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Old March 10th, 2008, 02:57 PM
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Talking New Fish!

Just saw this section in this forum lol need to do more exploring.

I am thinking of going out and getting a tank for a beta. Have a big 33 cube gallon right now and know betas don't do well in big tanks. Thinking of getting a 2.5 or little five gallon any suggestions? The tanks i'm looking at all come with little flitraion systems and i usually have a heater in it ment for small gallons. I've had betas before but you never know when things change or find out when others might know more then you. Any suggestions?


ps got some new fish for my bigger tank yesterday yay so far everyone is good only lost one of the cory cats so far lol
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Old March 10th, 2008, 03:29 PM
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haha yeah ive only known one other person who bought a 'larger than 10g' for their betta.... thats great and all but its sure a lot of room!!

im off to take my daughter to piano lessons but i will be back later tonight with some great fishy advice!!

-ashley
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Old March 10th, 2008, 03:35 PM
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I've always just kept bettas in basically a goldfish bowl. I've had three, the oldest one living to three years. You can put them in any decorative glass, vase, etc. They also really like a couple bamboo sticks in their water.
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Old March 10th, 2008, 03:46 PM
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I really want to stress that you don't need to spend the money on a tank for only one fish, when they hardly require any space and any full setup you would buy, no matter how small (I think the smallest you can get is 5g) will take up so much space in your home.

Also, listen closely to all of Ashley's advice! She is saving my poor tetra's eye right now! (There's your update, W4R)
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Old March 10th, 2008, 07:56 PM
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*Waits for Ashely's advice!*

I know beta's don't need a lot of room but the type of little tank i'm looking at is a 2.5 size and comes with filtration. I need one that has a top cause of the little angel kitties i have who would never try to eat my fish

I know i could put it up high but the last time i did that well they almost knocked it over to get to the fish. So i figured one with a top be good and i like to give them some room to swim i feel bad with them being in the little bowls makes me just want to bring them all home.

Thanks
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Old March 10th, 2008, 07:59 PM
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(sorry Danaekitty!!) but a betta should never be kept in a goldfish bowl(no goldfish either!!!!! its WAY WAY TOO SMALL!!!). bettas do come from rice patties BUT!!... rice patties are very large. the water quality of a rice patty is *quite* good. a betta may survive in a small space like a bowl or vase because of his/her labyrinth organ (can breath air instead of filtering water through gills) but it is far from ideal.

check out this link for the (small piece of the) nitrogen cycle in your aquarium and why (gentle) filtration is important.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebI...estcycling.htm

also bettas need a heater of which it is almost impossible to find one small enough for a fish bowl that wont cook your fish. most people keep their homes between 20.5c and 21.5c where as a betta needs constant temps closer to 25.5c.

last but not least, the most common error folks make with bettas is over feeding!! they need only a few pellets no more than every other day. i feed mine twice to three times a week and they look just as lovely as the day i received them!

now i will admit, to my shame, i have two females living in unheated, unfiltered 2.5g tanks. its not ideal but its all i have and they were very unexpected. i keep them wedged between two other heated tanks in the warmest room of the house to compensate.

as for whats to go in the 33g cube..... you know you can get some really bad *** lights and throw some corals in there....

-ashley
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Last edited by want4rain; March 10th, 2008 at 08:00 PM. Reason: forgot the link!!!
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Old March 13th, 2008, 03:59 PM
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{/QUOTE]
as for whats to go in the 33g cube..... you know you can get some really bad *** lights and throw some corals in there....

-ashley[/QUOTE]

lol i seem to be at my limit with at as someone told me the other day and apperentely i have to many different species in there. I've had fish for 10 years so far i do what i've always done and seems to work for the best
sorry just venting hehe

Well i went out and bought a 2.5 gallon tank. It has a small filteration system and got a little heater for a 2-5 gallon tank. has a top on it so hopefully keep the kitties out. Want to set it up today going to find a space for it

Any time limit i should let the water filter around before i add a beta to there. Was thinking of getting a cory cat to put in there with him wasn't sure if 2 fish in a small tank would be to much. Thanks for any input
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Old March 13th, 2008, 08:30 PM
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i wouldnt put anything other than perhaps a shrimp or two or three in a 2.5g with a betta. cory cats are very social fishies and need company of their own to feel secure and healthy. probably 6 or more??

what all do you have in your big tank??

