# New and Excited Betta Fish Owner!! -- Good Setup or No?



## Olocitad (Sep 21, 2012)

Hi all! I'm new here so forgive me if I make mistakes 

I'm a new betta fish owner as of two weeks ago and have recently upgraded to a new and better tank so that my fishie is the happiest fishie ever.

So first, meet Earl ( chilling in the pet store cup while I was setting up his tank and letting him look at it -- he seems excited about it too, keeps trying to swim towards it! ), otherwise known as Earlie-whirlie, or sometimes The Cutest Earlieman on the Planet.










He is mostly white so its hard to tell ( and you guys obviously didn't see him when he first came in ) but his color has improved so much.  I picked him out because from the get go he was definately the most lively little sucker there, a very fast and strong swimmer and I swear if he wanted to he could probably jump a full foot out of the water with the speed he can build up, but when I first got him the purpley coloration of his fins ( it looks reddish in the photo but alas I am a magically amazing photographer so expect magical distortions haha ) was grayed out and now its very vibrant and he's much shinier.  He's even adopted some pinkish stripe along his side too, very pretty! And he's got the prettiest baby blue eyes!

As far as food is concerned, he eats between 3-5 beta pellets once in the morning and once in the night, amount depending on how hungry he is. I feed him two at a time and if he seems less interested in food after that then I won't give him more, but if he's still looking up at me like FEED ME he gets more.

He'll be moving very shortly to his new home, a 6-gallon Marineland Column after I buy a heater and such things for it. And more substrate because I THOUGHT I bought enough but my pebbles barely cover even the bottom of this much larger tank ( his old one was a 1 gallon that didn't even end up being *that* -- I had bought a gallon of water from store and by the time 3/4 of the water was in the tank, the tank was overflowing! So I knew he definately needed an upgrade ).










The PLANTS in here do not tug on his fins. I've tested them both -- the bonsai actually has very rounded leaves and even squeazing the 'fronds' as hard as I can it barely indents my hand, and the longer.. plantlike thing log whatever it is haha has been in with him before and even when Earl swims tight circles around the leaves or brushes up against them they've done him no harm!

Soon he will also be sharing the aquarium with buddies. I'm still deciding on what sort of tank mate I will be going for but I'm thinking tetras and maybe a snail or two. I'll have to be careful with this though because if he knows he is an almost solid white fish than practically everything not solid black or white will be more colorful than him! I'd REALLY like a black knife but I am aware this tank setup is far too small and it'd be dangerous to keep such a big fellow with my betta haha @[email protected]

How's my setup! What kind of things would you reccomend? I will get my water tested today as well, just to make sure.

Shopping list today is a net, a wallscraper, a vaccuum if I can, POSSIBLY fish buddies ( but definately a snail because I love them haha ), MORE ROCKS, and if the pet store employee will suggest me anything else I need I will go for that too.

Though I'm terribly afraid of fin rot Earl doesn't seem to be showing any signs of it that I can see -- the edges of his fins are crisp and well formed and I don't see any tearing anywhere unless I'm not looking at him right.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

I would say if you want to keep your betta with other fish you need at least a 10gallon tank otherwise ammonia buildup will happen pretty fast. What you can keep with him in the 6gallon though is one of the following three. African dwarf frog, snail, or shrimp. African dwarf frogs are really cute and I am toying with the idea of getting one myself. I am also getting two shrimp for sure once I find some. Otherwise with a heater it sounds good to me.


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## Olocitad (Sep 21, 2012)

I had an African Dwarf frog when I was little and I loved her so much! So that is a good suggestion, I may end up doing that! I also researched the shrimp too, and they are tempting ( even if my mom would hate me for bringing 'bugs' into the house pffft ). Maybe I'll get both. I feel bad that he's all alone and especially in this tank where he seems so small ( and if it matters, he is a very small betta -- I'm not sure if he is a baby or just a runt but he was definately smaller than most the other bettas at the store ).


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

Hey there Olocitad, welcome to the forum and congrats on the upgrade! It looks fantastic, I absolutely adore the tree decoration.  And little Earlie there is such a handsome little boy! Sounds like a typical, healthy, spunky Plakat too, I bet he'll LOVE all the extra space in his new 6 gallon!

Hmm.....the only suggestion I have would be to look into cycling(an awesome Betta-specific cycling thread: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=107771 )and maybe work on that before getting any sort of tankmates.
A snail or a few ghost/cherry shrimp would make fantastic little buddies if you want tankmates, but 6 gallons is a little too small for a betta and actual fish tankmates like tetras and whatnot.....you'd need a 10+ gallon for that I'm afraid.

