Hi everyone, I usually post to the goldfish forum, but we have recently bought a Betta fish. We have a 1 Gallon Mini Aquarium from my mom who had a Betta for a few years. It does not have a heater of course, but an undergravel filter and air pump at top water line connected to the UGF tube, a lighted hood, and some gravel. Had 2 plastic plants that came with it attached to the UGF.

We always research and want the best for all of our pets, fish and furry ones too.

I am confused reading posts here, cause we were told by the petstore (not always the best source I know!) they do not need a heater, and to ONLY feed 2 times a week or "you'll kill them"...!! huh? then I read here to feed daily, and the Betta websites say daily or twice a day. This is frustrating, cause pet stores do not know what they are talking about obviously?

I'm thinking the lighted hood will heat the water during the day, our family room is not really very warm, 65 degrees at nite, a bit warmer during the warmer weather, our 10 gallon tank next to the Bettas says 76 degrees, but it has a heater.

IS this small tank a good idea or would putting him in the 10 gallon tank be better choice? there is a fancy goldfish fry in it at the moment, so we're waiting until it grows big enough to transfer to our regular 60 gallon goldfish tank later.

We have only had the Betta for a few days, but only fed him once on Saturday, I feel terrible if we have been starving him, we fed him 3 Wardley Betta Food, the tiny roundish pellets, he ate both on Saturday, tonite gave him 2 more after reading daily feedings are suggested, he hasn't eaten them yet, but his lite is off already.

any tips for new Betta people? he is swimming around gracefully, and slowly so far.

water change? 25% okay like with GF tanks? what about cycling? different with Bettas? syphon the tiny amount of gravel at the bottom weekly is necessary too?

thanks, I know I have alot of questions, we are just concerned about his care, love our pets dearly!

Lynn

I have 4 bettas that Ive had for a few months,so I'm kind of new when it comes to these fish. I can only tell you my experiences. I started out with my first betta in a one gal. glass container. He swam around he ate,he even made his bubble nests. My house is around 72 degrees average,so I was told that was fine. The more I read about these beautiful fish the more I wondered if he would be happier in a bigger tank with a heater. I ended up placing him in a five gal. tank with a heater,and he bloomed! He loves the warm water,he constantly swims around with a pair of dwarf african frogs for company and they all seem pretty happy! My other 3 bettas are in tanks ranging from 2.5-to 5 gal. tanks. The betta in the 2.5 gal tank does not have a heater because even the smallest heater they have was making the water a little too warm.Between room temp.,and his light that seems to be enough to make him happy. The only one I'm concerned about is my betta Turk-I just took him out of the gal. container placed him in a 5 gal. tank,and he doesnt seem real happy right now .He's rooming witha pair of dojo loaches and a pair if frogs.I don't think thats the problem though-he seems to have no fear of them at all.He doesn't even bother flaring at them. For some reason I really think he misses the 1gal. glass container. I have lots of plants in there for him to sit or hide,but he doesn't bother. Hopefully my experiences give you some kind of ideas.Try the container you have with thelight and see how it goes. I think you'll sense or know if he's not happy. Good luck!

Ps. water changes are important also,and I feed my bettas at least once a day-sometimes a second small feeding at night.

I feed my bettas twice a day. It is said that their stomach is the size of their eye and you should feed them about that amount at each feeding. I feed HBH betta bites (which are much smaller than Wardley's) and I give them each about 5 of the tiny betta bites at each feeding. I also give them frozen bloodworms for a feeding a couple of times a week. I give them each a couple of bloodworms for those feedings, although two of my fish do not like bloodworms and won't eat them, so they get betta bites. I also give them a bit of the homemade gel food that I make for the goldfish once per week (as a feeding in place of the betta bites). This is 50% peas and peas do help to keep bettas "regular"

I would put an aquarium thermometer in the little tank and see what the water temp. is. 65 f. is too low for a betta to be at all of the time, but as you said, the light will heat the water during the day. You could monitor it for a few days and see what kind of temperatures you have in the tank. Also, there are reptile heater pads that are available. You couldn't attach one of these to an acrylic tank, but you could place it on the wall behind the tank and this would warm it a bit. I haven't tried this, but I have heard that it works.

With a small 1 gallon tank, you should do 100% water changes. A tank that small will never truly cycle, so with bettas it is best to change 100% of the water, and rinse the gravel or stones a bit. I have a 2 gallon tank, and with that little tank, I change the water once per week. If you have an ammonia test kit, you can test the water daily, and when you see any ammonia it is time to change the water. So, if it takes 3 days for ammonia to start to show, then you would know that you would have to change the water twice per week. If you don't get ammonia for 6 days, then you would have to change the water once per week.

In the end, I think if you have a 10 gallon available, that would be the easiest choice, since you can have a cycled tank and treat it like the goldies and change 25% every couple of weeks. Bettas are not as messy as goldfish and wouldn't need a weekly water change in a 10 gallon tank. You could also add a few tank mates, such as corys, small neon tetras or white clouds.

Hope this helps and please ask as many questions as you need to

I just put Posiedon in a 10 gallon tank from one of those little glass fish bowls. He really seems to like it and I hardley even have plants in it yet. Yours would most likely like a 10 gallon too. 10 gallon tanks are still cheap and don't take up a lot of space so its worth it.

double post

My boyfriends aunt just went through this. Stupid pet stores, I want to smack some of those people! They told her that the fish only need to be fed once in a while, so she was feeding him once a week Just my opinion but I don't think they should have people who don't even know the basics. Can't they give them a mini course before sending them out to sell live critters?

Anyway if you can I would put him in the 10 gallon with a heater and small filter set on low. You could divide the tank too and put in another betta or just get some tetras for friends. If he doesn't like the betta bites try freeze dried bloodworms(or froozen) or flakes for bettas.