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So I got a one gallon bowl with one male Betta. I have no experience with Bettas at all. It has nothing in the bowl but some glassy rocks at the bottom. Do I need a plant? Anything else I need?

Well, we kept a Betta in a 1 gallon bowl with glass rocks and a couple of decorations for over 3 yrs (which is a long life in Betta years) without incident. My wife changed his water 100% each week and cleaned that bowl religiously. So, it seems that a 1 gallon bowl is quite suitable for a happy healthy Betta.

Having said all that, I am one who likes to re-create "optimal" (or at least really good) conditions for my little finned friends. So, I have my male Betta in a 10 gal planted aquarium, complete with rounded gravel and some rocks. I have a filter, a heater, lighting, 5 different species of plant, and 3 other species of fish in with him. There are harlequin raspboras, panda corys and a skunk bota.

Make sure if you do decide to go with plants, you don't over do it. Mr Betta needs to be able to get plenty of access to the surface in order to breathe air via his labyrinth organ. So, lots of floating plants would be bad. Also, if you decide to get him in a bigger tank with other fish, avoid the obvious 2nd male Betta, and avoid fin nippers or any fish that would look like another male better in size, color and fin structure or he may go after them. I went for peaceful mates...

Also, again if you go with a bigger tank and filter etc, make sure you either keep the filter on a low flow rate or have plants or other obstructions in the flow path to keep from getting a heavy current in the tank. Bettas really do much better with a very low amount of water movement.

If you see him flaring his fins alot, and blowing bubbles nests, eating well and spending time betweeen lying aroud, swimming about and skimming the surface often for air, you know you have a happy camper.

Good luck!

What color/type of Betta is he, just out of curiosity. Mine is a Cornflower Blue (w/black face) veiltail, named Jack.

I have a one gallon bowl with glass pebbles at the bottom. I just got a small fern that doesn't reach the top of the tank, so the he can. I haven't ever had a real plant, I got the liquid plant food, I read the directions and the only thing it doesn't tell me is how often to feed the plant. My Betta is teal with a little red on his fins (and he has a non-matching blackish/brown head), he is a male, and his name is Morpheus.

So you think I should give him a 100% water change every week?

that fern ought to be fine... I feed with liquid ferts once a month. We never had live plants in the 1 gallon so I dont know how that will work.

As for the water change, we did ours pretty much weekly. Just make sure you condition the water... My wife would fill a pitcher with tap water and let it sit for several hrs to get to room temp and drop a bowl buddy tablet in there to condition the water.

I had a betta in a one gallon bowl with stones and a small java fern for almost 6 years! So yes, I think that's a suitable situation for one (a lot of people will try to tell you they need a 5+ gallon filtered aquarium, tankmates, etc. IME these are nice additions, but not necessary). I did 100% water changes once a week with fresh dechlorinated water, and fed HBH betta bites (about 4 pellets per day) and occasionally bloodworms or whatnot that I was feeding other tanks...

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The real plant will help. I wonder though about the 100% water change, as you take out almost all of the good bacteria every week, thus creating a potential for a full cycle event each time. I'd be more inclined to do something like a 30-50% twice weekly instead. I do have to say, though, that I've never kept my bettas in unfiltered homes.

Also, bettas live at "room temperature" in SE Asia, so that's rather warmer than room temperature in most of our homes. Be careful too keep the water temperature from dropping below 70F. In fact, 75F is preferable.

One more thought: Bettas jump. Some are extremely good at it. Be sure to keep the water level at least an inch below the top of the bowl, if you don't have a cover. 2 inches is better. Generally, it's the females that are the best jumpers, probably due to more manageable finnage. If you're worried, a cover of plastic canvas will allow for a bit of security and still provide good air-flow.

I vote! Do you?

Yeah, it is a small java fern. Thanks for all the help!

if ypour little fern doesnt work out in the long run, maybe try some large peices of lucky bamboo, but make sure there are no leaves in the water.

the java fern should do fine though... dose your ferts once a week on the second water change. if you see algae alot, then cut back...

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

I have a decent size aquarium, I think a 30 or 35 gallon tank.
I have 2 salt& pepper cories, 4 pearl danios, a pleco, and 5 glowlights. My partner thinks it would be safe to put in a Betta, and I would really like to. I love their colours and my tank is looking rather bland. Would it be safe to add one? Would the tank be too noisy? I have a bubble stone and filter.

Lots of plants and rocks.

Would he get along with the other fish I have? Would it be too noisy?

Hey khoax welcome aboard!

It is best to start new threads for new question topics, otherwise people might not see.


The danios *might* be a problem, In my experience they are like tiny little piranhas! You should be able to add a girl or a shortfin without too much problem, but I'd be wary about adding a long tailed one. If you do, watch the danios for any nippiness and just keep an eye that the betta isn't too aggressive.

