*waves* Hello!

Aug 12, 2011
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#1
Hi! Y'all can call me Skye.

Well, I'm pretty new to keeping bettas - the cute lil scrappers - and I stumbled upon this place recently. I attempted to keep fish back in high school and I had a 10 gal aquarium. However, I was much less successful at it than my sister since while her's lasted until the tank sprung a leak and she was forced to give up fish keeping. Suffice to say that I gave up in despair after nothing in my tank would go right.

But, at the beginning of this summer I decided to try again, this time keeping it small. I liked bettas and decided to see if I could manage one. Well, three months later and I'm in love with em. ^^ I now have three males, a very boisterous red'n'blue veil tail named America, a skittish blue halfmoon tail named Prussia, and a white'n'dark green-blue halfmoon tail named Germany. I call em 'my boys'.

I'd also like to get another tank to keep some females and perhaps get a few tankmates for America. Any advice from more experienced keepers is welcome!
 

Thyra

Superstar Fish
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
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Yelm, WA
#2
I am also very fond of bettas - they all can have different personalities. You haven't said what size tanks you have and it would be helpful to know that. I started off very "low tech" with my first betta. Then I discover this forum and all the opinions that went with it. It cost almost $50 to upgrade him to a home that was considered proper. (I have since learned about thrift stores and Craigs list) He wasn't any happier as far as I could tell - no more bubble nests and I found the 2 1/2g tank much harder to keep clean. He had started out in a 1g vase with some glass marbles and an artificial plant. I now have one in a 5g, one in a 10g with friends, and one in a 16g community tank, also the one in the 2 1/2g. I don't think the one in the 5g tank has ever gotten use to that much room and he tends to use just a small portion. It took the one in the 10 g tank probably 3 weeks to start moving around and using the whole tank. The one in the community tank, which is mostly platies, is all over the place and swims right with the other fish. He is definitely a top, middle and bottom fish. I have had no problem with fin nipping. Not all bettas will accept other fish in their tank. The other fish were there before I added the betta with the exception of the one in the 2 1/2g tank - I added two otos after he was there with no problem. Most people are not going to recommend otos in that small of tank and also a tank does have to be established for otos because they feed on algae. Sounds like you have some really beautiful boys! Just don't be in a hurry to add other fish. Oh, yes - I have well water and I just use it as it comes. It is also very important in a small tank to change about half the water once a week. If you have them in anything smaller than 2 1/2g you almost have to do a complete water change once a week. You should read some of the Stickys and get familiar with cycling and testing water is you continue this hobby.
 

Aug 12, 2011
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#3
I've already read some of the stickies, but not about cycling and testing. I've already decided that I need to try another testing method because the leave in pH tests that I've tried are hit and miss on whether they'll last more than a week before turning some strange color. So well water doesn't have to be treated? Awesome! I'll still need to keep some of my water conditioner for when I go back to school, but it's nice to know that I don't need to worry about it at home.

Both tanks are 2.5 gallons. I do a 1/3 water change every week, but going to 1/2 shouldn't be any trouble. America is the one who has the tank to himself, and he seems to love it. He sounds like the one you have in your community tank. From the first America was all over the place. Germany and Prussia share the other 2.5, and I think I may have to get them in completely separate tanks. I have a plastic divider between their two sides, and while they seem to be content with their halves, I think they've discovered they can get at each other's fins through the slits in the divider.

Well, I do want to get a good companion fish that'll eat algae, so perhaps I'll try otos with America. He's all over the place, but he's never struck me as being particularly aggressive. My campus allows fish in the dorms, so I can take my betta boys with me. I was thinking of introducing a new tankmate on one of the times I have to pack the boys up and bring them home with me, perhaps around Christmas break because by then I might have a quarantine tank set up. I think one of the reasons I was less than successful with my first attempt at fish keeping was because I didn't realize that I was introducing sick fish to a healthy community. But the plan as it has formed somewhat in my head is to either put in the new fish first and then put in America, or put the new fish in a clear container of some sort and see how America reacts to its presence in the tank. Right now though my priority is going to be either a new tank for one of my halfmoon two or the bubblers, depending on if Germany and Prussia stop trying for each other's fins. They got habituated to each other's presence pretty quickly, so it actually shocked me a bit when I looked up last evening to see them displaying at each other again. That's when I noticed their fins.
 

Thyra

Superstar Fish
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
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Yelm, WA
#4
The divided 2 1/2g is too small for the two bettas. And like I said, you might get away with two otos with the betta, but not many people would recommend it in that size tank. The most they might suggest is a snail. There is no fish that will clean your tank. Otos do thrive on algae but they do not clean the tank. Do not worry about pH - it is what it is and your fish will acclimate. It is sudden changes that would be a problem - like when you move, so mix the water slowly over a couple of days. The tests you are most interested in are ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and a liquid test kit will cost so get on the internet and check prices. Most use the API master kit for fresh water. Be careful with any used tank you buy so that it is a fish tank and not a reptile tank - they are not made to hold a full column of water.

I am sorry, but this is not a cheap hobby and the pictures on the boxes and ads that show a bunch of fish in those little tanks just don't work. That is why so many people are not successful with fish keeping. The way I did it as a kid many, many years ago was wrong, but we didn't know any better. Now there are a lot more resources for learning. The main things IMO are not over stocking and frequent partial water changes. Also remember there are tropical fish and "cold" water fish. A lot of people try to put goldfish in with tropical fish and it isn't good for them. Also gold fish need much bigger tanks - like they recommend 30g for two goldfish! You are not going to want to be dealing with that kind of thing while in college and moving back and forth.