Just wondering about your betta homes. I have a 6 gallon that is divided with a 1 gallon cage on the side. The one in the cage seems just as happy and active as the one with the free range.

Right now my betta is in a one gallon tank, but I have plans to put him in a 5 1/2 gallon whenever I adopt out my apple snails and do some tank shifting, ending up with it being vacant.

I picked 4-5 gallon. Anything smaller is just cruel from my point of view. Just because its a betta it still needs room to move and swim.

I have mine in a 5.5 gallon and he loves the room

I've got mine in a 10 gallon and he swims all over the place

I think bettas can be happy in as little as half a gallon if you change the water frequently. After all, bettas were bred for centuries in clay pots in thailand. they also dont appreciate deep water as they have to exert effort to reach the surface to breathe (bettas dont use their gills as much for breathing as their labyrinth organ since their gills arent really developed well, being adapted to oxygen-poor water habitats)

3 gallon for me. However, I think he'd be happier in a 5 gallon since he's such an active (and self destructive) boy. I just don't have room for a bigger tank right now

Mine boys are now in a 10 gallon divided 3 ways and my girls are in a 20+ gallon tank.

I'm a Betta owner as from today! My Betta has a 6 UK gal tank

I have my betta in a 20 gal tank now with some snails. He is "King" of his humble snails and he loves all the room.

He started off in a 5 gal for about a week until my 10 gal finished cycling. Then I thought he would have so much more room in my cycled 20 gal., so he moved in there with the snails. They all love the space. Its big enough for the filter flow and airstone so he can go find a relaxing place to hide if he needs to. He is not stressed by the water movement.

They are just like any other fish and need at least a gallon of water per inch of fish ( I know goldfish are the exception) Don't believe what people say about them liking those itty bitty miniscule containers. Those are just plain out and out torture to a betta. They need room to swim and move around too. I would not want to live in a room as big as a bathroom all my life and neither would they. Sorry got on my soap box there. I had mine in a 3 gallon and he was just swimming around with delight.

Congrats bumble!

MIne's in a 2.5 gallon mini-bow..... I was always taught that they didn't need that much water volume. Hm.

I have mine in a 7 gallon. One gallon is SOOO small. 7 is probably a bit extreme but hes happy.

I have one in a 2 gallon (unheated and unfiltered), two in a divided 5 gallon and one in a 10 gallon (both of these are heated and filtered). I also have females in communal tanks (10 and 20 gallon).

The longest lived betta is the one in the 2 gallon tank (I have now had him for 3 years), go figure

I have two in a divided 6.5 gal.. actually one, till i get a new divider, the other is in a 1 gall, but that is definatly temporary (a week or so) and i have a rescue in a 2 gal heated and filtered. and female in 5 gal with corys.

i have 6 in 1 gal tanks, 3 in 1/2 gal tanks which i plan on moving them to bigger ones soon, and i have 1 girl in my 29 gal trop tank. My oldest two fish, i've had for 4 years. One of them died last week though Ghost

I always thought that anything over 1 gal was good for a betta. mine is in a 5gal he loves the space but he never seems to move very far from the surface, so i always feel that such a large tank is wasted on him.

But having said that i love to watch him dance and i'm thinking of getting a few cories to add to the tank

I keep mine in wine glasses, looks awsome. I use red wine colored marbles as gravel.




















Just kidding!!!!1 I have a male betta alone in a 5g and a female betta in a 20g with a bunch of other fish.

I have my betta in a ten gallon and he must be happy there cause he's lived four years!

Mine is in a 2 gallon tank but rather pampered with a filter and a heater. He was a gift that my daughter got for her birthday though, and due to financial constraints I had to use what I had around. I would like to get him in a 3-4 gallon tank eventually though, but I don't think I will go any larger. He doesn't really use the tank space he has now, maybe still getting used to being out of the cup he came in! I do monitor the water very closely though and change the water every 3 days or if any ammonia shows up. I am not using the filter to cycle, only to add buffer to the water with some crushed shells. If I upgrade though I may try and get a cycle going by seeding the filter in the gf tank, then moving it over.

I wonder if it isn't a personal thing with certain bettas, where some are happier in larger tanks and some are content with smaller ones? Personally, I would not keep a betta in anything less than a gallon, and that is pushing it. And I don't think it hurts to have them in larger tanks, if they're happy and thriving then yay!

I have my new fellow in a 30g tall tank. He's everywhere. Down in the grass. Back behind or in amongst the plants. All over the place. He seems to love exploring all over the place. I usually have to look to find him every time!

