# Bettas in containers



## PiscesWarrior (Oct 18, 2012)

Hey guys,

Now when i go to my local pet store i cant help but notice the 1 litre containers the betta fish are kept in. The water in these containers always looks dirty and is mostly only filled half way, the poor fish look depressed. I recently brought my own betta fish hes on his own in a 10 litre lighted tank. I dont have a filter but i have live plants and he looks happy  also keep in mind hes only a small betta and is still young. When he gets bigger i may buy a bigger tank but he seems perfectly fine. My fish has perfect fins and is swimming happy.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

the tank size is ok ; but it is much better to have a filter and a heater....bettas really prefer clean warm water...80 F is good for them...even with plants , i would still suggest a filter...just a small sponge filter would work great...


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

yup, the size is fine for an adult betta even though bigger is better as for most fish. I would also get a small filter, if you don't want to crowd the space inside the aquarium even more you could build your own using a big plastic apple juice bottle, some silicone, airline tubing and a small water pump. The plants will help keep the aquarium clean but aren't enough on their own. The heater is also necessary, I would get maybe a 15w-20w heater for a tank that size. Make sure its adjustable as that will come in handy if your fish ever gets sick.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

There's nothing wrong with keeping bettas in small cups as long as you can fulfill their environmental needs. It's harder in small cups because toxins build up and they're harder to heat.


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## Guest (Oct 21, 2012)

Betta man said:


> There's nothing wrong with keeping bettas in small cups as long as you can fulfill their environmental needs. It's harder in small cups because toxins build up and they're harder to heat.


You cannot fulfill a bettas environmental needs in a small cup. It is impossible to fit a heater and a filter in a small cup, let alone a plant whether it is fake or real. 

You definitely need to read up on bettas and their needs betta man. No where does it say that a small cup is okay to keep bettas in as long as you can fulfill their environmental needs.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Angelclown said:


> You cannot fulfill a bettas environmental needs in a small cup. It is impossible to fit a heater and a filter in a small cup, let alone a plant whether it is fake or real.
> 
> You definitely need to read up on bettas and their needs betta man. No where does it say that a small cup is okay to keep bettas in as long as you can fulfill their environmental needs.


I don't agree that you should keep bettas in cups either but you can heat cups by placing a heating pad under the cup, and you can filter it by building a diy filter that works kind of like an overflow system. I have an idea in my head but I'm not sure how to explain it, I might build one and put it in the diy section just for the lols.


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## Guest (Oct 21, 2012)

Those cups that the bettas are in are plastic and will melt with heat. Bettas need a lid on top of the cup so that they don't jump out and kill themselves. I don't know if anyone can make a makeshift filter for a betta in a cup and still have the lid on the cup.

I have broken one of the cups that the betta comes in, of course the betta was not in the cup.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

too many people miss the whole idea about fishkeeping.....it is not about forcing the fish to adapt to whatever conditions that is easy for us to maintain..
but for me the idea is to give them the best environment that matches their natural homes...while the exact reproduction of their natural habitat is virtually impossible ; it is not impossible to make them pretty comfortable...
i don't care what one does ; a cup can never be comfortable for a betta....but many force them into those conditions because they think that if the fish lives , it is happy and thriving...nothing could be farther from the truth...


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I said "as long as you can fulfill their environmental needs". There is a way to heat small cups, and if you do not know how, you should read up on bettas. My favorite way to heat small cups is to float them in a heated fish tank. Also, petco plans on keeping the fish in the small cups for short periods of time. The problem with petco is that the water is dirty and cold. If it was clean and warm, I would have no complaints.


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## Guest (Oct 21, 2012)

All websites on betta care don't mention anything about keeping bettas in small cups or heating them or filtering them. The websites talk about keeping a betta in a one gallon or bigger, not a small cup. I have read up on betta care. Besides keeping a betta in a small cup is one of the cruelest things that a person can do.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

I agree that keeping bettas in small cups is pretty bad, and I would never do it (my betta has a 5g all to his own). I'm pretty confident that I can build a filter for a cup, but I would do that to challenge myself, and not keep any fish in there.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Ask breeders what they keep their males in and I guarantee that most of them will tell you that they keep them in bowls. Ask chard56. When I asked him, he said he kept them in anything that held water. I know that you guys are breeders, so I can't expect you to understand, but if I were to keep every male fry from a large spawn in it's own two gallon tank, I'd be broke and have no room in my bedroom to sleep.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

are you saying that if your parents locked you in a doghouse it would be ok as long as they gave you food and water and a bit of heat whenever they thought you might need it...wouldn't that be fulfilling your environmental needs ??? you can adapt and survive ; so that should be all that is needed....

sure ; i can build a small filter...i have been building filters for almost 40 years..and i can heat small containers as well..i have kept tanks inside of tanks inside of tanks..
but i just don't feel that keeping a fish in a tiny cup is the way to do it...


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

My parents kept me in a crib. It was only temporary like keeping bettas in jars should be. Would you rather nobody breed bettas? Would you rather the males be housed together? If they were raised all together, that may work, but they will fight and shred each other's fins.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i have bred bettas....and no , i did not keep them in 1 or 2 gallon containers...but i did keep them in 1 quart containers on shelves in a heated room...100% water changes every other day...now , i wasn't a master breeder as i had less than 10,000 total fry from breeding them over a couple of years...normally there were about 200 or so containers full of males and several tanks full of females at any given time...


