This is Po. My neighbor had me take care of him while he was on vacation. He's been back for a while now and doesn't seem to want Po back. A friend informed me that the jar seemed a bit small, so I did some research and have decided to get a bigger container.
The current contents of this jar are a bunch of glass marbles, fake plants, and that archway. (The jellyfish is a sticker outside the tank)
I also wanted to add some cleaner species, like snails, shrimp, or catfish, for example.
What are your thoughts? What do bettas like, and what do they need? What other species will get along with Po, and Is there anything I'll need for the additional species?
I've never had an aquarium before, so any advice from more experienced fish owners will be helpful.
Posted by West-Pilot-9200
10 Comments
https://preview.redd.it/y3t86gpj5dhg1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=17aa2e34b5f7abee001218c6a09d387dc253b13f
Poor fish. Good on you for wanting to help him. Your neighbor sucks. His tank is waaaay to small. He needs 5 gallon, minimum. And a heater (i keep my betta tanks at 80 degrees), live plants (no fake plants or decor with sharp edges), and a filter with low flow (id do a small sponge filter). Get him some decent food too like shrimp pellets. I’m sure your neighbor is giving him shit flake food .
Read up on tank cycling before you setup a new tank.
hold off on more fish although snails wouldnt be a bad idea i would look at getting a 5-10 gallon tank u can easily find one on fb market place for 10 bucks. If u want catfish u could get corydora catfish however that would require at least a 20 gallon tank and betas are also known as Siamese fighting fish because they where literally bred to kill eachother so putting other fish in with them is risky.
Hey I’ve been keeping bettas for a little while so I’ll give you some of the things I’ve learned.
– your betta absolutely needs a bigger tank, 5 gallons is the minimum for bettas as a rule of thumb
– go for natural decorations, live plants if you can, specifically ones with big leaves!
– get a tank kit that comes with a filter and a heater or buy them separately. Bettas are tropical fish and like warmer water, and a filter will help keep ammonia ( bad ) from building up.
– bettas are territorial and might attack anything you put in the tank with it, especially other fish. Snails are normally okay, but I’ve had bettas eat shrimp and other fish and trust me it’s not fun 😬
– do some research into the nitrogen cycle as it’s going to be very important for any fish keeping you do
– I don’t know where you live obvs but petco sells good value tank + filter kits
Good luck with Po and thank you for caring enough to ask 😁 let me know what you end up doing !
Hi! I’ll do my best to help you 🙂 get ready for an essay xD
Tank:
-Minimum is 5 gallons, though 10+ is preferred.
Tankmates:
Depends on tank size and temperament of betta (E.X. If you have a 20 gallon tank and your betta is calm you could have some corydoras with him and shrimps and snails. If you have a 5 gallon tank then NO tankmates except for shrimp and snails)!
Easy Starter Plants:
Java Fern and Anubias (should be tied/glued to something), Anachoris, Rotalia, Amazon Swords (will need ferts + root tabs), Valisineria
Easy Floaters:
Salvinia Minima (grows SUPER fast for me), Water Lettuce (LOVE these guys crazy long roots- I have the dwarf version)
Substrate:
You can do any, some people will say Fluval Stratum, I feel like it’s overhyped. As you are a beginner, you COULD do the walstad method (check out r/walstad for more info!) but easier would be to just buy a random substrate.
Filter:
I LOVE sponge filters as you never have to replace them (if it gets clogged just squeeze it out in a bucket of OLD TANK WATER). You will need an air pump and tubing for them but it’s easy (I also have an air stone hooked up to mine- it provides extra oxygen)!
Water Conditioner:
I love Seachem Prime, it detoxifies your water from ammonia. I also like Seachem Stability as in my case it helped me build up the good bacteria in my filter faster.
Heater:
I recommend adjustable ones, 78-80F is the sweet spot! If you can’t get an adjustable one most will already be programmed to sit at 78F (do get a thermometer I have one which was a sticker for the outside of my aquarium).
Recommendations:
API Liquid Test Kit (to test your water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH), Driftwood (such as mopani, it’s really nice to glue plants such as Java Fern or Anubias on), tannins (I like to use Indian Almond Leaves- tannins will stain your water brown [your wood will also do this if you don’t boil it well enough] but that’s okay as it helps with fin health and protects against diseases).
Tankmates:
If you want shrimp, do neocaridina as they are more resilient than caridina. For snails, depending on the size you could do a mystery snail (poop more than they clean, usually just a fun interactive snail, need 10+ gallons) or nerite (usually only eat algae so make sure your tank is mature before adding) or ramshorn/bladder/pond snails (reproduce by themselves, can take over a tank but it depends on how much excess food you don’t have, so if you don’t overfeed you should be fine). [If you do decide to get shrimp try to get the API gH and kH test kit since that is important for molting, also get a TDS]
You will have to do a fish-in cycle, research how to do that.
If you have any more questions feel free to reach out! You’re doing great 💛
-Leo 😛
poor guy
If you want catfish ,shrimp and snails you should get a 20gal long. You can get him some live plants, sand and a nice sponge filter on low flow. You can get some corydoras of one species (if he’s calm) and maybe cherry shrimps and some onion nerite snails. Good on you for helping this little guy!!!
that sure is a betta “tank”
Petco and petsmart have sales on tanks sometimes, check out their 10’s and 20’s.
Live plants, heater, sponge filter, air stone, and light with a timer are all recommended. Amazon has some good finds, sometimes marketplace might have stuff. Check out aquarium co-op for plant stuff I love using them, even got a package delivered in the winter and had no issues. And for substrate use sand, fluval, or gravel. Look up tanks on here or “betta fish tank” on TikTok for inspiration.
You might want to check your areas local
r/aquaswap posts! There might be some gently used things you can pick up, some good advice and lower cost plants. You’ll need to cycle your new tank for awhile before he can go into his new home- see if someone nearby can give you an old filter sponge or something to help kick start your ammonia cycle (maybe on the Reddit thread swap sites)