Mostly mine live in 2ft tanks divided 4 ways. I also have a thin 4ft that is divided 6 ways... all have filters, heaters, and live plants.

I grow out fish from 3 months - 4 months alone in little 1.5 litre jars which stand in a heated water in a 2ft tank (with water changes every second day since I'm trying to get their finnage and colours developed before I sell them at 4 months old, prior to that they live at about a dozen similar sized all together in a 2ft tank and don't start the nipping and bossing till about 2.5 months). Anyway, they don't seem to mind the 1.5 litre jars but it's a bit sad not to see them have the room to flash their new finnage and colours.

I think alot of whether a betta is happy or not lies not in the tank size, but rather the stimulation they get. I do agree anything below a gallon is cruel. But ifyou have a betta in a 2-3 gal tank and play with him (mirrors, moving your fingers along the glass, keeping him in an area where he can watch you, etc) i believe that fish will be much happier and more active than one in a ten gallon tank that only sees another living creature when you feed him once a day. My boy is in a unfiltered, unheated 5 gal in my dorm room (cant have filters or heaters or anything at school) and a 7 gal filtered, heated, tank at home. When im at school and he sits right on my desk im constantly around him and he is constantly moving around... staring at me (which can get a bit creepy), and my friends come and play with him. But at home where i dont see him as much he does tend to get a bit listless, which i believe is just boredom. Anyhoo thats just my hypothesis.

I agree with you Andrea. Bettas are very curious and playful characters that seem to benefit from activity and stimulation.

I have mine in a 1gal tank. He's pretty happy.The water in it is filtered by a sponge filter. His tank is just by my 10gal goldfish tank and gets to flare at himself everyday.

Sooooooooo glad you were kidding sandtiger! My first thought was about them jumping out and the second for their tight quarters.

I think 2 or more gallons is good with a longer tank being better than a deeper one because mine prefer to lodge themselves in floating plastic plants so they have easy access to the surface.

Saw a neat "bookshelf" acrylic tank at Meijer's I thought would be ideal. As tall as a five gal. but longer (can't remember the exact length). Been looking for a place to plant it ever since!

The majority of my Betta's were housed alone in 5 gal. tanks with Heater's filter's.I had a few in 1 gal. tanks (my non swimmer's) 3 in a divided planted 10 gal.,and I had one in a planted very busy 30 gal. tank.
It's amazing that Betta's are so different,but they are.The ones I kept in 1 gal. tanks seemed rather happy in those.I had tried at one point or another to upgrade them into their own 5 gals.,but they didn't sit well with that at all.The rest of my Betta's were all swimmer's.The Betta I kept in the community tank was the funniest.He learned to eat pro-gold/spirulina/snail biscuits,and everything else,because he could not stand watching someone else eat!
It's really all about taking the time and really getting to know your Betta's likes/dislikes.

I have a male in a 2.5 gallon and a female in a one gallon. Both are very active.

i have my betta in a 10 gallon tank he just loves it i might get him some minnows or some other communial fish

I had my first betta in a 2.5 gallon filtered hexagon tank and he lived for over 6 years as a very active and happy fellow! I have a new betta now and he is loving this tank too! I change 50% of the water weekly and have one very plush medium sized live plant in there too that he just loves the pirch on and dive into! He constantly builds bubble nests to attract a female (poor guy!). I think that is a good sign of a happy male betta! He also constantly protects his territory against his reflection which is great fun to watch! He really utilizes the whole tank!

I recently upgraded my Betta tank to an 8.2 UK gal (just under 10 US gal) recently, it's a Fluval 500 Uno they were selling them off cheaply as they have stopped making them now.

I could devide it in two, but I think I'll give one Betta more space. The lighting is better on this one too.

I have mine in a 1 US gal tank. He did have an airstone and undergravel filter, but it was much too strong for him. He always hid way down in the corner out of hte current, and finding food was so difficult for him, since as soon as I put it in, it just got blown by him too fast. He used to be in a 1 quart hexagonal tank, but he seemed so cramped in there, and frankly I was tired of changing out hte water every other day! He seems much happier now

I USED to have a betta in a 1 1/2 gallon vase. No filteration or anything. He lived there happily for 2 years untill my dad decided one day while i was at school to put him in this newly set up and not cycled at all 55 gallon aquarium where his fish would randomly drop dead for no apparent reason. So by the time i got home my baby was dead!

