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I bought a male betta today. Right now I have him in a small betta bowl. I want to put him in a bigger tank. I just cant decide which one.

I have a 5 gallon hex that has fry in it. The betta would eat some of the fry because I have like 50 of them. I had to break down and reset up my fry tank because my son put lotion in the tank and then something formed on the substrate that looked like mold. I dont know how this fry tank will stay clean and Im guessing it will have to be totally cleaned about once a week. It has an odor and the filter cartridge stinks. So, since this is the case with that, I dont know if the betta, not to mention the fry, can stand this change in water and ect.

I have one I am setting up to move my 2 mollies into but the betta cant go in w the mollies because of the salt.

I have my livebearer tank that has guppies and platties.

I thought about putting the guppies with the mollies and then put the betta with the three platties. The guppies could stand the salt in the tank w the mollies. If I do this it means moving the guppies into a tank that isnt cycled.

So...what should I do??
BTW....I can go ahead and put the betta in the 10 that is empty but it wont have a filter. If I do this w the betta, Ill have to cycle the tank w the betta. I dont know if this can be done since Ive always kept bettas in the small betta bowls.The filter is on the one the mollies are in now. To clear up confusion, the tank w the mollies is in my sons room. I want to move the fish out of there and into a new tank on the bottom of my stand. Ill move the filter canister/catridge also. Just not the tank. The stand has to be taken apart to put a tank in or take one out. Since there is a 10 gallon on top, that is out of the question.

Last edited by ladiejl at 09-Nov-2005 02:00

I think the best bet would be to totally strip that
tank, junk the gravel and all filter media and start
fresh. Who knows what was in the lotion
Why Not Put the Betta in with the Mollies?
Mollies dont actually need salt in their water...
I have been keeping Sailfin Mollies in totally freshwater
with no salt for almost 3 years now with no problems.


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I didnt have another filter cartridge and I rinsed the gravel really good.

I have a black molly and they do need a good bit of salt.

I will leave him in the small Betta bowl till you fix the tank lotion problem. After that, you can put him in the 5 gal. hex. tank.


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I reset it up last night. Will he eat the fry?

OK. So, I pout him in the tank w the fry and hes not eating them but rather making them think hes going to eat them. Hes seems happy. He swims all over the tank.

Again I will just comment that Mollies do not actually
require salt in their water.
I am glad your betta is happy,
though I wouldnt risk a betta with fry if i wanted
to keep any


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Which kind of Molly would be best to put in with my Male Betta???

yea, i too noticed that my male bettas dont eat too many fry, its the angelfish that was the problem

after a whil, the male betta will begin to get used to the fry, in the end, it always makes them a better father

idc why can't u add the betta into the molly tank. unless it is really salty.

as with the other guys question: just make sure with the type of molly u want,have the right tank size. their are really only two common types at a lfs: reg/ballon and sailfin.

so depending on ur tank size, lets say 20 gallon i would get 2 male reg/ballon mollies. as mollys can get very large, and maybe too active for a betta tank.

If you have an overly aggressive betta (like me [img src='/images/forums/halo.gif' border=0]) then don't put him with the mollies whatever you do, mine killed the one I put in his tank, and they like brackish water as well, and bettas don't. . .

My parents keep their male in a 20 gal tank with guppies with no problums...

Put him with the Mollys, or just get a spare 2g ^_^ They are always good to have if you have fry.

Inky

i think i killed one of my bettas by experimenting...

i put him in my 29 gallon with a group of mollies... and he stayed there for about a week.. then one day he just died..

either the mollies drove him crazy.. or.. he just died...

something along those lines.

*Chelle*
_______________________________________________
I love the fishes cuz they're SOOO delicious...

I could be wrong, but i'm pretty sure mollies are brackish/alkaline water and bettas are more fresh/acidic. you could do it, TigerAngel has, from memory, but i'm not sure how it would work out.

I think the fry tank is acceptable.

Lotion problem is probably just from overpopulation of ikkies feeding on the lotion ingredients. All sorts of nasties grow in that, its scary!

Last edited by Callatya at 09-Jan-2006 08:40

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