Little fish happiness

[ParallelJJCat]

This is my boy, Bontaleer:



And his tank:



He has a coconut cave on the left side and a temple with an opening on the right. If at all possible, your betta will love anything with a cave-like opening...Bontaleer sleeps in his coconut cave or the temple every night. They don't swim while they sleep and need a safe spot to rest where the current won't push them.

He won't mind the hum of the filter. Fish have been living in tanks with filters for centuries now and they do just fine. The only thing I will warn of is the filter intake. Some small tanks have wide filters and a fish can get caught up against them. I'm thinking of Whisper in-tank filters. You can see in the picture how Bontaleer's filter has basically a stick that comes down...that style is less dangerous. You can also see that there is a square of floss over the filter's outlet. Bettas don't generally like very strong currents...they aren't particularly strong swimmers because of those long fins. My tank is overfiltered, meaning the filter is a larger size than the tank needs, so I slow the current by putting floss over the outlet.

You'll still need to do frequent water changes for a while until your filter can develop a colony of good bacteria. It's the bacteria that 'eat' your fish's waste and left-over food and keep the water clean.

Good job upgrading your happy betta's home!

[Coldjensens]

Bettas can live in almost anything. In the wild, they frequently live in water buffalo footprints that fill with water. Your bowl is fine. Much nicer than a water buffalo footprint.

[andthentherewere3]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Bettas can live in almost anything. In the wild, they frequently live in water buffalo footprints that fill with water. Your bowl is fine. Much nicer than a water buffalo footprint.

Please do everyone a favor, and do your research. That is an old wive's tale perpetuated by ignorance. For anyone seriously considering getting a betta, please see the links below to learn how bettas will not thrive in mud puddles.


Mythbuster: Do bettas really live in "tiny" puddles?

bettas buffalo footprints - Google Search

[ParallelJJCat]

Originally Posted by andthentherewere3

Please do everyone a favor, and do your research. That is an old wive's tale perpetuated by ignorance. For anyone seriously considering getting a betta, please see the links below to learn how bettas will not thrive in mud puddles.


Mythbuster: Do bettas really live in "tiny" puddles?

bettas buffalo footprints - Google Search

Thank you, saved me the trouble.

Personally, I wouldn't keep a betta in anything less than a 5 gallon. Bontaleer's tank is a 10 gallon (which he shares with 3 micro moth catfish.) He could SURVIVE in a tiny 1/2 or 1 gallon bowl, but he wouldn't thrive. It would also be a loss to me because I wouldn't get to see his natural behavior like sleeping in caves, pushing his ping pong ball around, or investigating for any tiny food bits that fall.

I think this myth continues because people are used to seeing 'lazy' bettas in bowls. Of course they are lazy! There's no room to do anything!

Betta actually do have a wide range of activity levels, which means some fish are quieter and some are always on the go. You'll never know what your betta's real personality is if you keep them cooped up. Also, just because bettas can survive the high ammonia levels that occur in bowls doesn't mean it is healthy for them. You would survive too in a house filled with smoke, but the damage it caused to your body would be cumulative. Ammonia causes the same kind of cumulative damage to the fish's organs and immune system, making them more vulnerable to disease and early death.

Basically these fish get punished because they have the amazing ability to breath air and can endure conditions other fish can't.

[stan4]

The more I read about betas, the more I want one for a little 5 or 10 gallon upstairs or in the kitchen or something.

Here comes another 6 week cycle, I am sure...

[foxywench]

thank you to the ones who busted the betta puddle post...
that little bit of "information" has ended many a betas life short...
peple keep telling me bettas only live a couple of years and thus i must be lying about my now almost 6 yr old betta...
they cant seem to grasp the concpt that idiots made up the myth about the puddles in order to sell them a easy pets in an "i want it now" society. and given the right conidtions these fish are long lived!

YES they often live in rice paddy feilds...yes these rice paddy feilds are muddy "pudles" but these puddles are far from SMALL flooded pady feilds take up acres and acres and acres of land!
add to that that betta are not very strong swimmers and often get washed into and stranded in small puddles and tada...
just becaue they are found there doesnt mean its their prefered habitat.

one more case of "just because you CAN...doesnt mean you SHOULD"

Stan, i LOVE my little betta, he lives in a 7gal in my bedroom and hes such a character, he swims right to the front when he sees me