Does anyone have Betta Fish?

[njmom47]

My dd12 wanted a beta fish and bought her own tank kit at Petsmart (like a pp mentioned). We brought the fish home, fixed the water, used the water treatment, let the water sit for 30 mins, transferred the fish....2 days later...dead fish. I called Petsmart and they said bring the fish and the receipt back. We did that and brought a new one home. Start from scratch....cleaned the tank, added water and cleaner, let it sit 30 mins, put the fish in....2 days later...dead fish. I am so frustrated and I dont know what the problem is. People told us they were hearty fish. A friend suggested that Petsmart wasnt the best place to purchase fish, but with the exact thing happening in the exact time frame, I am thinking it is something we are or arent doing. Any suggestions?

Would we have better luck with a plain old goldfish?

I don't know what you may be doing wrong..did you maybe use soap when you cleaned the tank? Our betta, Jelly, is in a 1 or 1 1/2 gallon bowl in our kitchen, no plants or anything else, I feed him veggie flakes, change his water every other day (clean bowl with warm water, no soap, put a couple of drops of water treatment in, swirl it around, plop Jelly back in) and we've had him for just about 2 years now. Very simple routine. He seems fine, his colors are beautiful and he is very inquistive when I'm working around the kitchen. We got ours at Petsmart too!

 

[oceanrose]

Wow, there's a lot of conflicting information on this thread.

I have kept fish tanks for 20 years, and I currently have 7 tanks up and running. Everything from a 5 gallon tank with a betta, to a 60 gallon tank with cichlids. Soon to be 8, as I'm upgrading the 60 gallon and moving some fishies around .

Anyway: Bettas can live in a 1 gallon bowl, but it is not the best environment for them. I mean you can live in a 6X6 foot house too, but do you want to?

Bettas do need heated water (78-82 degrees seems to be best). They need hiding places, and they need room to move around. You take your inactive betta from a 1 gallon or smaller tank and place them in a properly heated tank and it's an amazing transformation. They're active, and love to swim and play. I have a betta living in my 26 gallon community tank, and he is honestly the most active fish in there.

The other reason to keep them in a larger tank is ease of care. Anything lower than 5 gallons is much harder to keep cycled and clean. You should definitely clean the tank more than 'when it looks cloudy'. Instead, change 25% of the water once a week. This will keep the tank cycled, (I'll explain cycling below) but keep fresh water. Remember, the water is your fish friend's entire environment. Would YOU want to be swimming around and breathing in your toilet? I'd think you'd want it clean if you had to.

The rules for fish keeping are simple for success. Cycle your water. If you are setting up a new tank, start with Tetra Safe Start. No matter the size of the tank. Each tank has several naturally occurring chemicals in it. Nitrates, Nitrites, and ammonia. To seriously understand this takes some reading, but basically ammonia is BAD and will kill your fish. Nitrates and Nitrites should be present in some degree. When you pour tap water into a tank, and add fish, the ammonia levels will spike as there is no natural filtering going on. Once that happens, your fish is going to be at least sick, at worst dead. It takes about a month, or a little more to build a cycle in your tank. Tetra Safe STart helps jumpstart the process, though the best way is to take filter media from a tank that is already up and cycled.

Once your tank is cycled, never 100% clean it. Washing all that gravel and filter media destroys the cycle and you must start over from scratch. Instead, change 25% of the water, vacuum the gravel a bit and add it back in, using a water conditioner such as Stress Coat (my favorite). Live plants help the cycle too.

Bettas, are pretty carnivorous. I find mine LOVE frozen bloodworms, find them at your petstore in cubes. A few bloodworms are a great treat. I also feed mine Hikari Betta Bites, 1-2 pellets a day.

And for those, who ask why is this all important, we're talking about a 3.00 fish. Whenever you bring a pet into your home, you are taking responsibility for it's care. It's up to you to make sure the quality of life is the best possible. A 5 gallon tank doesn't take up much room, and really is easier in the long run. With a heater and filter, a few plants and a hiding place, your fish will have a much better quality of life.

