# Beta care



## Raiko (Aug 26, 2009)

Okay, so for Christmas I got my mom a HUGE vase, its 1.5 gallons in the "bowl" part and then tapers into a narrow top. The vase at the widest part is about 11'' in diameter. My mom is the principal at a school and for her office I thought Id get her a beta to keep her company in her office. She works at a boarding school and so shes not off during weekends she randomly gets called in on weekends. So I filled the bowl up to the widest point with tap water that I let sit for 24 hours. (and yes it was dechlorinated) 

and then I was at homedepot looking at tools for my dad and stumbled across a very large bundle of curly lucky bamboo. So I bought that and stuck it in the vase, the roots dont crowd the tank and there is more than enough room at the mouth to drop food or slide a female hand in as the bamboo was one of those ones where its tied together in a tight bundle. 

Then I went to petsmart and bought a really neat looking blood red male beta, some regular beta food and some dried blood worms. hes currently enjoying his time in the bowl with the bamboo. I was worried bout him chewing on the roots but he doesnt touch them much, just occasionally nipping them, and he never makes a mark so I think it is more curiosity than hunger. He gets fed twice a day, once at 5 in the morning and once at 5pm. 
(I feed him at the same time my mom would get to work) I also plan on making his feeding regimen consist of beta food one day, then blood worms the next since I found out these guys enjoy mosquito larva in the wild. (in the spring I might spoil him with some) 

The office has a window but he wont be in direct sun, there is enough sun light in there for the bamboo to grow so I think hell be fine. I was wondering if there is anything else i should know?


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## Keithsomething (Oct 31, 2009)

you have to remember to snip the bamboo roots when they start to get too long. when they're too long the beta can't get to the surface to get air ((fish breathe air ...I didn't know that o.o )) 
betas are also warm water fish 
you might be replacing the beta fish a few times a year if its not in a heated tank xD ((they fail to mention that at Petsmart my significant other is a freak about fish lol ))


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## PonkiPoodles (Feb 25, 2009)

Keithsomething said:


> you have to remember to snip the bamboo roots when they start to get too long. when they're too long the beta can't get to the surface to get air ((fish breathe air ...I didn't know that o.o ))
> betas are also warm water fish
> you might be replacing the beta fish a few times a year if its not in a heated tank xD ((they fail to mention that at Petsmart my significant other is a freak about fish lol ))


I agree with Keithsomething... they are tropical fish and require warmer water to be happy... also bettas are carnivores so they tend not to nibble or eat plants at all. He probably thinks that it's a worm etc. I don't know how narrow the top is, but bettas are jumpers and they are quite suicidal LOL


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## Raiko (Aug 26, 2009)

okay well i bought a tiny under tank heater =P
and betas are one of the few fish that can breathe atmospheric air, gar and plecos can do that too, but its not common in fish


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## WonderPup (Oct 26, 2008)

Glad to hear you got yourself a heater. I've never used an under tank heater before, would be interested to know how well it works. Do you have a way to measure the temp of the water as well? Also glad to hear you haven't bought into the bettas don't need to ever be fed if you put a plant in their tank story. Thats not true either lol. 

I used to keep bettas in vases and those little tiny betta cups that they sell just about everywhere. NEVER AGAIN!! It is 100% correct that these fish are tropical which means warm water, not room temp. Room temp is cold water and would be something like goldfish. I also lost a couple to jumping before I learned they need a covered tank lol. Anyway the difference in the Bettas I kept was remarkable when they all got at the very least a once gallon tank with a small heater. The best was a 5 gallon. We had the same betta for three years and he was active and almost friendly in a fish sort of way until the day we found him a'float which was just a few months ago actualy. He was such a cool fish. I really hate it that you go into stores and pet shops these days and people who you woud think would know what they are talking about tell you a betta can be kept in a little bowl with little or no food needed and almost no care. In those cases the poor fishie just sits there. I can't say that they are unahppy because who am I to claim that I can read fish minds ROFL. I can say you will be SHOCKED at just how active these fish are when they are kept properly. 

My sister is pretty bad about getting those lovely peace lilies complete with betta at the bottom of a vase and wonders why my bettas are always so different and longer lived than her little peave lilly betta  Kind of makes me sad. 

Oh by the way do you by chance already have experience with bloodworms?? If not I can't stress enough to be careful and try your first contact with them on a friday when you will have the rest of the weekend to recover. A lot of people are really allergic to them *raises hand* and have had all sorts of reactions. LoL. Both my eyes swelled shut and I had to take two days off work - yeah that was a fun phone call to make haha. Whats worse was we were expecting puppies at the time and wouldn't you just know that she went into labor that morning and here I was trying to get her to the vet clinic because we already knew she needed a c-section due to just having one very large puppy. Nice ROFL. 

RIP Alpha betta Hahaha, we don' thave any bettas at the moment and I kind of miss them. They are SUCH pretty fish! I want a crowntail perhaps to put in the nursery but I have to convince hubby that we will have time to clean the tank after Nicholas is born lol.


