# whats better?



## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

Whats better for a betta? A 1g-2g tank or a big vaze? 
THe tank has not filter though....
Id realy like to try betas again. I have had 3 but they all died on me.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I don't keep bettas, but a 2.5 gallon tank with sponge filter is possible to cycle, a 1 gal bowl or vase isn't. So a tank and filter is best if you won't alway be home to change water. Someone else on the forums is dividing a 10 gallon tank to keep 3 bettas, I think this is even better.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

There's nothing magical about the tank shape, it just make hang on tank filters easier. If you have a huge vase, you can treat it like a tank of the same size. If you don't have a filter, you need to do 100% changes, but if the vase is big enough, you could probably hide a little sponge filter behind some bamboo.


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## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

This is the tank and it now has a heater


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## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

10L tank with a small sponge filter and a heater (unless you live in the tropics) is the minimum for a Betta, in my opinion.


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## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

How big is that tank? Your Betta doesn't really need the aeration, but if it helps to keep the tank evenly heated then that's good.


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## Echo (Apr 23, 2006)

Bettas shouldn't be kept in anything under one gallon. A filter is not a needed unless your wanting to cycle it. You'll have to change the water atleast 2 times a week.


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## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

Im not to shur i dont use g. I live in canada... 
Its hectogonal shape so here goes:
Hight: 7"
length (biger face with out the angle panels aded in): 5.5"
Width :5
Angle length: 3"


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## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

Thats ok kus i do that with my 20g tanbk any way lol I have like 50 fry in it....


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## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

I'm sure the tank has its volume in gallons or litres somewhere on the box.

Anything but the slightest surface movement will basically mean your Betta won't bother nesting. So bubblers aren't so great for them if you want your Betta to make you presents.


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## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

Im not trying to breed him. I just thought maby i could have him in my bed room. I would do a water change at least once a week. Im up for 2 a week i have have 2 to keep him happy. 

I no longer have the box that it came in. Its an older tank that my sister had when i was little. Im going to go clean it out again and fill it up with water. Ill try and mesure how much L goes in it.


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

dont get a veiltail (if you can help it, some purdy ones out there) try and get a crowntail, doubletail, or halfmoon.

the crowntails, have a comb in there tail, anywhere from 1/8th inch to 3/4qt inch long, not to hard to tell the differance, and there fins seem to look longer.

the doubletails have a split down the middle of the back fin, and look like a cross between either, veitails (the regular bettas) or halfmoons.

the halfmoons look like......well a halfmoon. when flaring the end tails are rounded, and are more expensive. (15-25 bucks)

you can put a betta in youre tank, nothing in there will attack it (unless theres a mean fish, unlikely though)

dont put any of the 'other' types of bettas in a unheated tank, the other types arent as strong as the famous veil, they could live in an unheated tank but they wont flourish as good as they would in a heated tank.
the veils are the same way, just not as picky


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

USE WATER CONDITIONER thats why i lost my crowntail


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## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

i always use water conditioner 
the tank is way biger than beta boles that you see in the LFS.

could some one post some pictures on how to tell a halfmoon from the others? lol im confused.


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

Here ya go leafy
http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_finnage.htm


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## Mobydock (Sep 6, 2005)

SpoiledFishies said:


> dont get a veiltail (if you can help it, some purdy ones out there) try and get a crowntail, doubletail, or halfmoon.


Is there a reason for this suggestion other than the looks? I know none of my LFS commonly stock anything other than VT's, which makes it difficult/ expensive to get other fin varieties. Doesn't seem sensible for someone who's 0-3 for keeping bettas so far.

If the tank is bigger than the betta, it is big enough to keep it in. The concern with smaller tanks is stability and water quality. I think I've seen one of those and it looked about 1/2G (2L). You will need to change 100% of the water twice a week and find a place to keep it at a very steady temperature, in the range of 76-82*F(23-26*C).


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## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

Some people are "bored" of VTs and if you breed them they don't sell as well (some would say it's bot worth breeding VTs).

But as I just keep them as pets, I have had mostly VTs, I like them.


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## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

Mobydock said:


> If the tank is bigger than the betta, it is big enough to keep it in.


Bettas like to swim like any other fish, if the only "swimming" they can do is to turn around in a circle, they won't be very happy.


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

Mobydock said:


> If the tank is bigger than the betta, it is big enough to keep it in.


:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :shock: 

no they cant just live in anything just bigger than them, THERE FISH TOO, and what do fish like to do?......swim, just like humans like to walk.
i cant sit to long without getting squirmy, and all tense. i imagane its no differant than with bettas, the way i see it there shouldent be a tank/bowl for sale no smaller than 1G (3.78liters)
i dont like going to stores where they keep the bettas in those small cups, i like my LFS where they put the bettas in all of the 20G tanks they have.
they buy no more bettas, than tanks that are compatible with them, unlike stupid wal-mart, they have about 50 bettas. not lying

about getting the halfm, crownt, or doublet rather than veil, i like the veils (love my VT) but you always see veils, everywhere you go theres a veil somewhere.
where with any of the other types of bettas can be claimed as ''your own''.
thats why i want a banjo catfish, not to many poeple (ack-shoe-lee no one) i know has a banjocatfish.
you could get two bettas, one crownt in the 20G tank, and one veil in the !G tank.

here are the prices your store could get them at: the crownt, 5-7 bucks, the halfmoon, 15-25 bucks, the doubletail i belive cost about the same as the crowns, and the veils are always 4.00 bucks. 
but my LFS sells em' for 3.50!!!!


