# Im new to bettas



## mudskipper26 (Nov 30, 2006)

i was wonering if you have to cycle the tank like everyother fish or is it ok since they can "breathe air"


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

Yes, you should.


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## HybridS130 (Aug 27, 2006)

Cycling has nothing to do with them breathing. It just ensures that there are enough bacteria in the tank to manage the bioload. If you're keeping the betta in a small tank then you have a few choices. You could either just buy water from the store in gallon jugs. You could also just keep a bucket or small rubbermaid container in a closet or somewhere safe (that won't have aerosol sprayed near it) and just let some tap water sit and chill, lol. 

Personally I just buy distilled water in bulk for my 2.5G because I only use a gallon or so a week but, I used distilled because my tank is heavily planted.


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## mudskipper26 (Nov 30, 2006)

i have it in a 10 that will have 2 or 3 adf's


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## mudskipper26 (Nov 30, 2006)

jw...is it ok to keep a male and female together in a 10


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

No, its not.


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## mudskipper26 (Nov 30, 2006)

ok, jw thank you


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## mudskipper26 (Nov 30, 2006)

im gonna have to get some bio-spira then


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## HybridS130 (Aug 27, 2006)

Well, speaking from experience. I had a male and female together in a heavily planted 10G with some rocks and driftwood, a few floating plants. They never fought, rarely even saw eachother but when they did it was so easy for the female to get away. The male was lazy and neither of them ever showed any signs of stress or battle scars. Just saying, it's possible but not reccomended.


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## aaa (Jan 19, 2005)

it really depend on the male. if the male just a lazy one, he won't do anything much. but if he is aggressive, you will see a dead fish next day.


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## (RC) (Jan 18, 2005)

I've known people to keep males and females together with no problems for a long time.. then for no reason one or the other just kills the other one. 


RC


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## Alisha (Aug 5, 2005)

Yeah I had a male and a female together in my planted 10 gallon for a short period of time. The female just hid 24-7 and looked terrified -so that set-up didn't last too long. haha.


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## mudskipper26 (Nov 30, 2006)

is buying bio-spira really necessary


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## Christine (Nov 4, 2005)

Well that depends, do you want to wait 8 weeks or so for your tank to cycle or don't you?

As a child we had a male & female betta that lived together in a community tank for over a year. Never a problem. Came home one day and they had been fighting. One was dead and the other died shortly after. Just because things appear fine for the moment, doesn't mean it will stay that way.


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## mudskipper26 (Nov 30, 2006)

my male betta is really unagressive and it is the female that bosses the male around(she is the agressive one) but they seem fine together
i added bio-spira


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## gemjunkie (Jan 20, 2005)

Do NOT use distilled water.. Who started that??? Distilled water is stripped of EVERYTHING and should be used for you iron NOT a fish tank. Dechlorinated tap water is fine for bettas (yes I raised bettas for over 10yrs, you don't need distilled water).


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## Christine (Nov 4, 2005)

Well thats your personal choice to keep them together. Just know that no matter how fine things "seem" you are playing with fire and in time you may come home to find them both dead. Its up to you to decide if that risk is worth it or not. You have been warned by several people who are experienced with bettas. I don't know *ANY* experienced betta breeder that keeps male/females together. You asked if it was ok and 4 people told you no. Two of those told you of bettas living together fine for a while then suddenly killing. And 1 person told you they did it successfully once. It doesn't seem like good odds to me. I guess thats why all of mine have private digs.

You have 6 fish & 2 frogs in a 10gallon tank that you didn't cycle and didn't want to add bio-spira to. Your tank was borderline overstocked before it even got started. Of your fish selection, both your danios and your cory would be much happier with larger groups (altho this tank is too small for that). In addition to that, danios are extremely active and bettas are generally the exact opposite and unfortunately they both share the same area of the tank. Slow moving fish generally don't like to be kept with fast moving fish. Danios, may also be fin nippers and since they are so fast your betta is a sitting duck because unless he is a plakat, he will swim much slower than they can. In general, it appears to me that your tank has been put together with some very rash decisions and little thought to the wellbeing/preferences of your fish (echoed by asking for advice about M&F bettas then ignoring that advice). I hope that you choose to read and study more about the fish you choose to keep in the future. Preferrably before purchasing them.


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

Be careful about the female...she might actually be a he. Many times I've bought what I was told was a female and they turned out to be short finned males. Pet stores aren't the best at sexing betta's. If she's agressive she may be a short finned male.


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## mudskipper26 (Nov 30, 2006)

Christine said:


> Well thats your personal choice to keep them together. Just know that no matter how fine things "seem" you are playing with fire and in time you may come home to find them both dead. Its up to you to decide if that risk is worth it or not. You have been warned by several people who are experienced with bettas. I don't know *ANY* experienced betta breeder that keeps male/females together. You asked if it was ok and 4 people told you no. Two of those told you of bettas living together fine for a while then suddenly killing. And 1 person told you they did it successfully once. It doesn't seem like good odds to me. I guess thats why all of mine have private digs.
> 
> You have 6 fish & 2 frogs in a 10gallon tank that you didn't cycle and didn't want to add bio-spira to. Your tank was borderline overstocked before it even got started. Of your fish selection, both your danios and your cory would be much happier with larger groups (altho this tank is too small for that). In addition to that, danios are extremely active and bettas are generally the exact opposite and unfortunately they both share the same area of the tank. Slow moving fish generally don't like to be kept with fast moving fish. Danios, may also be fin nippers and since they are so fast your betta is a sitting duck because unless he is a plakat, he will swim much slower than they can. In general, it appears to me that your tank has been put together with some very rash decisions and little thought to the wellbeing/preferences of your fish (echoed by asking for advice about M&F bettas then ignoring that advice). I hope that you choose to read and study more about the fish you choose to keep in the future. Preferrably before purchasing them.


i added bio-spira to it btw and im gonna remove the female. sry i didn't kno much about bettas christine, and the petco lady said it would be fine if there were hiding spots( i had both the Male and female bettas before i even psted this new thread, the petco lady said it was fine keeping the bettas together as long as there were hiding spots, i will never listen to them again i guess) i dont have the frogs yet cause that would be to much to add.


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## (RC) (Jan 18, 2005)

Sounds like your doing the right thing. You'll find you get much better advice here then from the pets stores normally. We're not trying to sell you anything.


RC


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## Christine (Nov 4, 2005)

Good, I'm glad to hear that. 

Also, to touch on what Anasfire said... I know lots of people that have bought shortfinned males out of the female tank at petshops as well. However, there definitely are females that are aggressive also. I would not necessarily use aggressive behavior to sex a betta tho it can be an inidicator.

Unfortunately petshops often give out incorrect information. Sometimes it may be on purpose just to sell something (then sell more when that dies) other times its because lack of knowledge amongst employees (probably boils down to the first reason in the long run). I know the girls at our petsmart "try" to give good advice. But they don't have the training/experience that would enable them to give the best advice.


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## mudskipper26 (Nov 30, 2006)

well i moved the male out instead into a 3 gallon aquarium with no heater or filter(is this ok)
many of the fish nipped his fins last night for some reason, they are very short and im wondering will this heal over eventually?


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