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Discussion in 'Introduce Yourself' started by Cynthia, Apr 25, 2010.

  1. Cynthia

    Cynthia Thread Starter Member

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    Hiya everyone, I'm new but I've kept gubbies, Betta fish (current, have to normals and one Turquise Crowntail, Kami) and gold fish snails too :) as a hobby my dad bought me some more betta fish and I'm here to learn how to take best care of them
     
    Cynthia, Apr 25, 2010
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  2. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    Hey there Cynthia, welcome.

    Do you keep them in filtered tanks ?
     
    Anthony, Apr 25, 2010
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  3. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Hi Cynthia!

    bettas are great fish, but don't believe the petstores when the sell you a 1gallon tank and tell you to simply just feed them.

    TANK:
    If you really want to see them active go for at least a 5 gallon, 10 being better and more times than not cheaper too!

    HEAT:
    I keep my water stable at 76F for mine (if you're having drastic swings or a/c in the room that the bettas in get yourself an aquarium heater and set it/adjust it to 76F).

    SIPHON/PARTIAL:
    Get yourself a siphon (or a python no spill clean n fill if you don't want to deal with "burping" the siphon and buckets)...and go through your substrate (if you don't have any then sweep across the bottom)...take about 15- 25% out once a week.

    DECHLORINATOR:
    BEFORE adding fresh water back to the now clean tank, be sure to add a dechlorinator such as Seachem PRIME first...any time you add water add PRIME according to the mfr. bottle....PRIME will last for 24 hours--so if need be you won't need to redose with prime if you were to add additional water within 24 hours.

    FILTER:
    If you choose to use a filter, be sure to use a prefilter (sponge over the intake strainer) or a very low gph one such as the Red Sea Palm Filter. Bettas aren't the best swimmers in the current due to there flowly fins.

    SEXES:
    You can keep several females together (although you may get the occassionaly moody one that will go after the rest), but with males only keep 1 per tank/divided section (yes, I've heard of cases where people have had luck with 2 or more in larger tanks, but that's NOT the norm).

    FOOD:
    Feed very sparingly up to 2x's a day (as a rough rule, feeding amt should be size of 1 betta eye...very small)...a high quality food is new life spectrum small fish formula or new life spectrum freshwater flake rolled between your fingers to make it very small-powdery.

    DECOR:
    none really needed, but live plants are nice for them to "rest" on.
     
    MOD_Dawn, Apr 25, 2010
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  4. buzz4520

    buzz4520 Well-Known Member

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    welcome.
     
    buzz4520, Apr 26, 2010
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  5. Cynthia

    Cynthia Thread Starter Member

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    their in seperate tanks, where I live during this time of year it doesn't get below 78 degrees, but in a couple months I'm buying some heaters , they get a 50 percent water change every 5 days . I think I'm doing something right because the crowntail looked sick when I bought her but now has the most personality of any Betta I've seen :) though my red one likes to follow my finger when I watch past her tank :D soon a friend of mine is gonna buy a ten gallon that I might put the two that don't fight (have checked...dad was stupid once and put all three in same tank) in there together with some gubbies, feeder or fancy or is mixing fish like that even a good idea?
    I only know about bettas and their temperaments... *noob* Internet was down fora while sorry bout the late reply
     
    Cynthia, May 14, 2010
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  6. GREENTEAL52

    GREENTEAL52 Member

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    Welcome too the group,

    You'll find a wealth of information and Friends
     
    GREENTEAL52, May 14, 2010
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  7. MasterBlue

    MasterBlue Active Member

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    Welcome ^^

    I think you mean Guppies?
    Feeder guppies and Fancy guppies are more or less the same fish. They interact well, but will interbreed and you will get more or less wild guppies. Betas have been know to attack fish with fancy fins, so I wouldn't recommend it. Dawn would know that better than me, since I've never had a beta.
     
    MasterBlue, May 14, 2010
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  8. HBIC

    HBIC Need help??? That's what we're here for :)

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    Hello, what are goldfish snails?
     
