Why is it that Bettas CAN live in a smaller enviroment than GF, like a 2.5 gal tank? Also, why is it that bettas can live w/out a filter as long as you change the water like you should? Why can't bettas be put together, why do they fight? LASTLY (LOL), how can you tell the sex of a betta? Sorry for so many questions! Just reading up in here!

Also, how long to Bettas live?

Hey! I know the answer to some of these!!!

Why is it that Bettas CAN live in a smaller enviroment than GF, like a 2.5 gal tank?
Betta's produce significantly less waste than GF and they don't get nearly as big as goldfish

Also, why is it that bettas can live w/out a filter as long as you change the water like you should?
Again they don't make as much waste.

Why can't bettas be put together, why do they fight?
Very terrtorial because because of the tight conditions their used to in the wild.

LASTLY (LOL), how can you tell the sex of a betta?

Male Betta has more fins and is usually more colorful


Female is smaller, smaller fins, and most of the time is less colorful


I think most of that's right according toi what I've read lately but I'm sure some one will correct me if I'm wrong! LOL

Once again, Olivia comes to the rescue!!! LOL! I never realized that Bettas were so different from GF! What do you feed your betta?

Betta food LOL!

Hardy Har Har!!! I meant is there a particular type, ie, pellets, sinking pellets, flakes, etc. I have read that Bettas can get sb, so if I get one, do I soak the food?

Lol. Sorry I'm in a goofy kinda mood today. I got Wally some Hikari floating betta bellets. I know they breath and breed from the surface so I think you're supposed to feed them floating foods but it's a good rule of thumb to soak any fish food you feed to any fish I think.

Okay, thanks!

you can feed them pellets as well as other food as bettas are carnivores I feed them Ocean Nutrition atisons pro betta food they are pellets I also feed freeze dried blood worms and frozen blood worms and frozen brine shrimp these brands are by hikari I also feed them live foods such as grindal worms black worms etc as it nutritious for them I also use Indian Almond Leaf for them they seem to love it Nickie I will let you know that you can keep female bettas together they call it a sorority it is recommended that you keep atleast 8-10 in a sorority they have a pecking thing they go through to see who is going to be the Alpha betta of the sorority but it is nothing to worry about but you might get a highly aggressive female at one time or another but you can just separate that female from the rest of the females but yeah definitely keep male bettas separate of they will hurt each other badly or it can even result in the death of one of them but yeah bettas they are pretty amazing they have a completely different character if you need help on finding a betta to purchase there is a site called aquabid that sells all kinds of bettas that is were I have gotten some of mine from I hope this helps you some what if you have any other info you need let me know.

Thanks, Jillian. That ws going to be another question I had in the future...where to get a Betta on-line. I will check out Aquabid when I get ready to purchase one.

you are quite welcome nicki you can go to aquabid also there are a few breeders I could point you in the direction to that are well known my betta in my avatar is from a betta breeder I know

The thing is, Jillian, I don't think I am ready to spend a HUGE amount on a betta right now. I think that 20.00 would be my max. After all, I'm not really looking for a "show" fish, just a nice-looking one...a pet.

Sorry to hijack your thread, but I have a quick question

-Jillian, you mentioned that you can keep female bettas together. Would this be possible in a filtered 5 gallon tank with no other fish? If so, how many would you recomend in there?

Yes that is possible to have a sorority of only 2 or 3 girls in a 5 gallon. with the sorority make sure to add all three girls at once to the tank . Sometimes there is an alpha female among them and they might fight it out in the beginning but they usaully get a long after that . Lots of breeders house their girls that way.

Cool, I would like to try that

What would you say the the water change rate would be on a tank like that if it has a pretty good filter?

Depends on how many girls you have in there. I would only put in about 2 at the most three otherwise they might get territorial. I would do a 50 percent water change maybe once a week

that's not bad at all!! I would definately not put more than 3 in, and I'd give them lots of plants and hidey places

that's great they will love you for it. That way if one of them is getting picked on she can go hide for a while

hehe...awesome.....now all i have to do is re-locate my "pest" snails that I didn't have the heart to dispose of when I bought plants for my goldie tank! I currently just have them in some water in my 5 gal that I would keept the betta girls in.


But just as a hypothetical......how many could I keep comfortably in a 10 gallon tank? I'm guessing 3 is the max for 5 gal, so 6 is prob the max for a 10 gal, right?

yup about 5 or six in a ten gallon should do it

Cool, thanks again!

and sorry Nickie for hijacking your thread

No prob, Chickey!