Hello! My sister got a betta fish and the employee recommended a fish bowl. And plastic plants. I didn't even know she had this fish until a few days ago, and he's in rough shape… I got a 5 gallon tank (to start with) and I'm trying to follow everything on the sub but I'm just extremely overwhelmed. So far I've got a heater, the 5 gal tank (with m filter), I'm trying to pick what seachem items to get. I can't tell if he needs healing stuff too (I think he's kinda torn up 😟) and water conditioner. I don't know substrate to get, I also want to get plants. I don't know what high quality betta food is or how to identify it. Apparently it's been almost 3 months, I don't know how this guy lived that long, and I just want to do right by him. Can someone just break it down for me super simply? Also, please don't shame my sister, she's unfortunately just an impulsive teen and thought it would be fine "since they sell them in those little cups, and the lady told me what to get". But she wants to do right by him too, now that she knows better.
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Posted by SchlemielLady
5 Comments
If you have plants in your tank a plant feeding substrate on the bottom with a top later of sand works great i cant tell if he needs any medicine check for white spots or tearing of the fins.for food small pellets work great. Try to get a plant with big leaves he can lay under for a dark area. Its good youre both trying hard to get him in a better situation
im very much a beginner so i dont know a whole lot yet. with that being said, if youd like plants in the tank you could get a substrate called ‘fluval stratum’ 🙂 it has lots of minerals plants LOVE. my betta loves amazon sword plants but really any aquatic plant that catches your eye will do 🙂 they also like having hidey holes so maybe get some decor with places for them to hide, also a betta hammock 🙂 i hope everything works out for you! [also please cycle the tank or research how to do a fish in cycle]
Good job with the 5 gal and heater ! Moving in the right direction.
For seachem you don’t needa bunch of fancy stuff. Just the dechlorinator (seachem prime I think?) and some live bacteria (some people say the bottled bacteria does not work, I have had good results with it. To each their own). The live bacteria is for the nitrogen cycle, which is very important to the wellbeing of this fish. I’m assuming you will be transferring him over to the five gallon soon, so you won’t have the full 1-2 months to wait for it to cycle naturally. If you know anyone with an established tank, or you could even go to your LFS and ask, use old filter media to jumpstart the cycle.
Don’t worry too much about substrate unless you’re trying to do a heavily planted tank. A neutral colored gravel will be just fine. If you want nutrients for plants fluval substrate has lots of nutrients, but it can be expensive. Hornwort and java fern are two examples of plants that will do just fine in gravel.
‘Good quality betta food’ to me is usually measured by high levels of protein and low levels of fat. I use omega floating pellets and occasional bloodworms or mysis shrimps as treats.
Also- seachem stress guard or api betta fix will do wonders for his fins.
Good luck!
My betta is in a 54l tank. I used tropica plant growth substrate at the bottom, planted my live plants into that and then filled over the top with gravel. I also got a suspended drift wood with a live plant attached that sits just below the water line and he loves it. He’s always sitting on it and sleeps there at night. I used a mix of taller plants and shorter ones so there’s plenty of hiding and resting spots but with plenty of space to swim about in too.
Food wise, I use plec pellets for the corys and then just normal fish flakes for the tetras and betta.
You don’t have to get any fancy substrate, I would actually advise against it for starting out. It can leech nutrients into the water and cause algae problems. If you do decide to get fluval stratum make sure you cap it with a layer of sand.
For plants if you do sand or gravel you can get Cryptocoryne species, which will root into the gravel/sand. You can get Java Fern and Anubias which have a rhizome that doesn’t get planted and they feed off the water column. You could also get Java Moss and attach it to a piece of driftwood- which recommended for bettas. And you can get some Frogbit which is a floating plant.
You have a filter, just make sure the flow isn’t too strong or get a sponge filter. You need a heater set to 78 minimum. I’d recommend a plant light off Amazon- I have Aquaneats on my 5gs ($9) plugged into a manual timer set for 8 hours a day.
Bug bites betta food is great and easy to get.
And you already have a dechlorinator.
I would do a fish in cycle, it won’t take as long and you could try Fritz Turbo Start to help it go faster.
OR buy a medium sized piece of driftwood from a Petco that sells them in the tank already and it should just jumpstart the whole cycle. You’d still need to test for a couple of weeks but it should be pretty instant as it will be colonized with beneficial bacteria.
I’d start with small water changes to the bowl to get the fish adjusted to regular water conditions. Over the course of a week do a series of 20% water changes. Then add him to the new tank.
After all this, take some photos of him so we can advise you if he needs treatment.