Oh! Also, its completely up to you, but I've found a marble substrate can be a bit of a pain with the vacuum and partial water changes in a cycled tank. The marbles get all stuck in the vacuum and its hard to get down past them to get at the poo and such that falls down into the bottom. Gravel or sand is a little easier to keep clean in a cycled tank, but its all up to you.

Thats all I can really think of.....best of luck, and be sure to post LOTS of pictures! xD We love pictures here.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

Shrimp are awesome, aside from betta I have been bitten by the shrimp bug xD And if your mom freaks say they are not bugs. Well...really they aren't and they are so cute. I love cherry shrimp a lot though ghost shrimp are cool too but cherry shrimp are colorful and stand out more.


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## Olocitad (Sep 21, 2012)

Thank you very much Dragonfish, that page answered many of the questions I was preparing to ask  I've decided on a pair of African Dwarf Frogs rather than other fish, especially since I have experience with them and the setup is already rather perfect for them because there's a little hovel for them to hide in and all.

The pebbles may be harder to clean.. but regardless, I like them better so I probably will not move to sand any time soon. x3 ( And plus, the frogs I have owned in the past, which obviously would be interacting with them more than the better, seem to prefer them as well 'cause they can dig around in them ). I may eventually get a shrimp or two later regardless of my mum. She probably won't interact much with the tank anyway.

Once Earl is in the tank I will supply more pictures. So far everything is good. I got the heater and thermostat, but it seems the water was already at a good temperature ( leveling about 75 ) buuut at night time I know it gets much cooler so that should help. The lighting on the tank should help as well, because it actually has a night time function so the water won't cool down as much as it may.

This is probably a stupid question but when I'm changing water do I leave the fish in or do I take them out?


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

Sure thing, glad to help. 

Ahhh, ADFs can be such adorable little guys. xD I miss mine, I always used to have a pair in my larger community tank for my brother and my mom. They were my brothers favorite, and my mom liked to talk to them. xD
I've never personally had shrimp before, but I always see them and consider bringing a few home...I'm sure out of ten boys I could find ONE that wouldn't eat them. xD But I always end up getting something else instead. Maybe one day....

Hey, if the marbles are your thing and you don't mind the extra hassle, go for it. xD I love the look of them too, but they got to me in my cycled tanks, lol. 

When you're cycling/when you've finished cycling your tank you leave your fish and his tankmates in when you preform a partial water change. 

Does the light really effect the temperature of the tank more then maybe a degree or two? Thats usually not a good thing, since it can cause stressful temp fluctuations....
Hmm....I'm not familiar with the modal of tank, but I'd be skeptical about using a night function on a light for non-nocturnal fish like a betta....I've never heard of anyone using something like that, so I'm not sure how it would effect the fish or not. Personally I'd just turn the light off all together at night so your guy can rest, but maybe someone more experienced in that area can comment on it.....maybe I'm just a little paranoid. xD


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## Olocitad (Sep 21, 2012)

The night light is three dark dark blue LED lights, not very bright at all, if me or Earl end up not liking it at night I might switch it to the night time setting in the evenings ( to give them a setting that isn't "bright day" or "dark night", I'm pretty sure turning off the "sun" would be a bit spooky to them! ) and then turn the light all the way off at night. We'll see!

Ended up getting three african dwarf frogs, though one almost got away. Had to take them back out of the tank because I realized a flaw in the positioning of the bonzai tree and I only found two, the third was nowhere to be found! ...Except a half hour later where he was crawling around on my brother's bed. :l

So in addition to Earl, we now have Cletis, Bubba, and Sue, just to stick with the hillbilly-esque names haha. Cletis is the escape artist and is almost black, Bubba is regular AWD colored and spotted, and Sue is bright and with very faint spots. Here's some new pictures








Earl checking out the bonsai tree








Earl not cooperating for the cameraaaa








Mostly Sue being kind of trashy and showing us her butt but now that I look at it you can see Cletus hiding in the back there and Bubba's foot, and after I took this picture Bubba was like








WAIT MA YOU FERGOT 'BOUT ME and he like shoved Sue out of the way like a big ole bully haha xD He clearly is the most camera loving one!

And then my biggest fish of all, Pat, got jealous I've been photographing all the littler guys so I took a picture of him too. He's too big for a tank just yet, I think he'd need like an 800 gallon or higher to be happy but I'm not sure what kind of decorations. You guys got any suggestions? He's already got food and water and toys and stuff but gosh, the tank part is really giving me trouble!