    HBIC, May 14, 2010
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  9. Cynthia

    Cynthia Thread Starter Member

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    one of two things, me forgetting to add a comma or these snails that got into a friend's tank that for some reason her goldie won't eat
     
    Cynthia, May 14, 2010
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  10. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    So far I've found a betta to go with corydoras' and my pair of orange australe killifish.
     
    MOD_Dawn, May 14, 2010
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  11. Cynthia

    Cynthia Thread Starter Member

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    what kind of corydoras ? I only want 6-8 fish less than 3 inches max in a ten gallon, hopefully ones that will live a long time and are hardy little buggers, I'd just add Zerbra danios, A hardy B Cheap C the short finned ones do well with Bettas, kept them together in a tank me and the same friend kinda half owned it was at her house but I'd come over every so often and take care of her bettas for her (5sisters in a 60 gal with 14 zebras heated to 76 degrees filtered all that stuff planted but only on one side , from above cause of all the duck weed and floating plants looked a little like a rice paddy)
     
    Cynthia, May 14, 2010
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  12. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Bronze Corydoras.

    Zebra Danios with a betta :eek:
     
    MOD_Dawn, May 14, 2010
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  13. Cynthia

    Cynthia Thread Starter Member

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    I'll check out the Bronze but this was four-6 years ago so the details are fuzzy at best maybe she was lucky and just bought peaceful fish ?

    I feel stupid now
     
    Cynthia, May 14, 2010
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  14. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    nah, don't feel dumb.
    I know I've even had "luck" with fish that are supposed to be incompatible.
    If you ask me, fish can be kinda like people= each with there own personality. Lol! (some more tolerant than others)
     
    MOD_Dawn, May 14, 2010
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  15. Cynthia

    Cynthia Thread Starter Member

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    lol thanks, yea I want to add a small school of White mountion minnows to the ten gallon I'll be getting, after letting it cycle for a couple weeks but my local stores don't have any in stock and to order them online would be like...45 dollars! of course it's over night shipping heat packs depending on the fish completely reasonable but it's wicked expensive ,though my petstores do have platiles, not mickey mouse ones (still don't under stand why they are called that [icon_e_confused.gif] ) but normal little ones that don't grow any bigger than 2 inches and are plain looking would these be good for Bettas as tank mates furthermore where can I get duck weed, snails ,the ones that only need themselves and time to make more snails and some cherry shrimp for a seperate set up. we did a experiment with ghost shrimp in school and I fell in love with the little fellas I've been a good girl and did all my homework on taking care of them gaa..I wish I already knew all this instead of being new.... [icon_e_sad.gif]
     
    Cynthia, May 14, 2010
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  16. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    PLATYS...
    Are A No Go(mickey mouse platys are called that because they have what looks like the mickey mouse head on there tails).

    DUCKWEED, SNAILS, CHERRY SHRIMP...
    Duckweed is a nuisance and clogs the filters..Ugh, But I'm sure you can find it on ebay/aquabid or even posting here or craigslist...same goes with the snails and as far as cherry shrimp I get them from jklodz for $1.00 each and free shipping since I normally order a descent amount at once. I think he sells them on Ebay under usinverts, But you can also get the cherry shrimp from aquabid for under a buck each if your lucky (I just bought off 2 different sellers and believe I posted the prices on my 20L thread).
     
    MOD_Dawn, May 15, 2010
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  17. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    ps. If you want to keep several different things, but only want 1 tank running you can do as I did with the 20L and place dividers...I've seen some which even took lexan and silicone sealant and made there own PERMANENT dividers without any chance of something sneaking past.

    check this out for different ideas on tank dividers
     
    MOD_Dawn, May 15, 2010
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  18. Cynthia

    Cynthia Thread Starter Member

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    pretty crowntail, yea I'll just split the tank in 4eds and set up each one as a betta home like that one their what I have the most experience with and my favorite fish
     
    Cynthia, May 15, 2010
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