# Betta questions?



## Beerleader (May 31, 2005)

My betta (Chip) is still doing great, and full of personality. He is in a 5 gallon hexagon tank. And I know they don't require filters but is it bad to have a filter? Its an internal filter and I believe it can fit 2 to 10 gallons. But that made me wonder if it bothers him in anyway since its just a 5 gal tank, such as creating an annoying current etc. I usually unplug the filter at night just so its more calming and relaxing for him. I just notice using the filter keeps the water quality better for longer and less cloudy, and keeps me from having to change the water so often. I do a partial change every 5 to 7 days. And was doing it every 3 days or so w/o the filter. I just didn't know if filters were bad for bettas. I'm a discus keeper and this is the only betta I've ever had. 

Also can I ever put anything in this tank with him? He loves his mirror but I wondered if I gave him company could that work out or will he kill all other fish? Thanks for any tips.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

I would leave him by himself. As for the filter, he should be okay with it.


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## Beerleader (May 31, 2005)

Ok I will leave him alone and just give him his mirror randomly for entertainment. I surely wouldn't want to upset him since he's so cool and entertaining hehe. And thanks for the answer on the filter.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Glad we could help.


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## mlefev (Apr 19, 2005)

Maybe a snail. 

They're happy fish when they're completely alone, though. They don't have to have friends like other fish. I always think of Bettas this way...what would they do in a tank they were 10 inches long? - Murder anything they could. So thank goodness they're only a couple of inches...lol. They don't have the friendliest dispositions and will beat on any tankmate they don't like (which is anything pretty, and most fish that are introduced to THEIR home). You might get away with a clown pleco or something unobtrusive, but I would really go with Simpte's suggestion and not get any buddies for him.


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## Lara (Sep 4, 2005)

Filter is fine, actually preferable  I might be about to say something controversial but I would remove the mirror, I believe it is stressful for a Betta to have cause to be constantly flaring, they are very happy with only their own company. Put lots of plants in if you can, they love a densely planted tank with lots of little spaces to hide


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## Imbrium (Feb 7, 2005)

She doesn't have the mirror up to him constantly.


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## kelicom (Sep 27, 2005)

I have found bettas to be very social. It's just that their idea of social is sometimes to chase and fight. But they definitely do not like to be alone--that's why they bond so much with people. I guess that's why so many people fall in love with these fish, because they will look at you almost like a dog will and some love to be fed and talked to...they have so much personality. They do that--not ignore you--because they need that contact. 

They are not "alone" in their native habitat, but for over a hundred years, they were bred to fight. They only bred the best fighters, and from that line American breeders started breeding them for finnage and color. So now we have beautiful fins and colors in fish witha lot of attitude.

Of my own seven adult bettas, every one has a completely different personality. One male is totally submissive around other males. One male will fight to the death. The females are just as varied. But despite these aggressive traits, and the fact that they are territorial, they actually do not like being alone. A couple of times when I have gotten upset at ones aggressivenss and separated him or her, they got even more upset than when they were being harrassed. 

My solution was to keep them together based on personalities (I have three tanks where a male and female are together full time, whether breeding or not...one pair is always breeding ;-) And I have one male who I would not again put a female with because he has already killed one male and is too rough with the females. Then I have another male, who is gentle--he is also the first one to get a mate, and the female approached him because he didn't have a clue. He did not even build the bubble nest--I was playing musical chairs aquarium style and the gentle male ended up in a section where another male had already built a bubble nest. He looked at it, then the female, and it was as if a lightbulb went on over his head. Then the female approached him and he mated and mated...eggs, what eggs? Oh, am I suppposed to do something with them? The female showed him how to do everything! But he does not harrass her when she is "not in the mood" unlike some others I have together. 

That was supposed to be a short post, but to sum it all up, in my experience, bettas do not like to be alone. And not only are they each different in personality, but so are other fish, and how they react to them. I put one too aggressive male in a tank with a small red fin shark and the betta harrassed the shark once--the shark got furious and chased him all over the tank. I finally had to take the betta out, he was getting so bullied. But when I put a small female in with the shark, it did not bother her at all. 

Fish are funny, unique, and well, you get the idea by now.


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## Chazwick (Aug 24, 2005)

My betta is with a school of neons, it's also a male - Firefly. I've found mine to be very social  A snail or two will be great company for him! Eh... maybe even a dwarf frog too... they like the same water conditions and are great with Bettas.


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## Beerleader (May 31, 2005)

Lara said:


> Filter is fine, actually preferable  I might be about to say something controversial but I would remove the mirror, I believe it is stressful for a Betta to have cause to be constantly flaring, they are very happy with only their own company. Put lots of plants in if you can, they love a densely planted tank with lots of little spaces to hide


Yeah they are right I only give him the mirror every once in a while, not a lot. And I do have him a few little plants and a little rock type cave thingy lol, he actually likes going down into it also, so I left it there for him.


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## Beerleader (May 31, 2005)

Chazwick said:


> My betta is with a school of neons, it's also a male - Firefly. I've found mine to be very social  A snail or two will be great company for him! Eh... maybe even a dwarf frog too... they like the same water conditions and are great with Bettas.


I love to look at those frogs cause they are so cute but Frogs are the one thing in life that freak me out. I can do snakes, spiders, and other things that bother most ppl, but frogs OMG give me the heebies something crazy. So I can't do one of those because if it got out or anything happened that I had to touch it, well I couldn't and it would just die from my fear of them hehe.


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## Beerleader (May 31, 2005)

Another question? Since a pleco will get to large for my 5 gallon if I get a snail will it control my algae. I notice every once in a while I get brown algae building up in the hexagon corners of the tank and I have to keep scrubbing it out. Will a snail help and if so what kind?


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## mlefev (Apr 19, 2005)

Well clown plecos get to 3-4 inches tops, but if you don't want to go that route (which I can completely understand), this site has a table of algae eaters...although I think they're wrong about apple snails. They seem to eat anything plantlike but algae. http://www.fishpondinfo.com/algae.htm#table


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