And no, you're not hallucinating and my camera is not being magical again -- his nails really are red and blue xD


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## Olocitad (Sep 21, 2012)

This is what happens when I press the GO GO NIGHTTIME MODE button ( and then a couple chinese ponies 'cause what else would decorate my fish table )

I need to clean up that tank a little bit, its got so much water residue on the outside 'cause I kept spilling it all over the place trying to get the filter to work properly ( the tank advertises as easy set up -- it LIES, the pictures shows dimensions of your parts that aren't true to life, claims that cords are color coded when they are not, says certain things are put together when they aren't, ect ) but I'm happy with it now, the cleaning I would do is purely aesthetic anyway!


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## Shadyr (Mar 27, 2012)

I have an ADF that I put my girl betta in with initially. She kept stealing his food. It was kinda funny - the frog pellets are SO much larger than betta ones, but that didn't stop her from trying. I moved her to her own space after a few days. If my frog is typical, you can't just put some frog pellets in and assume the frog eats them! Especially if there's a piggy betta around too.


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## ZackyBear (Dec 1, 2011)

Why not get snowball shrimp or yellw shrimp? They would look nice in there...

Your tank is beautiful by the way


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

Ummm...maybe I'm not seeing things right, but where is your heater? Is it that long black rod to the right? Or is that your filter intake?

LEDs should cause no temperature fluctuation.

It's a good idea to provide a minimum of 6 hours darkness everyday. Betta have a circadian rhythm, too.

It's also a good idea to cover your tank. Prevents jumping and provides a warm moist layer of air to breath. Cling film is ideal.


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## Olocitad (Sep 21, 2012)

Luckily Earl seems to be a picky eater. He doesn't even like the bloodworms I put in his tank! I had got them to sate the frogs ( who DID like the bloodworms ) because the store was out of ADF food until today when I can go to the more well stocked store, and though Earl was really curious about 'em and would grab them and such, he'd spit them out later like bleh! Gross, ma! So I don't think he'll be too interested in the froggie pellets, we will see! Hopefully they sink cause my froggies seem to prefer the bottom of the tank very much haha.


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

Nice tank! you coud add a snail but keep in mind that they poop a lot. They also need removed to eat their food.
I wouldnt get anything else based on what the pet store employee suggests. Most of them are clueless in proper fish care, so beware.


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## Olocitad (Sep 21, 2012)

You can't see the heater in any of the photos because the curvature of the tank is hiding it but its next to the filter, which is where the instructions reccomended to put it. However I'm not sure it was entirely necessary during the day time because my thermostat says my tank holds a rather steady 78 degrees anyway, but oh well. 

Earl and his friends are getting at least six hours of darkness a day, I promise. Admittedly I may accidentally be keeping up later than they would like because my reading lamp but on average I sleep from 12 30 to 7 30, and the tank lights are off during that time, so there it is. 

The tank has a lid; there's no way for anybody to jump out! I know the jumping power of bettas, my aunt had a jump-happy fish when I was little that ended up killing itself because she wasn't bright enough to at least put netting over the top of her open-top tank after he jumped out seven or eight times. :l

Okay, I probably won't be getting a snail. I would rather things that don't poop like crazy haha xD And also, I can guarantee the fish guy at the store I work at is knowledgeable. To the point where if he doesn't think you're a suitable owner for a certain fish he will decline the sale until he feels the buyer is educated enough-- and he is the only fish associate at any pet store ever that I've seen decline a sale for any reason ever. @[email protected] But regardless I would take as he says with a grain of salt of course and do my own research to back it up. I just get the general idea from the store employee so I know exactly what I should be researching. :>

Today's shopping list -- vaccuum and wallscraper because despite the fact that was mostly what I went to the pet store yesterday for I somehow forgot BOTH those things. Ugh. xD

Considering getting a yellow shrimp. I'd like something of more color in there because the frogs can be really hard to see -- especially on the bonzai, they camoflage like crazy! And if a shrimp is bright yellow ( AND REALLY CUTE I JUST GOOGLED THEM ) that should be awesome  But we'll see. I don't want to overcrowd the tank and I've already got a fish and three frogs.

Sorry I started to ramble here, this post got much longer than I intended fff.


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## Olocitad (Sep 21, 2012)

Got frog food, vaccuum, and scraper ( FINALLY REMEMBERED THOSE LAST TWO yeesh )


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## schell0385 (Sep 11, 2012)

Olo,

Where did you find your tree? I have seen one in another photo and have been looking for one? I have bonsai's in my home and love the look of it. Are the leaves silk?