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## Raiko (Aug 26, 2009)

Lol Im not allergic. I won a shubunkin goldfish at a party a long time ago. I put him with two others I bought in a 35gallon long tank in our garage with a UV light and one 75 gal box fiilter and two 10 gal filters that I had laying around (which I planted pothos in, did wonders for soaking up all the ammonia) 

(we have a heated garage, the water temp was like 60-65 in winterr and 72-75 in the summer)

So I bought a 20lb bag of pond feed and 4 boxes of freeze dried shrimp to feed them, I read that the shrimp help with protien of course but also enhancing color. Unfortunatly my fish were too small to eat the shrimp, they would suck them in but have trouble spitting them back out. So I refreezed the others and bought blood worms and fed them that. They lived for 4 years and then died of some sort of parasite when I fish sat for my cousins gold fish who was obviously poorly taken care of.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Late to the party, so this advice may not be useful anymore. Someone already mentioned that bettas need tropical temperatures. They really want to be warmer than the temperature of the average office. I've had bad luck getting small tank heaters to keep a consistent temperature. Fish don't appreciate being alternately boiled and chilled. My current Stealth heaters are pretty good, but they're meant for a tank larger than a one gallon vase.

I'd probably get Ghost Shrimp in your situation. They can handle temperatures ranging from 65 up to around 80. Shrimp also aren't the waste factories that fish are; some fish keepers don't bother factoring them into the tank bioload at all. Plus Ghost shrimp are really really cheap; they're usually sold as bait rather than pets. The down side is that they aren't flashy like a betta. You have to appreciate subtle. I personally find it relaxing to watch shrimp. Lots of moving parts.


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## Raiko (Aug 26, 2009)

nowhere i know of sells ghost shrimp =/. But I did move my betta into a 5 gallon tank with a heater. He stays at 77 in the day and 74-75 at night. I no longer feed him betta food as he refuses to take it. He gets all freezedried food now. I have a bottle of bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphnia, and mysis shrimp. I feed him a pinch of that medly twice a day. he takes it out of my hands now. I also have a pothos, anubus and java moss growing in his tank. I also have an old phylodendron weeping its vines into the water.


Dreads is VERY stubborn and will not eat food if it isnt floating or alive.. if it sinks he just watches it fall and then turns back to me for more. So I got a dojo loach. The dojo isnt very pretty but he loves to eat all the falling shrimp and at night while my betta is sleeping on one of the pothos leaves ill feed the dojo again. I have a black apple snail in there but hes pretty sluggish and really only eats some betta flakes and romane lettus.


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## Keithsomething (Oct 31, 2009)

I love loaches
we actually just introduced 2 new cory cats and a golden loach to our tank and they LOVE it!! xD
((I have to admit the albino cat is my favourite fish in the tank now xDD ))


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## Raiko (Aug 26, 2009)

the loach is pretty neat, suuuuper hyper


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

What a lucky spoiled betta.  I once put a pet store betta into a 55 gallon tank. The poor guy was so out of shape from living in a jar that he couldn't swim for the first week. He'd just kind of float around on the currents. Even after he built up some muscle, he never did get the concept of living in a large tank. He'd swim for maybe a foot, turn around, and swim back in the other direction. He seemed lost without a glass wall to define his territory.

In a mixed fish tank I prefer Amano shrimp or red cherry shrimp over ghost shrimp. Ghost shrimp can be a little aggressive. My favs are the Amanos, as they are bigger and can't reproduce in fresh water. Red cherry shrimp reproduce like snails. I always feel bad when I accidentally vacuum up a shrimplet while cleaning the tank.

I really want a tank of mixed dojo loaches and goldfish. Dojos prefer cooler temperatures (65-75), as do goldfish, and they get get pretty big, again as do goldfish. Alas, I don't currently have a place where I could set up a 200 gallon tank to show them all off in their full splendor.


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## Keithsomething (Oct 31, 2009)

I just love staring at our tank xD
the maintenance is all on my significant other so I just sit back and enjoy the pretty fish xD

we have fancy guppy fry and they are just about ready to be put in the big tank...but we're giving some to our friend 14FRY we have o.o ((all jade head))

my significant others favourite fish is his Violet Gobi... v.v;
that thing is so fugly and scary XDDD


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## Raiko (Aug 26, 2009)

Dojos get big ._. the lady at the petstore told me they get 6 inches....



What do you mean by ghost shrimp being aggressive? Like they will try to eat my betta, or reproduce alot or what?


Today i put in a half coconut shell with some holes in it in the tank with some java moss tied to the top. It looks like a hobbit cave. My betta doesnt care for it though, the loach goes in the cave and sleeps. my betta preffers to sleep on the pothos leaves. 

anyone know how long it takes for java moss to start really spreading?


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Two different kinds of shrimp get sold as ghost shrimp. The ones people normally think of as ghost shrimp are Palaemonetes. These guys are mostly shy and peaceful, though they can get grumpy with each other when crowded or in mating mode. They're scavengers, so I wouldn't put it past them to eat fish fry or anything small enough to fit in their mouths. Normally they aren't particularly aggressive hunters, though. Then there are Macrobrachium shrimp. There are a lot of different Macrobrachium species, and some look like Palaemonetes when young. If you are unlucky enough to get the wrong kind, it will grow up to be large, ill-tempered, and capable of hunting smaller fish or other shrimp. 

Dojo loaches can get to be 10 inches. They are sociable and will snuggle with each other. I've been wanting some for a while now. Unfortunately, I'm not in a situation right now where I could have a big enough tank for a group, and I don't want to keep them in isolation.


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