Betta Fish: What’s the basics/bare minimum I need to take care of this fish.

Also wanted to add that getting the “bare minimum” stuff is only for this next week, I will be able to purchase more stuff and spoil the little guy after I get paid.

A 5-gallon tank minimum, 10 gallons if you can, a heater, and a filter that’s not too powerful are the priorities. But you’ll also need to plant quite a bit in the aquarium, And a very important element will also be the liquid water tests. And most importantly, you REALLY need to learn about the nitrogen cycle.

5 gal tank, heater , filter some plants (silk or live, plastic will rip fins ) and food (look for ones with ingredients like fish meal and not ones with fillers like wheat flour )

Also learn the nitrogen cycle and use dechlorinator

5 gal tank, sponge filter and air pump, adjustable heater, thermometer, 1 inch fluval stratum or aquasoil topped with 2 inches of sand or gravel, aquatic plants, plant growth light (full spectrum), hiding places (rocks/driftwood- driftwood may be weighted down with rock with cyanoacrylate super glue), siphon + bucket for water changes (only do 50% max, you want to keep temp some of the bacteria), water conditioner (removes chlorine), and learn about the nitrogen cycle- it can be overwhelming but there is a ton of help here. API freshwater master kit to test water parameters and make sure fishy isnt suffering
Everything you need will probably end up costing at least $200- but you can look on FB marketplace for better deals

10g planted up tank. Api quick start and api essential water conditioner. 50w Digital heater to adjust the heat up to 80 degrees in the tank. Unfortunately, a tank should sit for about a month before adding fish.

Seems some folks are missing the point. Bare, bare, BARE minimum for a temporary setup that will be upgraded ASAP:

5-10 gallon tank

Seachem prime (!!!!!!)

Gravel vacuum/some kind of siphon for water changes. Worst case scenario, you can use a cup for now, but you’ll hate life.

Heater, preferably an adjustable temp, and don’t get one that’s rated for bigger than the tank you have. Heaters that turn on/off a lot are more likely to malfunction.

Use a dishwasher/microwave safe mug for a hide if you can. Just make sure there’s 0 soap on it.

Filter, I use the Fluval aquaclear power filter for 5-20 gal tanks. Love that thing.

Substrate, I use white aquarium sand.

Food, I use betta bug bites from Fluval.

Look up a fish-in cycle. You’re going to be doing a lot of water changes. If you can get an API liquid test kit right now, do it. If you can’t, treat the water as if it always has ammonia in it (because it likely will) and water change daily.

**Get a good filter now if you can, don’t plan to upgrade later.** The filter media (the sponge/cartridge, but cartridges suck) is what will be the main thing that holds the beneficial bacteria that will break down ammonia>nitrite>nitrate. If you swap it, you’ll crash your cycle.

5+ gallon tank with lid and light. Low flow filter (sponge filter good option), adjustable heater, thermometer, some silk, silicone, or live plants to hide in, a betta rest that suctions or floats. The 5 gallon tank kit at walmart has a pretty decent adjustable filter. Ive bought 2 for bettas now this year. It comes with tank lid/light combo and filter for little under 40. I have a heater from walmart too and they have lasted better than one ive gotten from petco. The one from petco started cooking my fish one day. Still on the walmart heater 8 minths later in my 10 gallon and 4 minths in my 5. If you go with a sponge filter you will need an air pump and line. You dont have to have gravel/aqua soil right away if youre just making it till next week. Just heater tank and lid/light with some hiding spots and a betta rest andof course betta pellets. Oh and you have to have dechlorinator. Aqueon is affordable at Walmart. Itll be like a hospital tank.

Once you are able to get more, I recommend aquasoil (you dont need to cap fluval stratum, I am pretty sure its actually not recommended by fluval but id need to double check), live plants, a good rgb growing light, a betta log, a digital thermometer, a liquid water test kit like api master test kit or the imagitarium equivalent, fluval bug bites, frozen brine shrimp, seachem prime and seachem stability, a 5 gallon food safe water change bucket, and kanaplex.

What you will need, 5 or 10 gallon tank, the aqueon 5.5 gallon rimmed tank for like 20 bucks is good, heater, a 50 watt heater would be good, go for eheim or fluval, avoid topfin, a filter, smth like the fluval AC 20 or AC 30 would be good, they are usually on sale for 30 bucks, sand or dirt, you can get sand for 20, some rocks and wood, even just rocks are fine, don’t buy them get them from outside and bleach them, some plants like Anubias or java fern to wedge between the plants, and a light, a cheap LED for like 20 bucks off Amazon works, expected total is gonna be 100-150 bucks

No colorful rocks like those. They can stress your betta. Get some sort of aqua substrate and use real plants.

5 gallon tank, clean dechlorinated water, a gentle flowing and cycled filter (meaning it has established a nitrifying bacteria colony), and a heater set to around 78F. Feed twice a day, ideally a pellet food (around 3 pellets per serving) and throw in some frozen blood worms and brine shrimp here and there. Avoid decor that can rip their fins and ideally use live plants.

They’re not overly difficult to take care of. The nitrogen cycle is your biggest hurdle.

Some people will tell you that gravel is toxic. It’s not. It’s ugly as hell but totally fine as long as you’re buying it from a reputable brand. I personally would consider natural colored gravel or aquasoil with a sand cap.

Read a bunch about fish in cycling of the tank and get a test kit. You’ll be fine.