betta fish???????

Question

I'm getting my bf a betta fish for valentines day. he's gonna be in a small glass bowl (like a goldfish one) and I'm thinking about putting a real plant in there cuz i heard it gives the fish food. do you think the fish will be ok and last long? I also heard it's good to have a heater but is it necessary? and one last question, is there any specific kind of plant I should put in there?

Answer 1

I think the people who manage to keep bettas alive for years in unheated, unfiltered bowls are rare, and their bettas are miserable.

Bettas do not live in puddles in the wild, and do not do best in tiny bowls as pets either. They need heated, filtered water to be healthy, active, and colorful. The bowls they are kept in at the petstore are meant to be temporary just because they are too aggressive to be kept in tanks together and too popular not to stock lots of them at once.

If you want your boyfriend's betta to be okay and last long here are some minimum guidelines:

1) Find a tank with a heater and filter. I recommend 5 gallon but you can find smaller if you look. The heaters and filters are specialized for tanks that small but not all that expensive. No fish was meant to live in water that has no movement, no fresh water being exchanged for old, or a stable temperature.

2) Buy test kits for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. Whoever is going to be in charge of taking care of the betta needs to test the water every other day or so for the first 2 or 3 weeks, and change about 25% of it anytime there is a reading above ZERO of ammonia or nitrites. When those are both testing at zero for a week or so in a row, the tank is officially cycled, and only needs to be tested every week or two. Nitrates will start appearing then, and need to be tested weekly. A water change is required if they're above 40ppm or 12.5mg/l.

3) Your betta probably doesn't care much if it has a real plant or live plant, so decide which you and your boyfriend like better and get that. As long as the betta has some plants and caves/rocks to explore and consider his territory, he'll be happy and less stressed. Gravel is good to have too, because it is where most of your beneficial bacteria will grow. The bacteria eat the ammonia that's produced by the betta's pee and poop and help keep the water healthier for him to live in. Don't ever take the gravel out and wash it or you'll kill that bacteria.

4) When you buy the betta, put his bag in the tank and let it sit in the water for at least 20 or 30 minutes so that the temperatures are the same before you put him in. That will reduce the stress of being moved.

5) Don't overfeed the betta! He needs to eat one flake or pellet in the morning and one in the evening, or a couple of them once a day. Too much food will gather and rot in the gravel and poison the water.

6) Once every couple of weeks or so, the gravel in the tank will need to be vacuumed with a siphon. They sell them at the petstore. This will pull up rotting poop. If you leave that there to build up, it will eventually start poisoning the water too badly for water changes to help.

If this sounds like too much work, I highly recommend that you buy your boyfriend a teddy bear rather than a living animal that deserves to be taken care of properly.

Answer 2

you dont have to buy another tank just go to walmart or petsmart and buy a gold fish bowl and she would be happy that way she can eat and don't worry about gettin attacked! If a female that wasn’t ripe, or ready for spawning, would have entered a males tank, it’s possible that she would’ve been attacked, as non-ripe females are not tolerated within the vicinity of the nest. By not fleeing, a female indicates her readiness to spawn. Yes, some times if you are not careful when trying too breed bettas, the male will attack the female and he can injure the female, the females are much smaller than the males. A Male and a Female: In the wild, females stay clear of males, except during mating. When cohabiting in tanks, males might kill females, and are generally kept apart unless (a) they are juvenile siblings, (b) they are breeding, (c) there is a partition, or (d) the tank is large enough for the female to escape attack. Often, before breeding, breeders use such a container to allow female display without risking harm by the male. Two or more Females: Bettas are not schooling fish, but in a large tank with many hiding spaces, female bettas can cohabit. When two females share a tank, one usually bullies the other, however, four or more females will establish a hierarchy allowing peaceful co-existence, nevertheless, females living in community must be monitored for aggressive females.

Answer 3

you dont need a heater or natural plants. plants look good but if the fish is only in a bowl then its not necessary, if he takes care of the fish it should last for 3 -5 years

Answer 4

You should get a large bowl, 2.5 gallons or more, with heater. Bettas are carnivores and cannot survive off plants.

