A cheap hang on back filter that I use is the Marina Slim. The S10 is $14 and you would need one for each tank.

If you can only get one tank try to get a 20 gallon long. It would be $20 at the dollar per gallon sale. Divide it into 5 sections (or six and use a small section in the middle for the heater and filter), get a filter and heater rated for at least 20 gallons.
 
#14 ·
If you do get the 20 gallon long, you can save money on filters by buying a powerful air pump (make sure the pump is rated for 20 gallons or higher), a long length of aquarium airline tubing, and a 5-way tube splitter. Then you can use old plastic water bottles or plastic food containers with lids to create internal sponge or media filters that all run off the same pump.

Here's a video on how to build a DIY filter. watch this with your parents so they can help you out too.


 
#17 · (Edited)
Thank you so much, only 3 of the fish are in my room and 2 are in my sisters we are only allowed 1 tank each so should I go will the 20gal long (maybe get some more fish in the future?) also there tanks on in our rooms so really don' want them to be too loud thanks!

Also, we don't have a Petco here but there is a local store closing down will check there sometime this week for a tank!

I have top fin Betta Conditioner

Does this splitter work https://www.amazon.ca/uxcell®-Aquar...&sr=8-3&keywords=5+way+splitter+for+fish+tank
 
#19 · (Edited)
Also. do I only have to build one of those for each tank?
I believe k1 is the smallest media type, with k3 being larger. What kind you'd want depends on how big the bottle you're going to use is.

For a divided tank, you'd want to make one filter per section. So if you're building a 20 gallon long with 5 sections, you need to make 5 filters. Then you can run each of your 5 filters off of a single air pump with an air pump hose splitter.

And yep that splitter you linked will work perfectly.

Also, I'm a huge fan of King of DIY (and Aquarium Co-Op). It's a good idea to subscribe to both of those channels because they have a wealth of great information. I've learned so much from AC-O.
 
#23 ·
You don't need 5 two litre bottles. Regular sized bottled water bottles should work, or something roughly equivalent.

Also, what King of DIY meant is that the filters aren't great for mechanical filtration.

There are two kinds of aquarium filtration: mechanical, and biological.

Mechanical filtration is the act of removing particles and debris from the water.

Biological filtration is the act of cultivating bacteria that will consume the toxic elements of ammonia and nitrite. Mechanical removes physical dirt, biological removes invisible poisons.

Fish only really 'need' biological filtration to live (because living in ammonia and nitrite will kill them), but mechanical filtration is good for their general health also. Since the kind of filter you're building is for biological filtration, you'l have to remove debris yourself, either by skimming it up with a net, or using a gravel siphon.
 
#22 ·
Gravel in the filter or gravel in the tank floor? Regardless, gravel for both.

Sand is very dusty and requires hours upon hours of rinsing to get clean. If you don't get it clean enough it will literally black out your tank water with dust.
 
#25 ·
Congratulations on being able to get the tank!

Whatever else you get don't forget to test the tank for leaks before setting it up. 3 hours is the minimum I'd do, but longer is better.

If you go with the sponge filter and air pump, read reviews on the pumps and check to see just how quite they are. Some are very loud and will drive you crazy when you are trying to sleep. I've used this one in the past, before I got the PFE-1 filter, https://www.chewy.com/tetra-whisper-non-ul-air-pump/dp/133138 It is quiet as far as air pumps go, but I still ended up padding underneath it to make it quieter. If you go with the PFE-1 filter I can tell you that it is incredibly quiet and I barely notice it even when the T.V. is off at night. Oh word of warning, do NOT get the PFE-1 off of Amazon.
 
#26 ·
You can just remove the gunk yourself as part of the tank maintenance. Get a fish net and scoop out the large debris a few times a week.

As for heaters, it really depends... you can try a single 100 watt heater placed in or near the middle of the tank and see if that keeps all of your sections heated the same. If it doesn't, then you'll need to get another heater and place both heaters at the far opposite ends of the tank. I'd say just start with one and monitor how well it works for you. I have multiple divided 10gs with only one heater in each and the heater has no problem heating the whole tank evenly even with the dividers in, but I also have a different filtration system that distributes water across the tank.

As for heaters, two I use are the Marina adjustable and the Hydor Theo.

Marina:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Marina-100W-Submersible-Aquarium-Heater/54997503

Hydor Theo:

Aquarium Heaters: Hydor Theo Heater


Either way, definitely don't buy any heaters that aren't adjustable. Those things are trash.
 
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