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Does that mean your terrible and you abused your fish? No! That's what I will do when I have more males.


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## aMawds (Aug 29, 2012)

I think the point is that for very short spans of time when breeding, a cup is fine, and in fact pretty necessary. The starting costs of running 200 1 gallon tanks would be ridiculous (unless petco ran a dollar a gallon sale on them, and happened to have 200 in stock haha). But no, them living for any true span of time in a cup? Not ok. I personally think a one gallon is too small. My friend has a one gallon filtered heated tank, and managed to keep one alive for two years. This time it lasted 2 months. Both Betta's at either time looked pretty miserable. Fins never grew in well, they always looked sort of depressed, and they were very small. Mine was the same size as hers, purchased the same day, from the same store and is bigger, with fuller fins, and is always swimming around looking for things to eat, or following the Cory's around. Obviously, he's still alive past that 2 month mark. Difference? Tank size. We even did the same water change percentage at the same intervals. Mine also didn't have any altercations with the filter though. Probably because he can sleep without getting dragged into it. 

Either way, yes a Betta can survive in a one or two gallon tank. They can even survive in unfiltered, unheated bowls for a pretty long time. But my absolute mission is to have my fish grow as large as possible, and survive as long as I can keep them alive. So my Betta shares an 8.8 gallon with two albino cory's in a heated, filtered tank and is fed small portions twice a day with a fasting day once a week. I don't know why anybody would want anything else for their pets. Fish, dogs, cats, horses. All of them need space to move around, exercise, play, and hide. 

It isn't about what you can get away with. It's about how brilliant you can make their homes. And for anyone complaining about budgets? Sponge filters are 6 bucks shipped on ebay. Nice air pumps are 10 from pet stores. Sand is free from the lake, beach or local freshwater stream. Even power filters are 15 bucks if you know where to look and don't care about chambers and modifications. I've spent loads more than that on my fish tanks. Because I wanted an LED bubbler, a long bubbler tube that I hid under gravel, LED lights, plants, hood light for plants and all kinds of other random junk. But my 15 gallon cost 5 bucks. My 12 high and 8.8 were free. HOB filters on the 15 and 8.8. Ordered a sponge filter for the 12 which will be a breeding/grow out tank for platy's, and will run it off an air pump that will also run a bubbler in the 8.8 to solve a scum problem on the surface. If I was in a pinch I could have set up all three tanks for under 50 bucks with sponge filters and individual air pumps. Cheaper if they were close enough that I could run them all off one. There's no excuse to put a Betta in a bowl, unless you're simply lazy or you simply don't care.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

It's not about tank size. I kept a betta alive three years in less then half a gallon doing monthly water changes. That was when I was 5 and didn't know a thing about fish and believed the crummy lies that petco told my parents. The life span differs on the fish. Some fish have bad genes. Your friend's fish might have been really old. Or it could have had some disease. It could have been a hybrid and hybrids are known to have health issues. Anyway, it differs on which fish you have. Also, exercise also helps the fish to live longer. If you have it flaring at a mirror for 10 minutes a day, it is more likely to live a longer life.


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## Guest (Oct 22, 2012)

Betta man: I have to agree with you on the tank size doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the life of the betta. I believe it is the care you give it that indicates how long the betta will survive. 

I got my halfmoon betta in a one gallon and he loves it. I tried putting him in the 55 gallon, but he hid. I have big fish in the 55 gallon, but thought that he would love more swimming space, but he didn't, he just hid. So I put him back in the one gallon.

So therefore it is not tank size that determines how long a betta survives, it is the care the betta is given. Also the age of the betta when it is purchased. Maybe doubletail was old when I got him, but he passed away and now I just have halfmoon.

As for exrecise, yes every animal needs exercise otherwise they get fat and lazy.

As for budgets, it really depends on where you live if you can afford anything. I can go to the dollar store to get most of the things I need, but not fish stuff. I have to go to Walmart for the cheapest stuff, like filter cartridges and fish food.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Angelclown, bettas have their own territories. When you take a betta out of his territory and put him or her in a tank much bigger and with a different aquascape, the fish will hide. That happened to my betta imbellis. Another reason he might have hid could be that you might not have enough hiding places. My tank is planted and have plenty of space for hiding. If I added one more piece of driftwood, the bottom wold be almost completely covered except for a few places between the decor. If you can fulfill a betta's environmental needs in a bowl, keep it in a bowl. It's really hard to do so though and it's not recommended.


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## Guest (Oct 23, 2012)

No I believe that he hid because all the fish in the 55 gallon are huge compared to him. I have him in a one gallon and he loves it, and I can fulfill his needs. A bowl is better than a small cup.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

by the way....you can find different shapes of undergravel filter for small tanks and bowls...they work really well and leave most of the tank open...


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Bettas like small territories, but they also like to be able to swim around larger tanks. I'm not saying your betta isn't happy. Knowing that you know how to care for bettas, I think your betta is probably very happy. If I was you, I'd try it in the 55 again.


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