Betta Fishies!

[aellos]

So, learned my lesson. Don't by a living thing as an impulse, but the poor little things were shoved in a corner of Walmart. So I bought one, got it a little 1/2 gal tank and little places for it to hide in it planning on graduating him to a 2.5-5gal tank after a few more paychecks. (With a heater and filter!)

Will he be alright in that little tank for a month to two months at the very most?
I will make sure I change his water ever week (a 25%-50% water change) and he's in a spot that isn't cold.

Poor little buddy.

[Like A Tea Spoon]

You've won a friend for life in me! What people don't seem to understand is that betta or Siamese fighting fish come from "mud puddles" like this:

http://nippyfish.net/2011/10/23/the-native-betta-habitat-separating-fact-from-fiction/

 
It's sad to see so many people still believe the myths like those water rooted plant jar "gift set" where they mislead people into believing these fish can survive on plant roots alone.

They are beautiful fish, and the females I have had were always so full of personality. They would always swim up to the top when I would feed them. 

The fish should be fine, just make sure if it's a jumper, that you put a lid with tiny holes in the top so the fish don't jump out. I lost one like this because he liked to jump.

[invaderhorizongreen]

I have had a few and one that lived with some cory cat fish as well. I do miss them but right now i just don't have room for a tank so it is in storage. I really hate that vase and plant thing they do to them that is just downright cruel.

[Eviecorn]

Bettas are beautiful, and I hate seeing them in vases.   He should be okay temporarily, but just make getting him a bigger home a top priority.

[Kiwi]

He should definitely be ok for the month I've had one live up to 3 years in a large bowl. Bettas are great fish!

I have to agree with CCW - the females are often overlooked for the fancier more colourful males, but they are so full of personality. One I had would rustle around in her stones every night when I turned out the light, and another of mine jumped out of her tank (my mom took the lid off for a minute to look at her better, and POP!). Thankfully she landed on carpet, but it was a decent jump height - off my dresser straight to the floor.

[aellos]

I actually owned a female Betta before! She was fulllll of personality.

Post Merge: August 28, 2012, 06:52:01 PM

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Picture of Spock!

I plan on getting pictures once I get a better tank tommorow too!

[Like A Tea Spoon]

Spock's so pretty! You got me looking at bettas all over again 

[kaoskat]

He should be fine, though I recommend getting some water test strips or a water testing kit so you can test his water daily until you get a sense of how often it needs to be changed.

[Varkolak]

the article makes me sad, i didn't know how to take care of my beta back then and he ended up dead after a year :/ i didn't know any better, but i still wish i had known more.
he started out in a small fish bowl, then i saved up and got him a 10 gallon with an air filter and cleaning filter. then my snail bowl got extremely over populated (science project, and i couldn't bare to kill them off, so i thought hey.. keep em.. little did i know, a single snail makes its own babies.) i put them in with jack and he ate them all. *face palm* he ate my favorite one johnny and i was so sad. then my tank started to break somehow, so he ended up back in his little bowl i vowed no more fish for me though.

[ZennaBug]

As long as the small tank is temporary, he should be fine.  Certainly better than he was sitting in a cup at Walmart.  I have owned 2 bettas.  The first was a beautiful crowntail named Buddy that I bought from Petsmart for my dorm room and he had a 1-gallon tank with a filtration system and a real plant.  He lived to be 3.  I would have liked to have a larger tank, but I made do with my small space and he seemed very happy in there.  He lived with a little otocinclus (super cute algae eater), who I just called "Oto."

My other was sort of a sad story, even though he came into my life at about the same time.  My hubby's roommate bought a betta at Walmart right before I got my own and I named the fish Timmy because he just called it "dumb fish."  Timmy had a bowl and didn't get water changes unless I came in and did them.  One day, I walked in to see the jerk roommate pouring DR. PEPPER into the bowl!  I promptly took Timmy to my dorm room, did a full water change, adjusted the chemicals, and got him some rocks and plants to make his life more interesting.  The roommate demanded his fish be returned and I flipped out.  So Timmy became mine.  I only had him for 6 months or so though, when I found him dead on the bottom.  I went to fish him out and he moved!  He had had a seizure or something (?) and lost control of one side of his body, so he swam in circles and couldn't make it to the surface to eat.  So I had to reduce his water lever so he could get food and he lived another week.  Poor Timmy.  I did the best I could for that poor fish, but I have always suspected that the Dr. Pepper incident was not the first, or even worst, mistreatment he suffered.  Needless to say, we cut that creeper out of our lives as soon as the semester was over.  *sigh*

Moral of the long story:  a nice tank and clean water will go a long way.  Even a male betta can live happily with some fish if you choose carefully, I loved my little Oto and he helped keep the tank clean.

Good luck!

[Tulips]

Congrats on the little cutie! He'll be fine for the time being and will totally love the larger tank.
I've got a Betta in a 40L (10 gallon?) tank with a filter and a heater. He has two Bristlenose catfish as company because them whiskers are so cute!

I loath the myth about small tanks. My father persisted in believing that a small tank without a filter and a small heat pad was okay with weekly water changes (sure, they can survive but are they truely happy and healthy?)... a couple of Betta later and he stopped trying. Though it could have been because he kept them at the office and didn't feed over the weekend... and he forgot to make plans for a recent holiday. I've had my little Shenron for 8 months, Dad got his last one at the same time and he maybe lived 4 months at most?

This is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen done to Bettas
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http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2007/12/ipond_combines_portable_speake/

But I also feel for poor goldfish. I'm not sure if this is another myth but I've read that they are meant to grow so much larger (they are carp aren't they?) and keeping them in small tanks confines their outer growth but their organs continue to grow and... well, it's a horrible end.

OMG ZennaBug that is so terrible, poor Timmy indeed! If I had been faced with someone doing that I would have flipped out too! Thank goodness you were there to save him and give him the better life he deserved.

[Rainbowjuice]

I currently have my betta living in a 25ltr tank with an airstone, filter and heater. He's kept company by a corydora catfish and a couple of mountain cloud minnows.
It's a really pretty setup with some interesting rocks and plants for them to explore.

I also have 5 fantail goldfish in a huge 45ltr tank which is also filtered and equipped with an airstone.
Goldfish should be kept in large tanks not only due to thier growth but because they are incredibly messy fish and pollute thier own water to near poisionous levels within a week.
Silly fish.
Weekly water changes are good for my fish babies.

[OLumeVaSti]

I use to breed them for my own keeping. I liked seeing what kind of patterns, colors, and tail types you get with different genetics.

[melodys_angel]

I do believe the ipod thing never actually happened hun

Ive never had betas before but I do know that they tend to jump so make sure you keep a close eye on him  

I do have godlfish but they are pond fish.  Its crazy how big they grow! We have had ours for I think 4 years now and they rival our koi in size.

[kaoskat]

But I also feel for poor goldfish. I'm not sure if this is another myth but I've read that they are meant to grow so much larger (they are carp aren't they?) and keeping them in small tanks confines their outer growth but their organs continue to grow and... well, it's a horrible end.

It's not a myth. Their organs grow but their bodies don't and their organs end up crushed and they die. Goldfish should be in a minimum 20 gallon + 10 gallons per fish. And since goldfish should really be kept in groups or at least pairs, you are really looking at no less then 40 gallons for the tank to be ok for them. They certainly shouldn't be in tiny bowls.