Thank you.....
I am thinking of putting shrimp in my new tank - it is cycling now - but I love the frog idea. My brother and I always caught tree frogs and lake frogs, hatched their eggs and watched the polywogs grow up.....what a blast.

schell


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## schell0385 (Sep 11, 2012)

oh, what kind of tank did you get? What is the filter type that came with it? I ended up getting a bio-wheel, but I am going to put a small sponge on the tip, or a little tiny water sock.

sch


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## Olocitad (Sep 21, 2012)

I got it from Petsmart, which is where I got everything in the tank -- I work there so I get employee discount :> No, the leaves are not silk though, so I'd be careful with it. Earl hasn't had any problems with it but something with longer, thinner fins might.


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## Olocitad (Sep 21, 2012)

schell0385 said:


> oh, what kind of tank did you get? What is the filter type that came with it? I ended up getting a bio-wheel, but I am going to put a small sponge on the tip, or a little tiny water sock.
> 
> sch


http://www.marineland.com/sites/marineland/products/detail.aspx?id=4651

I got this one, I don't know the specifics but the filter did come with it. Many reviewers say it creates a current too strong for the size of the tank -- I personally don't have a problem with it and Earl seems fine ( able to hold still in the middle of the tank without over exerting his little fins and not getting pushed about too much ) but maybe I lucked out. It does have a biowheel in it as well. I like the tank, however the curvature of the sides can make it kinda hard to look at too closely -- it messes with your guys at close range


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

snowball and yellow shrimp? expensivvvveeee snacks XD


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## Olocitad (Sep 21, 2012)

THEY WOULDN'T BE SNACKS. >:l

Buuut my betta is eating the frog food and the frogs seem to prefer the betta food. WHY.

Earl seems to have a ball chasing the frog food as it sinks to the bottom, even going so far as to cough up the food he was already chewing so as it give it chase. I wonder if I should just switch his food to some sort of sinking food if I can't get him to eat his own regular stuff haha.


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Tank is lovely!! I want ADF's so bad. BOTH my bettas would pick and peck them to death. And starve them since they're pigs. Can't even feed the assassins bloodworms without my combtail freaking out with jealousy (the assassins are floating in a betta cup on his side of the tank)

I think Earl is a lovely little fish and your names are hilarious. I would probably die if I saw an aquatic frog in my bed. I do have nerites and I hear they can escape the tank and crawl around outside for a while. lol


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

Laki said:


> I do have nerites and I hear they can escape the tank and crawl around outside for a while. lol


I think (I hope) they have a hard time getting over the lip around the common glass tank. My Nerite has been known to climb over both dividers in my double-divided tank to get to the goodies in the other bay.


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

I hope Milly figures that out so she can go clean the other side of the divider.. She's been on it for days. I like how she cleaned the one side I think I'll put her over. Gammon is 'special' in that he hasn't figured it out yet. ALL the algae is on the divider! Thanks for calming me with that, I know it would upset Matt so much. He hates the snails as it is.


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## Olocitad (Sep 21, 2012)

Decided against the snails because people reccomended me not getting them, and so I won't x3 Plus the tank is pretty clean on its own so I don't think I'll need a cleaner-dude in there! Nobody leaves much waste so far.

First cleaning of the big tank, successful!  I found out how the vaccuum works so my fear of accidentally sucking up somebody and hurting / maiming / killing them is absolved, whew. I'll still take the frogs out during cleaning because they aren't the best of swimmers but Earl's cool to stay in -- which is good because he IS a powerful swimmer and can take forever to catch @[email protected] Not having to take him down cuts cleaning down a whole bunch!

Due to the nature of my vaccuum only picking up itty bitty little froggy and fishy poos and old pellets, the pebbles I use as a substrate actually do pretty well! I actually think sand would make it more difficult to clean because it'd probably take the sand out too :B Yay!

Now to put my trio back in there and we're good to go. THIS IS FUN I LOVE MY LITTLE FISHIES


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## Olocitad (Sep 21, 2012)

I FORGOT TO POST THE PICS








Here's a picture of Sue's FACE this time, thank gods, last few pictures she wouldn't face the right way so they were all butt shots








Cletus doesn't like the camera much, but he loves to burrow in the pebbles, so as soon as he was back in the new clean tank he set about doing that ( I hope he doesn't do that too much, I had a ADF when I was little that liked to burrow and she eventually became an amputee when one of her burrows collapsed on her :l )








Bubba is the king of the bonsai tree

No Earl this time 'cause he wasn't being camera friendly, kept swimming away and hiding in the other plant!


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Yes  I think I like Bubba the best.


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