Bettas are wonderful pets. Even with all the fish here, they and my goldfish are my favorites. And just be grateful you didn't GET goldfish. They need at least a 10 gallon tank per fish. Though there is nothing prettier than a properly maintained, properly sized goldfish tank.

There is a great forum called www.fishlore.com that I'd highly suggest for those who want to learn more about how to best care for their fish.

 

[luvthemouse71]

Wow, there's a lot of conflicting information on this thread.

I have kept fish tanks for 20 years, and I currently have 7 tanks up and running. Everything from a 5 gallon tank with a betta, to a 60 gallon tank with cichlids. Soon to be 8, as I'm upgrading the 60 gallon and moving some fishies around .

Anyway: Bettas can live in a 1 gallon bowl, but it is not the best environment for them. I mean you can live in a 6X6 foot house too, but do you want to?

Bettas do need heated water (78-82 degrees seems to be best). They need hiding places, and they need room to move around. You take your inactive betta from a 1 gallon or smaller tank and place them in a properly heated tank and it's an amazing transformation. They're active, and love to swim and play. I have a betta living in my 26 gallon community tank, and he is honestly the most active fish in there.

The other reason to keep them in a larger tank is ease of care. Anything lower than 5 gallons is much harder to keep cycled and clean. You should definitely clean the tank more than 'when it looks cloudy'. Instead, change 25% of the water once a week. This will keep the tank cycled, (I'll explain cycling below) but keep fresh water. Remember, the water is your fish friend's entire environment. Would YOU want to be swimming around and breathing in your toilet? I'd think you'd want it clean if you had to.

The rules for fish keeping are simple for success. Cycle your water. If you are setting up a new tank, start with Tetra Safe Start. No matter the size of the tank. Each tank has several naturally occurring chemicals in it. Nitrates, Nitrites, and ammonia. To seriously understand this takes some reading, but basically ammonia is BAD and will kill your fish. Nitrates and Nitrites should be present in some degree. When you pour tap water into a tank, and add fish, the ammonia levels will spike as there is no natural filtering going on. Once that happens, your fish is going to be at least sick, at worst dead. It takes about a month, or a little more to build a cycle in your tank. Tetra Safe STart helps jumpstart the process, though the best way is to take filter media from a tank that is already up and cycled.

Once your tank is cycled, never 100% clean it. Washing all that gravel and filter media destroys the cycle and you must start over from scratch. Instead, change 25% of the water, vacuum the gravel a bit and add it back in, using a water conditioner such as Stress Coat (my favorite). Live plants help the cycle too.

Bettas, are pretty carnivorous. I find mine LOVE frozen bloodworms, find them at your petstore in cubes. A few bloodworms are a great treat. I also feed mine Hikari Betta Bites, 1-2 pellets a day.

And for those, who ask why is this all important, we're talking about a 3.00 fish. Whenever you bring a pet into your home, you are taking responsibility for it's care. It's up to you to make sure the quality of life is the best possible. A 5 gallon tank doesn't take up much room, and really is easier in the long run. With a heater and filter, a few plants and a hiding place, your fish will have a much better quality of life.

Bettas are wonderful pets. Even with all the fish here, they and my goldfish are my favorites. And just be grateful you didn't GET goldfish. They need at least a 10 gallon tank per fish. Though there is nothing prettier than a properly maintained, properly sized goldfish tank.

There is a great forum called www.fishlore.com that I'd highly suggest for those who want to learn more about how to best care for their fish.

Awesome post..I think far too many people listen to the people at the pet stores regarding animal care- by and large, these peole give out wrong information.

