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Hi ya'll it's me again...(I seem to remember reading that...)

I have a student who is planning on getting a new betta. I feel that her last betta probably died because of lack of knowledge, combined with old age...

So here is the plan, I want those that are knowledgable about bettas, to help construct a list that I can put together so that she will have a successful time with the next betta, and grow to love fish as much as we do, and as well as KTS (who is standing over my shoulder) loves her guppies ...

So folks let's get to it, everything we need to know about bettas, but make it as simple as it can be because she is a third grader, and we want to get our kiddos off to a good start...
Tanks ahead of time, Heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

I asked for similar info last year for my son since I was buying him a 2.5g Mini-Bow for his birthday. Someone sent me this link, I hope it works:

http://www.healthybetta.com/downloads/Betta_Care_Sheet.pdf

If not, try http://www.healthybetta.com and the Betta Care Sheet is on the right side.

My 8yr old daughter maintains a 10g community tank. I think the best piece of advice for kids is do not overfeed!

edit: Also, when choosing a betta, avoid fish with torn fins, white spots, and those that don't seem active or responsive.

Last edited by Theresa_M at 22-Mar-2005 12:37

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

I was actually going to link to the same care sheet. If I were you, I'd suggest to her a decent store to go to. Even people who are experienced in keeping bettas have issues keeping those that are bought from stores where they are kept in poor conditions. Other than that, I think Faith from bettatalk covered pretty much everything.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

i once made a betta care sheet that i gave out to the petstore and carnivalsso that people that get bettas know at least something.

I have a 2.5 gallon Betta Mini-Bow, which also sells under the name Goldfish Mini-bow ...... (yeah, right - I can just see my 4 inch goldfish in there). Be careful as there is another 2.5 mini-bow version with a regular filter and its called just that, "2.5 Mini-Bow"

Anyway, what is nice about it is that the filter is an old fashioned UGF. I'm not normally positive on UGFs, but for bettas I think they are ideal. Betta fins get messed up royally when they get too close to the intake of any power filter, including a low powered one for small tanks. With UGF's there's nothing to get caught.

A few issues I have with the Mini-Bow 2.5. There is a nice size suicide hole in the lid on the back. For the life of me I don't know why they didn't make this a punch out for those who did not want to hang an old fashioned heater . We all know bettas jump so I cover it with Glad Press-n-seal. It is unseen. Anytime I take up the lid, I have to replace it.

I have found that by keeping the water level a little lower so that the outflow isn't completely submerged, you get less bubbles on the surface AND less turbulence. It was a little hard on Ruby running full tilt. Feeding without cutting power to the UGF is not easy with all of the bubbles. UGF's should not be powered off more than a few minutes and if there is a power outage, it would be wise to do a deep gravel vac to the bottom and basically refill with water. Toxins and anaerobic bacteria grow rapidly under the plates when oxygenated water is cut.

The bulb is nice and if you were to get some dwarf sagitaria and anubias nana v. petite, it would look wonderful. It's alot of light so don't have it on all day. However, for a child, or anybody really, I see the light issue as a hazard. They do not have a splash sheild to full cover the hot bulb. Bubbles bursting on the surface leave it wet and if you take the lid off, that water trickles down into where the bulb screws in. Bad, bad design.

It is difficult to maintain consistent temp in any of these types of containers. The light (25w) goes on and a few hours later, it is 3F higher. Leave it on longer and it will go up some more. When the light is cut, the drop in temp is much more rapid. I'm going to put my tanks on a timer so that the light goes on for 2 hour blocks every few hours. There are timers that allow you to make many, many on/off cycles.

The filter risers are just plain - no carbon cartridges or anything like that. The flow is pretty good.

I also have a 3 gallon that I picked up at Petco under the name of seagarden or aquatic garden - something like that. I seen the identical tank at Meijer and another store, sold under alternative names. It only has a 15w bulb, but its pretty bright regardless. Unfortunately, they did not go "out" with the dimensions, but upwards. My betta's kind of liking it tho as he can go up higher and see over all the junk I put on the dresser in front of him . He likes his TV shows

This one comes with a carbon cartridge, but hardly any bubbles come through it. One corner had bubbles, versus a robust flow when it is not in. Therefore, I use it only when I need to remove meds or to clarify and I limit it to a few hours.

The lid is a bit chincy and awkward. The light bulb is well protected, not once, but twice. A clear plastic cover sits over the top of the tank, then the lid closes over that. It's kind of a pain, but safer.

Here is the photo of the Mini-bow with Ruby, aka "rube"



Cory_Di attached this image:


Last edited by Cory_Di at 22-Mar-2005 23:09[/font]

I should add that cycling was a real pain. I would use fishless cycling to spare the betta. Cycle it first, then get the betta. That is, unless you can get BioSpira. Bettas are not messy and there's hardly any waste so I didn't think cycling would be an issue if I used some kind of bacterial starter. I can get BioSpira, but figured I would try Fritz Zyme-7 as directed. Next thing I knew I had ammonia a few days later. I did an 80% water change and threw NI Cycle at it and that didn't help much. I got fed up and went and got some BioSpira and that was the end of the spikes. Didn't bother with any more water changes after I added that and hever saw any further ammonia or nitrite. It is truly the Cadillac of bacterial starters. I used Bio-Spira up front on the second tank and did not have an issue. If I could do it over again, I would have done it fishless tho. Even 0.25 ammonia can be stressful on a betta. If you get any filtered tank and can get BioSpira, I would wait one day after the fish is added some there is some tiny amount of ammonia, even if it is unmeasurable.


Here is the 3 gallon with Ruben, aka Rube also

(I like the ability to call both my bettas the same name)



Cory_Di attached this image:




Last edited by Cory_Di at 23-Mar-2005 09:52[/font]