freshwater question im a newb

[team2jndd]

my mom just got one of those bettas from a doctor she works with becuase i guess he cant handle it i dont know. (scares me to think that the guy who cant take care of a betta does surgery) ANYWAY, i dont know alot about freshwater fish and I wanted to put live plants in the tank to keep the o2 up and help with water quality. Somebody said live plants are bad for it. Is this true?

 

[who dey]

Originally Posted by team2jndd
my mom just got one of those bettas from a doctor she works with becuase i guess he cant handle it i dont know. (scares me to think that the guy who cant take care of a betta does surgery) ANYWAY, i dont know alot about freshwater fish and I wanted to put live plants in the tank to keep the o2 up and help with water quality. Somebody said live plants are bad for it. Is this true?
not sure??

 

[surfinusa]

bettas love plants and it keeps water quality way better they love swimming in the plants and hiding in them too :happyfish

 

[team2jndd]

yeah i thought so. When i worked in the lfs I had fresh plants in all the freshwater tanks. Never in the betta tanks because there wasnt any room so I wasnt sure. Thank you.

 

[ophiura]

There are a couple of issues here....
They do quite well in a smaller tank, say 1-2g, as the only fish. Lower flow. They MUST be able to reach the surface as they are air breathers. The live plants will not do much for them in terms of keeping the water oxygenated...well in that it is not needed for them really...BUT do not let the plants overgrow to the poiint where they hinder the fish reaching the surface. Otherwise they do very well.
Remember that people kept these in these "betta vases." There was LOADS of misinformation about keeping them in there:
1) They eat the plant roots: WRONG (though if you are starving...)
2) Use distilled water: YIKES!!! Terribly for a freshwater fish
3) The roots were often not trimmed so the fish couldn't reach the surface of the vase easily.
Many probably were deathtraps for the poor things

Otherwise they are very beautiful fish that are pretty easy to keep

 

[maeistero]

read some books.
lfs. read some of the hate threads.
ask for help from your coworkers.
i'm sorry to flame you, but really you need to know something about freshwater fish before you try saltwater.
please.
yes this is a flame and no i won't reply.

 

[ophiura]

UM...HE HAS A SALTWATER TANK AND HAS BEEN PARTICIPATING ON THIS BOARD FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
There is NO reason whatsoever that you need to know freshwater before knowing saltwater. I worked at an LFS...and we carried everything from Bettas, goldfish and Koi, through Discus, through tetras, south american cichlids, african cichlids, predatory saltwater, community and reef.
GUESS WHAT. SOme of us had "specialties." I knew and know very little about combining African Cichlids, s o I would find another employee to ask questions of before selling them.
Give me a break. They guy asked a simple question.

 

[team2jndd]

thanks. Lol did i miss a deleted post or something?

 

[michaeltx]

yes there was a post deleted it wasnt very pleasant.
No worries.
Bettas are wonderful fish they can tolerate a lot but there is a lot of mis information on them as Ophiura said. I waiting to find a peach female to bred my male to. they are very interesting when they go through their breeding time.
Mike

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by team2jndd
thanks. Lol did i miss a deleted post or something?

Yes, there was. And clearly, it struck a particular nerve with me

 

[team2jndd]

i see that lol Im confused though. They breathe from the surface or they breathe air. I know there's more dissolved oxygen at the surface and they live in low flow tanks so I would assume they stay towards the top but you mean they actually breathe from the air? Why do they have gills? haha i dont even want to know what that other person said because to make ophiura that mad you must have a real gift.

 

[michaeltx]

they are a speceis called labrynth fish most up until a few years ago were shipped in wet paper because of their ability to breathe the air we breath and nothing more.
They are comon in areas that their live space dryies up during the dry season down to just mud and very little moisture. and when the rainy season comes back they get their full territory back.
Mike

 

[team2jndd]

thats so cool.

 

[michaeltx]

They really are. during the mating time the male literally squeezes the eggs out of the female and if they are not seperated he will kill her. he will not eat during the next week or so until the eggs are hatched but he will defend them and baby them until they do hatch. its great to watch. it almost looks like he is killer her how hard he squeezes her to get the eggs out the she floats to the bottom of the tank and he grabs up the eggs and takes them up to a bubble nest he creates she recovers and its starts all over again.
can you tell I love bettas. LOL
Mike
here are some pics some I have had and some are just pics I came across

 

[michaeltx]

and a few more

 

[team2jndd]

how should i set up the tank?

 

[michaeltx]

just for the mae betta?
if its just for a lone male it can be as dull as a goldfish bowl or a 2-5 gallon tank with a little decoration in it. for breeding its alittle more intensive.
Mike

 

[royal gang]

i feel sad for these fish, i always see dozens sitting at wal-mart looking at people seeing if they'll ever be bought

don't they like to have room to swim?

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by team2jndd

i see that lol Im confused though. They breathe from the surface or they breathe air. I know there's more dissolved oxygen at the surface and they live in low flow tanks so I would assume they stay towards the top but you mean they actually breathe from the air? Why do they have gills? haha i dont even want to know what that other person said because to make ophiura that mad you must have a real gift.

Actually if my memory serves me correctly they don't have gills. I know they have the gill slits but they are actually "air" breathers. Watch it and you'll see it go up and break the surface to breath. Freshwater Gouramis are the same. They will drown if they cannot break the surface to gulp air.

 

[1journeyman]

Wow Mike. Those are some beautiful fish... dang it now I'm wanting to set up my FW tank... I always loved Bettas as a kid.