-ashley
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  #9  
Old March 14th, 2008, 04:25 AM
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Yeah, there are a lot of colorful shrimp to choose from and they are not as much bioload as fish, in fact they help as cleaners assuming you don't overfeed.

Corycats are really reclusive and nervous in groups of less than 4-5 and they really prefer much larger schools. Even a single specimen of most commonly available species would grow too large for a 2.5g anyway.
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Old March 14th, 2008, 10:02 PM
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in my big tank there is an angelfish, 5 damios, a red tail shark, 2 blue platies and 3 mickey mouse platies, and two cory catfish (had a third but it died) okies not a big person on shrimp they always look so werid to me lol reminds me of water spiders or something *shudder*
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  #11  
Old March 15th, 2008, 08:10 AM
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wellll...... if i were you, i would take back the shark, it gets far too big to comfortably house in a tank under 55-75g and even less so concerning water quality with so many other fish in there.

id also really consider picking a hard water/high pH tank or a soft water/low pH tank (depending on your water source) and stick with it. danios/angels/cory cats are all softer water/lower pH fish where as your platies really prefer hard water with a touch of salt in the water to even as much as a brackish system.

im not sure if you have 'too many fish' if you remove the shark but you have wildly different water quality requirements. if you want to keep the angel instead, take away the platies and the shark and add some more cory cats (4-5). they get quite playful when they have more brothers and sisters around. try to stick with the same kind of cory cat though.

-ashley

EDIT- i wouldnt add anythign else to the 2.5 housing a betta than shrimp. everythign else takes up too much space or territory.
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Swift Tribe-
Chris- Husband, 04/30/77
Cailyn- Daughter, 07/05/99
Jeffrey- Son, 03/24/06
Alex- Son, 03/25/09
Mister- Black LabX, M, 08/06(?)
The Shadow Stalker- Gray Tux DSH, M, 04/04
The Mighty Hunter- Black Tux DSH, M, 04/04
Baby Girl- Tabby DMH, F, 12/03(?)
Frances- Tortie, DSH, F, 2007(?)

Last edited by want4rain; March 15th, 2008 at 08:12 AM. Reason: whoops! forgot to add...
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  #12  
Old March 17th, 2008, 11:48 AM
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I kept tropicals for many years. The 100 gallon housed a school of 13 panda cory cats and they even spawned in there. I got 5 tiny little mini replicas of the parents, they were too cute. I found the pandas would go into spawning mode after the tank was cleaned and they loved current. I also kept 3 female bettas and 1 male in that tank. It had loads of plants in there and the bettas thrived. They too spawned, and I managed to save 2 females and a male from that spawning.
Keeping the bettas and corys in a community tank can be done but the cats need a school and the bettas need cover and fairly docile tank mates.
I kept fancy guppies and mollies in that tank with them. The betta would take exception to the long fins on the sailfin mollies and be a tad aggressive towards them.
Neons or cardinal tetras would work well, again I had a school of over 20 of them in there.
Fed them all frozen bloodworms as one of their meals every day. The bettas just loved it.

Cindy
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Old March 17th, 2008, 12:27 PM
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cory cats come from South America, you will find that almost all of the armored cat fish spawn after a 'rainy season' of which mimics a dropped water temp and very fresh water.

ive heard of a few folks who have kept betta males and females in a really large, well planted system. thats really cool CLM!

-ash
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Swift Tribe-
Chris- Husband, 04/30/77
Cailyn- Daughter, 07/05/99
Jeffrey- Son, 03/24/06
Alex- Son, 03/25/09
Mister- Black LabX, M, 08/06(?)
The Shadow Stalker- Gray Tux DSH, M, 04/04
The Mighty Hunter- Black Tux DSH, M, 04/04
Baby Girl- Tabby DMH, F, 12/03(?)
Frances- Tortie, DSH, F, 2007(?)
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  #14  
Old March 17th, 2008, 08:50 PM
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You have to give the females lots of cover as the females will get chased by the male and once a female and the male have paired off, the paired female will chase the other females in the tank as well.
I like keeping female betta's. They're beautiful fish in their own right.

Cindy
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