Answer 5

go to your local pet store to ask about the plant.and the heater is a good idea because Ive had a fish for 7 years with a heater and they last vary long

Answer 6

make your betta a happy betta -- get him a bowl that is at least 2 gallons! you can put live plants in but not for him to eat - -he only eats mosquito larvae in the wild -- not plants. you can put some java moss or java fern in a bowl and it will grow fine. they do like plants to hide out in and make their territory. they need to have something as established territory to be happy. a silk plant with big leaves that reaches the top of the water works great!.

you can't haet a bowl. if it a litttle below 70 you can warm him up under a lamp and put him up on kitchen cabinets and tall bookcases at night.

Answer 7

The main cause of Betta fish death is overeating. As long as there is something eatable in there, he will eat it until he dies one fat and happy fish. I recomend a soft plastic plant. I too have my bettas in goldfish bowls without a heater, and they are all happy and healthy, and I've had enough to know they don't need all that fancy stuff...I know it's nice, but not a requirement.

Good luck :)

Answer 8

I used to have a beta fish and he loved hiding in the roots of a plant (but I'm not sure what kind it is). you do not need a heater if your house stays comfortable enough for you. With care, your beta will live several years.

Answer 9

do not put a heater in there. lol. i had my beta fish for 8 years by simply putting it in a very small bowl with gravel and stones at the bottom and feeding it a lil in the morning when i woke up and a lil at night. in the stores,some times they are in containers already and they are small. the bowl should be relitivaly small like that also.

Answer 10

Betta splendens is a tropical fish... It lives in tropical water... in the upper seventies to eighties Fahrenheit.... Not in cold water, not in small volumes that vacillate wildly in terms of daily thermal range and water chemistry... This species if anything is TOUGH! But it cannot, will not live a quality life kept in cold, varying temperature circumstances. NOT. This fish can indeed live in small volumes of water... it is an obligate aerial respirator... needs to get to the surface to "gulp" air to breathe... though issues of diminished water quality need to be addressed in such tiny spaces. All Betta keepers should have an aquatic thermometer... and check their fish's water temperature... It should NOT drop below the low seventies F. and should NOT vacillate any more than 3-5 degrees in any given 24 hour period. As with your health, sudden and extreme changes in temperature (an environmental disease agent) weaken fishes resistance to other diseases.

Bettas are no dirtier than other tropical fishes, but they are often kept in totally unfiltered circumstances, or actually worse, ones that have no established "nitrogen cycling"... this last is absolutely critical... there are a few ways to "get going" this mix of useful microbes... most easily by moving water from another established freshwater system, having some live plants present, "old" conditioned gravel... there are even commercial products (some work, others are shams) that will magically "age" your system. However it is done, it is critical that your Betta's wastes be converted from the excreted and secreted (through the gills) ammonia, into nitrite and then nitrate... If not, your Betta is being poisoned... and yes, likely harmed... up to and including to the point of death. But, can't you simply dilute or change out all the waste water by changing it frequently? Yes... for one male Betta, in a nominal volume of a half gallon or so... if you religiously change all the water every 3-4 days, use conditioner (there is no need for distilled or other fancy water)... But, this isn't going to happen... the vast majority of people lack such discipline... or time.

Super-Size Me If You Can: Yes, Bettas can live (for short whiles) in very small volumes of water... they are shipped in a mere teaspoon or two of water... and often displayed, sold in "Betta cups" and such.... They cannot, will not live long or quality lives in such settings. You see cars stacked next to each other on car lots, being offered for sale... but they don't "live" like this... Neither do Bettas. Larger volumes of water are inherently more stable... like living near the ocean or a large lake... water gives up and takes in energy more slowly than any other known substance... it mediates the environment and is in turn mediated by it... The point? By having a bigger space of water, temperature and water quality will not shift nearly as quickly or as much. How much is too little? Perhaps a gallon... but, "bigger is better". Oh, and an important note re death by jumping out... though they have long finnage, bettas can and do launch themselves out of containers... keep your water level low (a few inches) or a cover on your system.

The popular "Betta Bowls", wall-mounted "Betta containers", "Betta Vase Set-ups"... are cruel hoaxes... If I could, I would have folks who promote, make such torturous devices be reincarnated as Bettas to live out their short, painful lives in these farces.