 

[blessedby3]

I don't know what you may be doing wrong..did you maybe use soap when you cleaned the tank? Our betta, Jelly, is in a 1 or 1 1/2 gallon bowl in our kitchen, no plants or anything else, I feed him veggie flakes, change his water every other day (clean bowl with warm water, no soap, put a couple of drops of water treatment in, swirl it around, plop Jelly back in) and we've had him for just about 2 years now. Very simple routine. He seems fine, his colors are beautiful and he is very inquistive when I'm working around the kitchen. We got ours at Petsmart too!

No...no soap in the tank. When we started we just put the rocks and "plastic greenery" that came with it in the tank, then added the water and water treatment stuff....let it sit 30 mins and added the fish. After that one died, I just rinsed the rocks off with tap water and did the same thing again. No soap. Could we be adding too much water treatment stuff? Ours said to put a capful in.

 

[riley2008]

Lots of great information here. I am a bit surprised with the varied responses with such varied results (i.e., minimal care with long life expectancies).

That said, our Betta is in a plastic cookie jar from Target. (The animal crackers in the teddy bear shaped plastic cantainer with the red or blue lids - yep, that's the one.) He sits on bar in our kitchen - we look at each other while I wash dishes. We've had him a year. I love him because he's minimal upkeep. Now with reading everything, I feel like I'm doing everything wrong!

I'm guessing our container would be about 1 gallon. I used some old flat floral decorator marbles in the bottom (from our wedding - I'll never be able to use them all up). We also have a live plant. We feed the fish either dried bloodworms or pellets every other day.

To change his water, I poor him out into another bowl, rinse the marbles and the container under the tap (we have well water) and then poor water back in (left out on counter overnight to come to room temp), readjust the plant/marbles and back in he goes! Takes all of 3-4 minutes. I love it!!

I am feeling guilty now. Watch him be gone when I get home, now that I know I've been abusing and neglecting him! I guess I need to spend more money!!

 

[CinRell]

Freecycle and craigslist are great places to find bigger tanks cheap! Just make sure you disinfect the heck out of them first!

 

[njmom47]

I use a couple of drops of the water treatment for 1 or 1 1/2 gallon bowl.

 

[Liberty Belle]

My son has a betta and his first bowl was 2 gallons. I just felt sorry for the little guy. So, now he's in a 20 gallon tank with three neon tetras. We will probably get more neon tetras soon, but a betta cannot live with another betta. He does fine with the tetras.

Adding: he seems so much happier in the big tank and it's much easier to keep clean than the little bowl.

 

[Liberty Belle]

The food package tells me to feed him 2-3 times a day. But I'm only feeding him two pellets at a time and he's not even eating them. And I googled and a lot of the websites I read said the same. But I'll definitely cut back on feeding, I just feel bad. He's probably just adjusting, but everywhere I read said they need to be warm because they're tropical fish.

We feed Rex (our betta) two times a day. Sometimes we miss one of the times. He's thrived. He's grown and is an active, healthy-looking, very pretty fish. We've had him a little over a year.

 

[Phlip]

My dd12 wanted a beta fish and bought her own tank kit at Petsmart (like a pp mentioned). We brought the fish home, fixed the water, used the water treatment, let the water sit for 30 mins, transferred the fish....2 days later...dead fish. I called Petsmart and they said bring the fish and the receipt back. We did that and brought a new one home. Start from scratch....cleaned the tank, added water and cleaner, let it sit 30 mins, put the fish in....2 days later...dead fish. I am so frustrated and I dont know what the problem is. People told us they were hearty fish. A friend suggested that Petsmart wasnt the best place to purchase fish, but with the exact thing happening in the exact time frame, I am thinking it is something we are or arent doing. Any suggestions?

Would we have better luck with a plain old goldfish?

Same thing happened to me....had one beta for about 4 years, no problems. Got a tank kit from someplace, did everything right. When he died, we got another one, did everything the same, and after a few days, he died. Got fish number 3, the same thing. We decided we are fish killers and got a guinnea pig--he's fine. Would like to get another beta--but our house is on the cold side, I don't want to mess with the filter, heater etc, etc.