BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish 10 gal tank or small bowl? need help with setup

I adopted my betta fish, Pete, from a rescue a couple months ago and have been housing him in a 1 gal bowl. I was worried he would be unhappy but he blew elaborate bubble nests and is very active. I had to return the bowl as it was on loan and bought a new one of the same size. He now seems unhappy. Its only been a day and so I understand it could be due to stress. I am considering getting a 10 gal tank for him instead. I thought about the 2.5 or 5gal but they are rather expensive and I don't trust the filter systems to not be intrusive.
Is it a good idea to get a 10 gal tank with a heater and do daily cleanings with a turkey baster and 25% cleanings once a week? Is this enough? Does he need more? I would also like to get him things to play with and swim through as he only has pebbles and live plants in there with him right now.
What all would I need for a good setup? I have tried to research online but had trouble finding the information I need. I want him to have the best possible life he can and to live as long as possible, he is approximated to be around 2 years old (at least 1.5).

I have a betta. I recommend a 10, with java moss, and a queit filtering system-no bubbler. I also bought a fish to the alge. I recommend that you bye Methylene Blue for the tank-it help the fish heal if they get a bug. Use only tap water. Let it sit out and check the PH level-6.8 to 7.o. Bye a under water heater, the H2o should be kept in the high 70's to low 80's. I recommend with you quiet filtering make it an under gravel with extentions, I have mine and it is a lot less cleaning.

If I get a filter how often do I change the water and what percentage should I change? I've been changing the majority of his water by adding a drop of cleaner and letting the water sit on its own for 2-3 days before slowly mixing him into the new water. Should I continue something like this? Should I change less of the water since there is much more?

If you want something he can play in/threw fish tend to like:
tall plants, rocks to go around, some rocks have holes they can swin threw <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> , and of course there's small logs/sticks that are nice too. I've also heard that betas like to have their own little places to hide in, you could get a small terra cota pot and place it on it's side for him to go into. Sometimes plastic plants can tear fins so fabric ones are better, though it has never been a problem for me.

Persoannly I only once tried to put my beta into a 10 gallon take with my other fish and he didn't like having a space that large. Of course your beta could like the additional room. All depends on your fish and his tastes.

Hope this helps. Good luck building him a new home! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Fantails and Betas

Hi Koala,

For a 10 gallon setup, here are my recommendations.

10 gallon tank (duh, lol)
a whisper 10i filter [url=BellaOnline ALERT: For anti-spam reasons, we restrict the number of URLs allowed in a given post. You have exceeded our maximum number of URLs.

OH! and a 5-in-1 test kit is good to have!! the strips are very easy to use although some people find them hard to read. if you want to feel like you're doing a chemistry experiment get the lliquid tests. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Wow that really helped! Thank you so much stampingchick. I just started classes again and thus had to spend all my money on books so I will work on getting each part at a time rather than all at once. Makes me feel less broke! lol I really like the panty hose idea. I was worried any kind of filter would make him unhappy.

Also, the past day or two he has been puffing up at me when I go close to the bowl. He has done it a couple of times. Is this normal behavior? Maybe he sees his own reflection? I changed where his bowl was and he has a new bowl so I'm not sure if he is just insecure or angry. Is this behavior something to be concerned about? Would he feel even less secure in a larger tank?

I've also heard of another way to lessen the air output is to poke a few holes in the tubing near the air pump, until you get the desired flow. I personally use a two way gang valve which has a switch that I can turn to adjust the flow of air. However, that's more money you have to spend! My betta doesn't seem to mind his bubbles. If I turn it off, sometimes he actually rushes over frantically wondering where the bubbles went! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'm not sure exactly why bettas flare out at their human owners, since flaring is always a sign of agression or defensiveness. Both my bettas wiggle and flare at me when I come up close or put my finger up to the tank, and they both seem healthy and happy so I just like to imagine they're only strutting their stuff... trying to be cool. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I certainly wouldn't be worried about it.

Hahaha thats awesome "trying to be cool" hahaha. I bet thats true too! I had a question for stampingchick actually when she said to take about 20% of the water out every week or so. Well I have a 10g tank and have 3 corycatfish in it, 1 female betta, 4 female guppies, and 1 blue snail. I find that feeding all of these little guys makes LOTS of waste in the gravel at the bottom of my tank. Therefore, I do water changes fully every week. Is this bad for my fish? I mean, how would I only change small amounts of water if there is so much waste, it feels wrong just to leave it in there.

Any ideas?

kageshi17, are you doing daily cleanings with a turkey baster? I hear that really helps to just go along the bottom after a feeding and get the majority of the gunk out. And it shouldn't take too long since it will be right on top.