Ive read that bettas can survive and be content in less, though I think the more space the better, though much over 3 gall is probably overkill, lol. I want another betta, mine died a while back, poor thing jumped to its doom, of course we never did figure out how he got the lid off. . . .

I have five bettas. Three in 1g tanks with no heat or filter. They get 100% water changes twice a week. I keep floating plants in these for them to rest in and play with.
I have two living in 5g tanks very liglty and I mean lightly filtered and heated tanks. They get once a week 50% water changes. These two are planted tanks also.
To be honest I see no difference in the activity of my Betta's no matter what tank they are in they are all very active fish even the one that ate his tail off. (He is in one of the five gallon tanks)
The three in the 1g tanks are the only ones that make bubblenest. Even with my filters barely going I still think they are to much for the bettas to make them.

I have two bettas in a 7.5 gallon divided tank. Each side has a sponge filter with an airstone attached. The water is heated to 76 degrees. They each have live plants and moss balls, and sit in front of an east facing window. They look pretty happy in this setup.

Angela

I have my betta Buster in a 5g hex with live plants. He seems to love exploring the tank and playing hide and seek.

Hey, I keep mine in a 1 gallon tank cause I read that they prefer to be in a 1/2 - 5 gallon tank by themselves. He's very lazy anyway lol. He always has been even when he was still at nnnnnn.

Wow old thread lol. I have 3 bettas 2 in 1 gallon tanks and my Crimson is in a 2 gallon eclipse explorer tank.

It should approximately be 3 gallons, more is fine.

My fiance has his betta in a one gallon bowl - unfiltered/unheated, and does weekly water changes. He has never had any problems and his betta looks amazing and perfectly healthy/happy, always building bubble nests.
Mine is in a one gallon bowl right now because he has dropsy - been doing water changes every other day lately until he is better. He was in a 10 gallon divided tank, (he had 1/3 of the space) shared with a goldfish - but I think I will keep him in the gallon bowl as he has been sick twice now, and I think he may prefer the still water. He has never looked as flashy and stunning as my fiances betta, so I'll see how he does with the bowl for a while.

i have a 3.5 gallon bowl filled to 3 gallons. (massive surface area for air)

has anyone seen those azoo aquariums with the little hob filter and an attached lite? would that be too much for a betta ? current wise...........

mines 8-9 litres but i dunno what that is in gallons, eh didnt ya'll hear metric is actually a good thing? hahah but hes soo small i think it enough. im not mad about the little teeny tanks, but did ya'll hear that back in the rice fields in thailand they had to live in the foot prints of the ox hooves that ploughed them when the water level got low, theyd live in them for days till it rained again and they could swim out. SO they have KINDA evolved to live in a mug size thing. for a day or two. but how sad, ive seen them spend their time trying to remain motionless yet equidistant to the circumference of these boob shaped bowls ppl put them in. sad...

Or am i just repeatin what everybody knows?? hee hee, so many professionals, what can i add? lol

Mine too. I keep him at work right next to me, and he loves to watch me work and move about. I had him in a 5 gallon tank once for a week during a work vacation, and he didn't seem to like it as much. The airstone was too much for him, and he seemed stressed. He prefers the smaller space.

I prefer 2 gallons or larger. A 5 gallon would be a palace for our bettas. Some of my betta breeder freinds keep theirs in plastic beanie baby boxes, however this is WAY TOO SMALL in my oppinion. I guess I prefer 2-3 gallons. Gives your betta plenty of room to swim around . I think the least amount of water a betta should be in is 1 gallon or more and NO LESS.

actually reading something in the newspaper recently and scientists or marine biologits have discovered that a betta should not be aloud to have any movement in a tank this way they live longer anything bigger than 1/2 a gallon is overkill i was shoked when i read this but it is true and that is why pet stores keep them in those itty bitty betta containers. according to this article you can get 12 bettas in a 5 gallon tank by dividing the tank up into 3 inch x 3inch cubes.




this reply will get some different opinions

the newspaper this was in was either the sydney morning herald or the daily telegraph one of those aussie papers

Can you post a link to the article on-line? It sounds like very dubious information as bettas can swim very well so why shouldn't they move?

If those scientists ever bought home a pet shop betta and placed him in a 5 gallon tank then watch him explore they would probably change their minds.

i don't remember what paper it is but i think it was just like a we are short of articles lets throw some crap in there. my cousin damien told me don't believe that ###### he has had bettas since he was a new a born (now 20) the do fine in bigger tanks. but if you think about it there may be some logic behind this as bettas were bread in small clay pots. still a bunch of corporate hoo ha though. you should never believe what the press says.