I have had my Betta for a little over 1 year now. He lives in a 10 gallon tank with 3 African Dwarf Frogs, 4 Spotted Pygmy Rasboras and 4 Harlequin Rasboras. There are plenty of plants and other things for him to play with. He used to be so lively, he would bully the other fish and swim around merrily all the time. I feed him dry Betta food everyday.The water is clean, pH is 6.5, lighting is 2 wpg. Overall, the tank is fine and he looks perfectly healthy, just depressed.
Now he just sits around looking sad all the time.
What can I do to cheer him up?
Hello!
In the past, I tried taking care of a Betta I had been given as a gift. I was given a tiny (1/2 gallon) bowl to keep him in, along with a polyester plant and some gravel. Over time, as he got sicker and sicker, I read up more on Bettas (I didn’t do research beforehand because I didn’t realize I would be given this fish) and started buying more and more equipment. Unfortunately, I did all this for my Betta too late to save his life.
I’m planning on getting another fish, but this time around, I’m determined to get everything ready for Mr. Future Fish beforehand.
Here’s what I already own:
- A 2 or 2.5 gallon bowl (I understand that some people say this is too small for a Betta. Others say that 1 gallon is the minimum size. I feel very strongly about keeping this size bowl, since I simply don’t have enough space for a larger bowl or tank.)
- A Theo Hydor adjustable mini heater. (I used this for a few weeks with my first Betta, constantly checking with a reliable thermometer that it kept the bowl at a good temperature. I’m very happy with it.)
- Gravel
- One silk plant (I have two polyester plants as well, but I am concerned that they snagged my first Betta’s fins.)
- Water Conditioner
- A BiOrb Cleaner Pump (This was so awkward to use. Does anyone have a better suggestion?)
- TetraBetta Floating Mini Pellets (My first Betta hated these–he’d refuse to eat them, just spitting them out. Any better suggestions?)
- Freeze dried bloodworms (My first Betta gobbled these up like candy, though I hear they’re not a wholesome diet.)
I am planning on getting a water test kit — http://amzn.com/B000255NCI.
I want to get a filter for Mr. Future Fish. It needs to be small, quiet, and low-flow, since he likes still water. Do you have any recommendations? Is this one–TOM Aquarium Mini Internal Filter 45gph adjustable flow (http://amzn.com/B00176GKM8)–okay? Are there any better?
Also, do I have to use gravel? The first time around, it just trapped random debris, and was so hard to clean. I did full water changes, though I’m not sure if that was a good thing.
Thank you so much! Mr. Future Fish and I are so grateful!
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Okay so my teacher has 3 bettas, and 1 goldfish, one betta is happy in a clean tank 10 gallon tank with a working filter, the other one has no filter but it still has a nice clean 10 gallon tank, the other one, lives in a half filled 10 gallon tank coated in algae and lives with the goldfish. It was a pretty orange veil tail but now it’s color is faded and its caudal fin is split in half. And it has gill burn, the edges of it’s gill pockets are black as well as the edges of its scales, and it’s way overfed…
Anyways the plan:
I have a 10 gallon tank that has a substrate, nice, fine natural brown gravel with some river rocks and clear glass stones to make it look nice. I have a really bright fluorescent bulb which is great for helping live plants grow… and that is why, I’m going to put 5 stem plants, one floating plant, and one bottom plant, so 7 in total. One would be simply an amazon sword, or ruffled sword if I can find it, then some pennywort, java fern, water wisteria, and nympahaea pubescens. The bottom plant would simply be java moss and the floating would be some najas grass… Okay… so then filter… It’s the Penguin BioWheel 100 or something along the lines of that. I filled up my tank a while ago (but now it’s drained out) and I dumped some food in there to see how the filter cleaned it up and it worked good. But the flow is way too strong at the surface so I’m gonna baffle it with the plastic bottle method, which directs the flow of the water to the sides of the tank. I have a 50 watt heater (not sure what brand it is because I bought it on Kijiji with a few other supplies) but I think it works well and it’s adjustable I’ll turn it to like 81 and measure the temperature with a digital thermometer. Oh yeah, I’m gonna cycle my tank, just with a bottle of ammonia. I’ll use Big Als water conditioner which helps heal wounds and gives fish a slime coating… hopefully the healing powers in this will be good enough… I’m too scared to use medicines I’ve accidentally bought a lot of faulty brands that killed my fish… anyways, I’ll probably do a quarter change every week, but once the betta gets better and I don’t need to worry about infection, I admit, I’ll probably slack off A BIT. oh, And I’m gonna make a PVC cave, it’s an aquarium made of PVC cave and you use aquarium adhesive to glue gravel on and stick it in then it just looks like a hole coming out of the gravel. And THEN… I’ll get one small piece of driftwood and probably one of those pretty chinese lantern cave decorations…
OKAY wow… sound good anyways?
after everytime i clean my 5 galllon betta fish tank there is a strong smell coming from it. Everything is coated in a slimy coating that looks orange-ish and smells very strong. I have an eclipse corner 5 tanks with a 3 stage filter in it, air bar and heater. I figured the smell was ammonia but not sure. what is it?
first of all, i got this betta last saturday. since then he has been in a two gallon tank with a filter, gravel, and bamboo.
two new changes:
- new black gravel put in last night. first washed in warm water.
- new heater http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.js…
i have been treating my fish for fin rot with proper dosage of medication.
as of tonight he has been laying at the bottom of the tank, he has been eating, but he has this white patch all below his throat (eyes/mouth). it seems as though a sore has started at the beginning of his top fin, and like red patches have been sprouting all over the place. i tested the ph and it was hard, alkaline. bettas are egg laying fish so i thought that was fine. he also seems like a white hole is starting above his eye.
i noticed this morning that the filters bubbles had changed, from big and bulbous to small and clumpy, if you run your hand across the top of the tank it seems as though the water has the same consistency of freshly poured soda.
please help me for i am not about to destroy this fish cause hes sick; he has every right to live.
My male Betta fish has been active and healthy until last week. His face became swollen to the point it looked white instead of dark red. He stopped eating and was sluggish. This lasted for about 5-6 days. Then, one morning, the swelling was gone, his color was good, he was active, and was hungry…and there was a pea sized white ball hanging out of his right gill by a thin string. When it broke free, i scooped it out and it was squishy and gross. Anyone know what it was?!
Question by Sweets: Gourami & Betta question….?
Hi, I have 2 male 3-spot/blue pearl gouramis, in my 55 gal tank. I added 2 female Bettas to the tank yesterday. The girls hold their own against the gouramis and the rainbow sharks, but it almost seems as though the gouramis are interested in more from the betta girls, than just fighting… That goes both ways too…
My question is, will a male gourami “court” a female Betta, and if so, could they breed? If everything’s perfect in the tank, will the gouramis make bubble nests for the girls, hopeless or not? Or was it just a bad idea altogether to mix gouramis with bettas, no matter what sex mix?
I know betta males think of gouramis as opponents, because they’re cousins, but these girls display (puff out) the same as the males do, but toward each other AND the gouramis. Of course, the big gourami gets jelous when the little one gets the girl’s attention… lol
Anyone a Fish Shrink out there??? lol
Thanks for your answers!
;o)
Best answer:
Answer by Ringo’s boss gourami are naturally aggressive and so are bettas. the puffing is a bluffing strategy to help them look bigger to fend the gourami . they can not as far as i know inter breed. might move one or the other species to another tank if you have it and the larger gourami will probably constantly pick on the smaller one for food and dominance. good luck
