Lost...and ever so confused

[Tenshi4eva]

Alright, first we'll start with the cute story as to why I want a fish tank. I just took my 2 year old nephew to see "Finding Nemo" and after the movie we went to the pet store for me to buy cat food, of course caspian (my nephew, yes named after the sea) saw the fish tanks and went and pointed out every "nemo" (basically every fish) so I thought it would be cute if "Aunty Byrdie" had a tank of "Nemos" for Caspian to see whenever he came over.

I have of course...decided AGAINST saltwater and FOR bettas.....


this conversation set has really helped with a few of my questions. I dont intend on breeding betta,but I'm one of those "weirdos", as refered to by the local pet store,who is interested in keeping a tank with a few female betta.... I'm doing lots of research at least two weeks of it already and I'm still at a loss as to:

1) is it possible/healthy to keep more than one fem. betta in a tank? I'm lookin at an over priced 30 gal octogon tank...and neons...because my father loves the funny looking things

2) where the heck does one buy female bettas? none of the fish stores around here carry them, except wal-mart and as said before, they look sick....if I buy one of them outof pitty will they perk up?

3) any other advice a first time fish tank owner should know? well I suppose that's a lie......i had goldfish when i was little

I suppose that's it...after reading all these other posts I m hoping for some of the more knowledgeable fish owners (those who iv'e seen to have given the best advice) to drop me a lil' note

THANKS!

 

[Coyote]

I can answer #2. I got my female betta at Petco. One store put their females into cups. The other store put the females in tanks with other fish. I notice most of their females look pale but the one that I have is bright red in color.

 

[Tenshi4eva]

thanks coyote, and we do suprisingly have a petco here in nowheres ville michigan.

 

[420Loach]

it depends on the temperment of the fish. some bettas are rather peacful and some are straight up jerks. if you put females in with a male they might mate, or the male could tear up the females, or in my case the three females killed each other leaving the male by his lonesome. but a betta would be a good start, way easier then a real "nemo". goos luck!

 

[Velvet AciD]

There's always online ordering.. that's what I prefer. Do a Google search for Betta Breeders.

 

[FroggyFox]

Several of my lfs (not big chain stores) keep their female bettas in the other tanks. So once you know what they look like you might go back and either ask or take another look in some of the tanks to see if thats where they're putting the females.

I think you would be fine to put a few females together in a tank...as long as you don't add a male. I'm pretty sure if you added a male you'd relive 420loach's experience with them.

OH...if you can avoid buying a new tank I would. Unless you have money to throw at something like that. I bought my 10 gallon new with all the "fixins" for around 120 bucks...and then a week later got a 15 gallon hex tank, stand and all the stuff at a garage sale for 18 dollars. I would reccomend looking in your local classifieds for used tanks because you can usually find a good deal from someone who is giving up the hobby or moving...and if you do any garage saling, this is prime season so I might try some of those.

I would cringe at buying any fish from Walmart...but if thats the only place you can find the females I would try getting them...at the very least they'll have some time of freedom from their tiny cup...and they'll either hugely perk up or won't make it. If I was stuck in that little cup of room temperature water, and someone bought me and put me a heated tank where I actually had room to turn around and swim my outlook on life would increase quite a bit!!

As for the "first time fish owners advice" There is a ton of it. Too much to write here. The best advice is to make sure you research everything as much as you can before actually doing it. Everything from cycling your tank (you'll want to know what that means) to what fish are compatible with what fish.

Welcome to the board! Everyone around here is more than willing to try and give you a hand with any questions you have...but don't forget that we're human too and to take everyones suggestions/opinions with a grain of salt!

 

[cowlovergirl]

We have actually had good luck with our fish we bought at walmart. They are fantail goldfish. The tanks at walmart were a lot cleaner than the ones at the other petstore, and the staff was very helpful...

I agree with froggy, you should try to find a good used tank. We find them every saturday lol.

Good luck

angie

 

[lilsilkk1112]

I'd say you'll be fine keeping female bettas together. I wouldn't put in a male though unless its a huge tank... you can't just breed bettas by putting them together, its a slightly longer, more in depth process, so cut the idea of keeping them together. Its been done, but I've seen some pretty females at the LFS kept together, showed good color, etc.

Actually, they WERE in with the Neon tetra! so thats good news for you... You could probably do something like, 3 female betta, 12-15 Neon tetra, and 2 Dwarf Gourami in a 30g... I'd personally get the Neon blue/orange dwarf gourami, as opposed to the much smaller honey dwarfs or powder blue dwarfs. All of the Dwarf Gourami are beautiful and personable though! I love mine, he'll eat out of my hand, and his colors are more brilliant than the betta i have...

So, thats my suggestion... 3 female betta, 15 or so neon tetra, and a pair of dwarf gourami... might even be able to add something to those later, but I'd say that'd be a nice setup. The hex tanks are a little difficult to judge # of fish considering they are taller than wider... they are a bit different then filling a 30g long or something that has much more surface area.

Good luck!

 

[shearonlynn]

One of my favorite bettas is my pretty little turquoise named Beauty! Female bettas can be as people-oriented as the males and will learn to eat from your hands and rise to greet you when you come near.
However, if you keep females in a community tank you will lose a lot of interaction with them. And, just like the males, bettas can be very picky when it comes to eating. If you feed your community tank flakes, the bettas may not eat them and if you try to feed the bettas pellets, the tank mates will be competing with them.

Some people have had good luck keeping female bettas in community tanks, but I just prefer to save myself the hassle and the betta the stress and keep them in their individual environments.

However, when it gets right down to it, it's your decision and you have made a good beginning.

Someone did suggest ordering female bettas online, but please do not order from 'thebettadealer'; he breds bettas to fight.