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## Mobydock (Sep 6, 2005)

SpoiledFishies said:


> the way i see it there shouldent be a tank/bowl for sale no smaller than 1G (3.78liters)
> i dont like going to stores where they keep the bettas in those small cups, i like my LFS where they put the bettas in all of the 20G tanks they have.
> they buy no more bettas, than tanks that are compatible with them, unlike stupid wal-mart, they have about 50 bettas. not lying


I agree with you, to some extent. For someone keeping a single betta as a pet, it is difficult/ impractical to provide proper care in anything less than a small heated and filtered tank. The bigger, the better. Keeping a betta in a tank barely bigger than the fish itself is a little extreme, but it will survive. I'd like to emphasize that *the concern with smaller tanks is stability and water quality*. The reason why walmart bettas are unhealthy is because of poor care. They use chemicals to control waste instead of changing the water as frequently as needed in those little cups. The cups are not heated, so the water temperature is the same as the store temperature, which I imagine is in the lower 70's. Breeders use those deli cups in their barrack systems and keep beautiful, healthy bettas. This of course requires a whole room dedicated to keeping bettas.

It wasn't a smart statement for me to make in a "beginner" thread; it wasn't something I thoroughly thought out, but I stand by it.


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## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

The tank is 4L. Its way biger than the bowls that you see in the LFS being sold. When i trade in my mollies ill try and get a betta. Ill QT him in the 1g and water a few weeks (i wont to make shur it does not have a disease) If her is all good then i will hopewfully put him in the 20g tank. THe only thinf is the salt. Is a little salt ok for him?

I realy like the delta tail betta but im not pickey


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## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

Bettas like salt, but only 1 teaspoon per 10 litres.


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## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

ok thanks


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

no prob moby.


i have a delta tail/doubletail betta i belive (has to be, back fin split right down the middle, part veil though) and i love him.
how much is 10liters in G's? i added some salt today to my DT because i moved him to the 2G hex tank today, keep him calmed down.


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

oh yeah, today i was into wal-mart and counted all of there bettas, ready for this??? 26 male bettas, and 23 female bettas, isnt that ridiculis??? i am gonna be regertrating a complaint, or talking to the fish person there, funny i never ever c her there...


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## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

I think it always depends on how often they get shipments. Like if they get freequent shipments less fish will be keepes but if there are not a lot then more fish kepped over longer periods of time.


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

there is alaways over 20 bettas at wal-mart (wal-mart=evil)


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## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

O well... Is it beter geting a female or male?


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

male for finnage, females have shorter fins, but can go in with alot more fish than the male.

i would go with a male though, something pretty like my new crowntail!!!! take a peak at him


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

leafy here are of the male and female bettas


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## Guest (Jun 2, 2006)

I'm not sure if this question has been answered but I don't feel like reading thru all the post. With the 3 bettas that died on you leafgirl, were they male or female bettas? Also did you have all 3 in the same tank?


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

i think leafy knows that male bettas kill each other


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## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

lol yes i do. Im not that much of a newb lol

Well i when out and got a betta and the next day he was dead. So i when back and got them to replace him. That one lasted 3 days. So i when back and a guy said that that shipment was not doing good and they where having trouble with them. So he said come back in a coupls of weeks to get another one (new shipment) Thats what i did. I had the last one for a month then i brock his back i think.  i did not mean to but after one of his waterchanges he would not swim or eat....

I have no idea is they where female or males... (cant realy remember what the looked like)


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## leafgirl115 (Mar 26, 2006)

Also is having a salfin molly a problem?


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## Guest (Jun 2, 2006)

If it is with a betta then yes because mollys are mainly brackish fish and they aren't compatible with each other either.


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## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

Bettas have shorter lifespans than most fish, not just because people are ignorant and keep them in little jars and what not, and not just because their heath takes a major pumelling from pet store conditions, but because they are already near the end of their lifespan when you get them, because that's how long it takes for their fins to be fully grown.

If you can get juveniles (but not babies, obviously) from a breeder, he'll live a long longer.


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## Jojo (Apr 11, 2006)

When I was younger a got an adult VT betta from my aunt, he lived in a 2g with a plant, he lived 8 years until my sisters stupid cat killed him:rip: .


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## Guest (Jun 3, 2006)

8 YEARS!!!!! That sure is a long time, I hope my bettas live that long.


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

Durbkat said:


> If it is with a betta then yes because mollys are mainly brackish fish and they aren't compatible with each other either.


you must be thinking of another fish, mollies are the anything fish, they can live in salt, brackish, fresh (with a little bit of salt) and mollies can go with eachother, just not all males as they will get annoyed of eachother.
mollies are a very layed back fish, dont care much about the other fish.

leafy maybe you were unlucky with youre bettas, everynow and then the stores get a bad shipment of bettas (and most likely other fish too) where all of the bettas (or most) die.
could of just happened that you got your bettas on a bad ''trip''. 
let us know when you are gonna get your betta.


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