What filter are you using? Do you know the make/model number?
Most bettas are fine with filters and airstones if there is enough quiet space for them to retreat to. If the tank isn't bubbling away like a cauldron you should be OK.


For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Thanks for the response. I'm not sure how to start new threads etc. I've never used a forum before.

The danios are actually rather peaceful. At first, they were terrorizing eachother, but the 3 smaller ones put the big one in its place. (Also, to my surprise, I have one little Neon tetra!)

The filter....uhh... Hm. The only writing I can find is "AquaClear 150". The water is a little low right now (2.5" lower than it should be...) so it's rather noisy. I only have a small bubble stone, so I don't think it would be a problem. There are a lot of bubbles at the top though.

If I got a betta for my tank, it would have to be male. I've only seen females here once.

Should I wait until I add more water before trying for a betta? And what should I have as a backup plan if they don't get along?


(also, is it normal for the other fish to 'play' in the bubbles?)

Playing in bubbles is perfectly fine Even some bettas will enjoy it.

The filter is quite underpowered for the size of the tank so it'll be fine for the betta but I'm a bit concerned as to how it is handling the waste for the pleco. They are notoriously messy and the filter is about half the power/size you really need for that volume of water, even without a messy fish. Just keep an eye on it and if you find that you are having to clean more regularly or if your ammonia levels rise (do you have an ammonia test kit?) then I'd be considering upgrading to the 300 (I think I have that right, they've changed all the model numbers on me!).

Top the water up quickly, even if you don't change it. Noisy generally means that your filter motor is unhappy and wear on motors is not good. With Aquaclears, they generally quiet down when the tank is full enough If that doesn't work, let us know and we can go through cleaning the impeller Those things live forever if you treat them well, I've only just replaced mine after about 11 years and I was not that kind to it. Absolute troopers.

For a back up plan you can do one of several things:
* make him his own 5gal setup with heater and a small air-driven filter using the same pump as your main tank (if they are close enough) or a separate pump or powered filter if he's on a desk or table elsewhere.
*get a 1gal bowl/tank for him. That'll need a small air-driven filter or weekly water changes to keep him happy. You might also need to heat it in winter. If your house is heated or you have another constantly warm place, that could be OK too.
*use a breeding trap or fish isolation device inside your main tank. Breeding traps are very small, but there are quite large 'betta barracks' and isolation chambers now that could work. No extra heating or filtering required as the iso tank is full of grills and holes so uses the water from the main tank.
*take him back to the shop for store credit

I'd suggest grabbing a large coke/juice bottle or something to whip up a cheap isolation chamber just so you can introduce him carefully. remove the labels, chop the top off the bottle, poke a hole in the side and insert a suction cup so you can stick it on the side of the tank. If you don't need to quarantine him, poke the bottle with a soldering iron a few times to get some water flow happening to keep his area clean and fresh. He can then see out without being able to bite or be bitten. When he is released in a few days, he should be less likely to want to prove his dominance and will probably just strut a bit and explore the tank.

Something like this (no holes here and translucent plastic, this one was for emergency quarantine when I had no available tank)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/Callatya/Random%20Fish%20Things/JerryCanSuctionIsoTank.jpg

Hope that helps

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Thank you so much for the help!

As for my pleco, yeah I've noticed he's a bit messy. I guess this is normal?

As for the filter, it seems to be doing just fine. The water is crystal clear and all the fish are full-coloured and active. Its just that messy little pleco leaving strings of, well, you know... everywhere.

I'm off to get supplies! Thanks again for the help!

I have my male betta in a 5.4 gal tank of his own with gravel, heater, filter, and plants.
I have my female betta in a 2ft tank with 3 whiptails, sand, plants, heater, airbubbler, and filter.

I would like to have the female in with the male but unless both want to breed, they won't get on together.
I have bought a clear plastic pasta bottle 10cm in diameter and taller than the males tank.
What I thought I might cut it down so it just fits in the tank vertically and held by the gravel bottom and the glass tank lid at the top. Then I would drill holes in the tube for filtration to enter and put the female in the tube in the tank.
There would be a reasonable amount of swimming room for her and the male would have a friend but could not belt her up. Does this sound ok?

Sounds just like a breeding cone. I'd silicon some weights to the base to hold it down in case it gets knocked or the like, and use a hot soldering iron for the water flow holes as it gives smoother edges than drilling (drilling plastic tends to blacken it too).

I'd do a swap every week so that one is free-ranging and one is 'stabled'. That should keep fins and muscles in good nick.

It is possible, after a period of getting utterly sick of the sight of each other, that they will be able to free-range together That is very dependant on the individual fish themselves though.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

How's this cone of silence?
He's not quite sure what to do. I don't think he has ever seen a female in his life.