# Best Betta Fish Tank for Kids



## joshjpeg (Nov 5, 2013)

Hi, I'd like to get a Betta fish tank for my 6 year old. Any suggestions on the type? Brand?


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

Any betta will do and they come in a wide variety of colors. Just don't get 2 males and put them in the same tank otherwise they'll fight to the death. How to tell which is male and female is that males have long flowing tail fins while females don't. You can get a nice 3 gallon set-up for less than $50. A simple desktop tank set-up is suffice for a single betta. 

I got this one for my son's room 2 years ago:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/ind...Aquariums+&amp;+Bowls&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No

It comes with everything you see including LED lights. Hope this helps.


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## Guest (Nov 13, 2013)

Ice: male plakats don't have the long flowing fins. All betta are in tiny cups at the pet stores and they should be labelled whether they are male or female. I would get a 5 gallon tank set up, it costs about $50. Yes males will fight to the death, so will females. Betta are solitary fish, they love being alone. For a betta, the veil tail or crown tail are more popular and they cost less. Halfmoons, double tails, the more fancy ones will cost a bit more. Betta are hardy fish and can withstand just about anything.


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## joshjpeg (Nov 5, 2013)

Thank you. I came across these betta fish tanks from www.TheRefinedFin.com. Thoughts? Looks like they have extra room for bettas on the side so its not that small. I'm really looking for something that's more of a starter and looks cute in the room but of course good for the fish.


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

Angelclown - no offense but I was simply explaining the difference between males and females; not explaining the different types of bettas (crown tails or the fancy vareities). I used to have a betta for my son when he was 5. IMO a 3 gallon set-up is fine for a single solitary betta.


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

I tend to stay away from bowl type fish tanks. Not enough room for it to swim around.


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## TheJakeM (May 11, 2013)

I like the design of the tanks you just posted, but that seem pretty small, and I don't think there is any way to heat them really. If I were you, I'd get one of the big 3-5 gallon bowls they have at petco (at least the one net me does) throw a heater and filter in there, and then comes the fun part, your kid could probably even help, you just get two pieces of cardboard, cut out the shapes of whatever animal they like with a hole in the middle for the tank, paint it white (or any color really) and voila, there's your tank. It'll probably just cost maybe 25 for everything, but the fish will be better off for it.


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## Guest (Nov 14, 2013)

Ice: I was correcting you when you said that males have long flowing fins, which I thought that you meant all male betta which is not true.


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## Kirrie (Jan 18, 2013)

A 3 gallon tank would be ok for a betta, but at least 5 gallons is really better, it may not seem it but the larger the tank, the easier it is to care for. In a small tank it is harder to keep the water parameters balanced and any tiny problem can really throw the tank off quickly. For example, if you overfed the betta by accident, missed a water change, or had had a decaying live plant in the tank, the parameters would be thrown off much quicker. A 5 gallon gives you a little more room for error, although you should still avoid overfeeding and missing water changes. You will have to do a 25-30% water change once a week. If you buy a betta before cycling the tank however, you will have to do water changes every other day at least, to keep the toxins down until the tank is cycled and the beneficial bacteria can handle the waste created by the fish.


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

I disagree Kirrie. I had my 3 gallon tank running for a year with no problems at all considering I sucessfully housed 3 Neon tetras. The only change I made is switching from canister filter to Azoo HOB filter system 3 months after buying it. It did a better job cleaning up the film on the water surface. 

I experienced no dramatic swings in my parameters. My ph has always stayed consistent (sp.) - 7.0 - 7.3, as well as my ammonia, nitrate, nitrite levels stayed at 0. Heck, I even went 2 - 3 months without a water change a couple times with no issues.


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## Kirrie (Jan 18, 2013)

Im not saying its not possible to keep a 3 gallon healthy and balanced. Its just harder, you have to be more careful. A bigger tank gives you more room for error, which is good considering this will be someones first tank. 

As for going months at a time with no water changes, there is no way I would reccomend that. Theres more to keeping a balanced tank than just watching the water parameters. There are also different minerals in the water that are depleted over time. If you dont replace them, you may end up with what is called "old tank syndrome" and your tank could crash.


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

I don't think so Kirrie. I agree when it's saltwater but not freshwater. Tank never crashed but I've done tests in between and saw no changes. When I did do a water change, I did a 50% change. I also add Stress Zyme and benefical bacteria as well. Not once my water smelt funny since I owned it. I've owned betta before and I knew they don't need a large amount of pellets to feed. I usually give it 3 or 4 pellets and any he doesn't eat, I fish it out.


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## Kirrie (Jan 18, 2013)

I'm not the best at explaining things so Ill post a link to an explanation of "old tank syndrome" when I am able to use a computer.

Some bettas just dont like pellets. Ive never heard of a betta not liking New Life Spectrum pellets though. They are very nutritional and contain garlic, which bettas love.


