Hello everyone! This is our first male Betta (Andy). We went with a quick deal through our local pet supply store for the talk and accessories. Link is for the setup we went with on a budget for our daughter’s third birthday. https://www.petsmart.com/fish/starter-kits/top-fin-essentials-aquarium-starter-kit-40713.html
What I know doesn’t work:
– the supplied filter is too strong for the little guy so we’ll look at getting a sponge filter and air pump sometime in the near future.
Any tips on other plants and friends would be helpful! I’d love to have the tank be relatively self sufficient as we have two very young kids. I know snails would need to wait about a month for algae to buildup and have seen that some little bottom feeders can be friendly with him. We’ve also read that a female can be introduced if the temperature stays on the lower end. Just wanted to clarify that information before we pull the trigger.
Thank you! Our kids absolutely adore the little guy.
https://i.redd.it/gs30a5b1k0zg1.jpeg
Posted by 0rions_Belt_Buckle
4 Comments
Looks great so far! I’d suggest places for the fish to hide, make sure you sand down and clean any edges that could be sharp. A floating betta hide is also a great idea! You can find them on Walmart.com or really anywhere online. I got mine for $8 on Amazon! Drift wood is also a good idea but can be pricy. Look on market place for cheap plant bundles! Plants grow fast, Taiwan lilies grow fast, and look really cute. I got 8 clippings, $1 for 2 clippings + a bunch of other plants from her.
Good luck with him! Glad you are getting the sponge filter!
Bamboo is only semi aquatic, not meant to be fully submerged. Keep a close eye on it or consider getting a special clip made to keep plant rants in the aquarium and not the leaves.
Also definitely recommend some hides and perches like the other commenter mentioned! Maybe a nice piece of driftwood would tie it all together. Plus, driftwood will add tannins to the water which bettas love.
How much do you know about the nitrogen cycle? That’ll be real important in making sure he stays around long enough for y’all to enjoy him. If you need info about it I’d be happy to help, but there’s also an information sheet attatched to this sub. If you weren’t aware of this, I wouldn’t consider any tankmates until it’s all taken care of 🙂
Aside from that some hardscape (driftwood + rocks) would really help. Driftwood CAN be expensive, but facebook marketplace can be helpful for that.
To make a TRUELY self-sufficient tank I would research he walstad method, but in general the more plants you have, the more self-sufficient it can be. Some floaters (duckweed, frogbit, red-root) would be great and easy, pothos is pretty easy (only the roots go under water). In my experience plants are pretty easy if you have root tabs and some patience, and you can never really go wrong with just adding more and more.
As far as a female goes I would just never add one. I don’t know too much about it except that most mating in betta fish ends in the death of the female unless under the eye of a very experienced breeder with another 2 tanks set up for the female and babies, and a plan on what to do with the babies. In general its a very dangerous, stressful process really only reccomended to very experienced fish keepers.
Congrats on your new lil guy, hope everything goes well. Happy to follow up with any questions, esp about the nitrogen cycle which is probably the most important 🙂
I’m new also and I literally have the 5 gallon one for curbside I’m picking up tomm from petsmart (I have a 3gal) I’ve been a fish/betta owner since Friday. lol