# What is the easiest way to keep multiple bettas?



## Leopardfire (Sep 23, 2012)

Hey, so I've noticed that a lot of members on here have 10+ bettas and I was wondering how you keep them all. I know each betta should have 5-10 gallons of space which makes it difficult to keep more than a few. A 10 gallon tank costs around $80 once you get the filter, hood, gravel, and decorations which can quickly get expensive when keeping multiple fish. 
So how do you guys keep all of your bettas? I doubt you spend over $1000 on cages so there has to be a cheaper way than buying expensive 10 gallon aquariums for each fish. I really love bettas and I want to keep more, but I just can't afford $100 set up per fish.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I keep two one in a ten gallon and the other in a twenty some of us build sorties.


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## ZergyMonster (Feb 20, 2012)

I keep my long finned males(2) in a 2.5 gallon kritter keepers, they cost me $10 each and I add my live plant clippings to keep their water quality cleaner. My plakat is in a 5 gallon naturally planted tank (NPT) where I don't have a filter. And finally I have a 10 gallon sorority where my 5 girls live in sustainable dissonance; they pick on each other but don't do anything harmful. 

My 5 gallon cost me $30 and my 10 gallon costed me $33. Substrate is soil with sand cap so it only cost me $6 for all the tanks. The plants costed me roughly $200 but with each plant they continually grow so I get free plants for each tank and the tanks I plan on getting!

I've spent about $500 total on my fish equipment and most are self sustaining. With a water change every week and paying for electricity for the heaters it is a very minimal cost each month.


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## katydidmischief (Aug 19, 2012)

I keep two of my males in a divided ten gallon, one in a 5.5 and right now, I've got a rescued female in my hospital tank. If I end up keeping her instead of adopting her out as planned (because I get attached), I'll buy a 20 gallon and divide it 4 ways.

The ten I got during Petco's $ per gallon sale so 10$, the hood was 35$ and the divider was homemade. The 5.5 I got on sale from petsmart for 30$ as a kit. Everything but my live plants was bought on sale. I think I've spent... 300$ all told, not including my fishfaces.


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## Leopardfire (Sep 23, 2012)

Would my male betta be happy in something smaller than a 10 gallon? He is a HM so he has a long tail and I don't want him to feel cramped.


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## ZergyMonster (Feb 20, 2012)

Mine lives in a 2.5 gallon with plants out the ears. He seems to enjoy swimming: through, around, and behind all the plants and gets his exercise when I pull the card between him and his Veil Tail neighbor (Different tanks side by side).


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## toad (Jul 17, 2012)

I've got 6 bettas - one in a 10 gallon, one in a 5 gallon, and the other four in 3 gallons. All 6 tanks have live plants.

All my guys in the 3 gallons seem to be perfectly happy, and do not appear cramped at all.


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## crowntaillove (Sep 3, 2012)

You can keep him in anything larger than 1 gallon. Just make sure you know how often to change the water, it's different for different sized tanks. I find it's easier to divide a 10 gallon tank if you have the space. I have 4 of them. I didn't buy everything all at once. I got the tank, the fish and the heater the first day (oh and some water conditioner and food.) The next week I got a plant, a few caves and a filter.
Now that I think about it, they are expensive but if you just space out what you buy with each paycheck, then you really don't notice how much you spend on the little boogers.


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## toad (Jul 17, 2012)

crowntaillove said:


> You can keep him in anything larger than 1 gallon. Just make sure you know how often to change the water, it's different for different sized tanks. I find it's easier to divide a 10 gallon tank if you have the space. I have 4 of them. I didn't buy everything all at once. I got the tank, the fish and the heater the first day (oh and some water conditioner and food.) The next week I got a plant, a few caves and a filter.
> Now that I think about it, they are expensive but if you just space out what you buy with each paycheck, then you really don't notice how much you spend on the little boogers.


True.

Plus, you can always buy real plants and then, as they grow, sell the cuttings to other fish people  Makes a little bit of the money back that you spent, anyway!


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I would say 2.5 miniumum they are native to millions of gallons of water I prefer 5 though.


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

We have 10 males, 3 in a divided 10g, 3 in a divided 10g, 2 in a divided 5g and 2 single 1.5g tetras (one is a continuing care tank, the other is for newbies). 

I have 5 females in a 20g tank as well.

A lot of my tanks are second hand. Here's a break down of the cost of one of my divided tanks.

10g - $15
heater - $13
rocks - $3 (large bag)
plants - $10
caves - $30 
filters - $15

So it's about $85 for me to have 3 males. The other 10g is the same deal, the 5g was cheaper and is not filtered so that one was $50. 

I've spent about $4000 on my fish tanks though, so I know where to cut corners to pinch a few extra dollars and still give my fish everything they need. It was also spent over time, not all at once  

We also give our fish about 3g of space except the newest betta and our forever sick boy, Kris


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

I prefer to use 10 g tanks because of the ease to get a stable cycle and they give me room for decorating with a lil bit less maintenance. Each betta gets its own little mansion. My sorority tank is 33g with 5 females. Boy do they bully each other but it is always full of action. The bullying never stops and it took me awhile to accept it and realize this is the nature of the breed..its just what they do for kicks.

The key for me keeping costs down was buying all used complete set up tanks. In one day I bought 3 tanks, 1 25g and 2 10g on the local internet classifieds for 75 bucks total. Would have cost 10x more from the LPS for the same stuff. Lots of people lose interest in the hobby for various reasons and there is always lots of cheap used available.


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## Leopardfire (Sep 23, 2012)

Thanks for all the suggestions! I love bettas and I really want to keep more. However, I do have one more question. Do bettas in divided tanks try get stressed by seeing other bettas through the divider? I don't want my bettas constantly upset by the sight of another fish.


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## ZergyMonster (Feb 20, 2012)

Bettas can get stressed if they see another betta through a divider but you can avoid this by setting up an opaque divider or having decorations cover their view.


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## crowntaillove (Sep 3, 2012)

Leopardfire said:


> Thanks for all the suggestions! I love bettas and I really want to keep more. However, I do have one more question. Do bettas in divided tanks try get stressed by seeing other bettas through the divider? I don't want my bettas constantly upset by the sight of another fish.


They will flare at each other for a while, but I, as well as a few other members, have found that after a while they get used to seeing each other and realize that they can't get to each other, so they chill out. Of course there will be a few bettas that can never get used to seeing each other and they will stress out. In that case I've read that you can weave a plant through the mesh to minimize the view.


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## Onlyonagoodday (Jan 20, 2012)

Try craigslist for inexpensive tanks, often people just want to get rid of them and will throw in decorations for free.


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## Leopardfire (Sep 23, 2012)

Thanks, I guess divided tanks are the easiest way to keep a lot of bettas. It's good to know it doesn't always have to cost $100 to set up a single fish tank!


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## lexylex0526 (Dec 27, 2011)

I don't have many bettas, only 3 right now. But as for the 10 gal tanks here's how people can cheapily set one up:

10 gal from Walmart = $12
Marbles for substrate = $1 (at the dollar store)
Filter from Walmart = $14 
Heater = $13

All that adds up to $30 dollars and then all you have to do is add some decorations!


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## Leopardfire (Sep 23, 2012)

> Marbles for substrate = $1 (at the dollar store)


Thanks for the price breakdown. How big are the marble bags? It seems like it would take like 20 bags for a 10 gallon if they are that cheap.


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