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## Kirrie (Jan 18, 2013)

Ok so I couldn't find the post where it was explained to me before in detail, but I did find a blog about it. It doesn't explain the issue with the minerals being depleted over time and needing to be replaced with water changes, but it does explain the issues with ammonia building up. One way to prevent it is the obvious weekly water changes, but also the occasional replacing of most of the water. That would require larger water changes over a shorter period of time to replace the older water with new.

I consider this information very reliable. The author is basically the "lohachata" of this other forum haha. Ill post the other explanation of it if I ever find it again... http://www.myaquariumclub.com/old-tank-syndrome-or-sudden-ammonia-increases-1790.html


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

if one is going to keep fish , it is best if they learn something about it..keeping this hobby as simple as possible is always important..but sometimes there has to be a scientific side as well...and that i am not very good at...
i will tell folks this.....water changes are important...i had a friend once say that "god doesn't do water changes"............WRONG !!!!!!!!! god constantly does water changes..rain...rivers that flow..lakes that have currents....water is constantly being refreshed...
one of the little scientific things that i only know a tiny amount about is that through their breathing and waste fish secrete what is commonly referred to as a "growth inhibiting hormone"...their bodies have receptors that read the levels of those hormones and tells them if they have room to flourish or not..evaporation of the tank water will concentrate the levels..high levels will stunt the growth and degrade their health..water changes will keep the levels down and allow the fish to grow and be healthy....
and if you want to accelerate the growth of young fish , do lots more water changes..

for a single male betta i would suggest a 2 1/2-5 gallon tank with a sponge filter and a heater..tank temp should be kept at about 80 F..........never mind that they are kept in little cups in stores...they are cruel and unusual punishment...


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## Kirrie (Jan 18, 2013)

Well said loha :fish:


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2013)

lohachata said:


> if one is going to keep fish , it is best if they learn something about it..keeping this hobby as simple as possible is always important..but sometimes there has to be a scientific side as well...and that i am not very good at...
> i will tell folks this.....water changes are important...i had a friend once say that "god doesn't do water changes"............WRONG !!!!!!!!! god constantly does water changes..rain...rivers that flow..lakes that have currents....water is constantly being refreshed...
> one of the little scientific things that i only know a tiny amount about is that through their breathing and waste fish secrete what is commonly referred to as a "growth inhibiting hormone"...their bodies have receptors that read the levels of those hormones and tells them if they have room to flourish or not..evaporation of the tank water will concentrate the levels..high levels will stunt the growth and degrade their health..water changes will keep the levels down and allow the fish to grow and be healthy....
> and if you want to accelerate the growth of young fish , do lots more water changes..
> ...


+1 lohachata. I will also add that ammonia does build up in a small tank when water changes are not done every week at least.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I concur. A 5 or 10 is good, a 2.5 is okay if you are careful and don't skimp on water changes. I don't like all-in-ones, and would rather pick the filter, heater, lid and light, but some people like self-contained units to keep the kids out and because they are light. If you get a all-in-one, buy an expensive one with a warranty, not store-brand crap. Avoid lidless tanks as betta jump. The little plastic tanks are much more prone to leak than glass ones even though they cost more and their filters tend to fail. A single betta can live without a filter for with daily water changes, but I would only try this if your filter fails and you are waiting for a part.

The most important thing with a little kid is to lock up the fish food until your are sure the kid knows not feed too much or too often. Fish will constantly beg for and eat food even if it makes so much waste it fouls the water kills them. older kids get once a day, some younger ones don't.


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

Angelclown said:


> +1 lohachata. I will also add that ammonia does build up in a small tank when water changes are not done every week at least.


Overfeeding and excess waste do cause ammonia spikes I do agree regardless of size of tank - not only to smaller tanks in general. That's why I do feedings every other day or two. 

Most of the time I usually do water changes every 2 - 2 1/2 weeks. Only a couple of times in the past year I've done it even longer than 2 weeks without a water change.


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## Guest (Nov 17, 2013)

Ice said:


> Overfeeding and excess waste do cause ammonia spikes I do agree regardless of size of tank - not only to smaller tanks in general. That's why I do feedings every other day or two.
> 
> Most of the time I usually do water changes every 2 - 2 1/2 weeks. Only a couple of times in the past year I've done it even longer than 2 weeks without a water change.


But with smaller tanks, you cannot go longer than 2 weeks without a water change. I had a 1 gallon tank, I made the mistake of not changing the water for a month at a time and the ammonia was sky high. I have a 55 gallon tank, I haven't done a water change in a long time, the ammonia is still 0ppm. Bigger tanks give you more leeway for error than a small tank does. With my 55 gallon, I have to get on a routine of water changes so that my fish are healthier, they are healthy, but with routine tank maintenance they will be healthier.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

+1 on bigger is safer. The time to death when something goes wrong (overfeeding, stuck heater, skipped water change, dead plant) is related to amount of live stuff in the tank divided by volume of water. Say fish / gallon or inch / gallon or whatever. One betta in a 55 can probably live for a couple years even if neglected. I've killed fish over night in a 2 gallon, figured I'd clean up the overfeeding tomorrow.


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