FW fish question....

[9supratt4]

So my 5 year old godson has a betta in a plastic tank with no heater and no filter. His bedroom is extremely cold this time of year because there is no heat in it. So I was thinking about getting him a standard 10 gallon glass tank and putting a small filter and heater in it.
My question is, can he also keep other fish, such as tetras and stuff with the betta??

 

[stdreb27]

Originally Posted by 9supratt4
http:///forum/post/3202219
So my 5 year old godson has a betta in a plastic tank with no heater and no filter. His bedroom is extremely cold this time of year because there is no heat in it. So I was thinking about getting him a standard 10 gallon glass tank and putting a small filter and heater in it.
My question is, can he also keep other fish, such as tetras and stuff with the betta??
yeah, betta's are actually pretty cool fish in a community tank. Just don't drop other bettas in there.

 

[beaslbob]

Hopefully you god son is not sleeping in a 55 degree F room.
hmmmmmmmmmmm

Let me give you my personal step by step on FW tank. Usually 10g.
1) put in 1" spagham peat moss ($10 per bale home depot) and fill the moss with water.
2) clean and level the wet moss
3) add 1" play sand ($3 for 50 pounds from home depot Again wet, level, clean.
4) add 1" pc select ($8/50 pounds local landscaping firm) (pro choice select) or small aquarium gravel. Again wet clean level.
5) add 6-10 anacharis bunches (back of tank) 6 vals (back and sides), 4 small potted type plants (left righ of center) amazon sword (center)
6) fill tank with water poured over a dish.
7) wait a week
8) add a single male platty.
9) wait a week with no food being added.
10) add 2 female platties
11) feed a single flake per day for a few weeks.
Just to be clear, no filter, no circulation. Just replace the evaporative water with straight untreated tap water from a common cold faucet.
result: In 6 months you have a tank full of plattys and for years you have a stable population of plattys. If you get algae or cloudiness kill the lights for a few days then resume with less lighting.
I have done that with neon tetras and glo fish as well. The peat moss IME is required with this process for neons.
After a few weeks you can add the betta which may prevent the platty population for being as large.
my .02

 

[florida joe]

My question is, can he also keep other fish, such as tetras and stuff with the betta??
I have very little knowledge of FW but the flowing fins of a male betta may induce nipping from other fish

 

[stdreb27]

Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3202263
I have very little knowledge of FW but the flowing fins of a male betta may induce nipping from other fish
It kind of depends, think of it this way, these fish are no where NEAR as aggressive as even our community fish.

 

[9supratt4]

Originally Posted by beaslbob
http:///forum/post/3202250
Hopefully you god son is not sleeping in a 55 degree F room.
hmmmmmmmmmmm

Let me give you my personal step by step on FW tank. Usually 10g.
1) put in 1" spagham peat moss ($10 per bale home depot) and fill the moss with water.
2) clean and level the wet moss
3) add 1" play sand ($3 for 50 pounds from home depot Again wet, level, clean.
4) add 1" pc select ($8/50 pounds local landscaping firm) (pro choice select) or small aquarium gravel. Again wet clean level.
5) add 6-10 anacharis bunches (back of tank) 6 vals (back and sides), 4 small potted type plants (left righ of center) amazon sword (center)
6) fill tank with water poured over a dish.
7) wait a week
8) add a single male platty.
9) wait a week with no food being added.
10) add 2 female platties
11) feed a single flake per day for a few weeks.
Just to be clear, no filter, no circulation. Just replace the evaporative water with straight untreated tap water from a common cold faucet.
result: In 6 months you have a tank full of plattys and for years you have a stable population of plattys. If you get algae or cloudiness kill the lights for a few days then resume with less lighting.
I have done that with neon tetras and glo fish as well. The peat moss IME is required with this process for neons.
After a few weeks you can add the betta which may prevent the platty population for being as large.
my .02
His room is quite cold...as there is zero heat in there!!
This seems like a lot of work for a small 10 gallon and a 5 year old. His mother doesn't like to take care of things either

 

[florida joe]

Originally Posted by stdreb27
http:///forum/post/3202269
It kind of depends, think of it this way, these fish are no where NEAR as aggressive as even our community fish.
as i said my friend i have very little knowledge of FW I would think that you could though if you wanted get some aggressive fresh water fish, is that so

 

[pezenfuego]

Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3202263
I have very little knowledge of FW but the flowing fins of a male betta may induce nipping from other fish
You can't have a male betta with a platy. It is a bad idea because platys (platies?) have similar facial structures and are often mistaken for another betta. In the same regard (as Joe said) fish with long flowing fins will be nipped at by your betta and aggressive fish will nip at your betta. You can actually have two bettas in a community tank (females) if the tank is kinda large and has the right type of tank mates.

 

[bender77]

I would always keep my betta with a trio of small cory cats in a 5 gallon that would have a light and filter, a small heater if necessary, but usually they would stay warm enough. The biggest thing would be just like saltwater, make sure it's cycled before you add the fish.

 

[flower]

My very first tank was a 10g…and a Betta was my first fish. A corner bubbler filter is all I had, but now I would go with an underground filter, I don’t think they even have corner bubblers anymore.
Some gravel and decorations and your good to go. That is the cheapest route. Get some test strips. Wait a week and add one fish, then every other week add another.
Tetras, swordtails, angelfish, neon’s and mollies all are great little fishes. The fish you can’t keep with a betta are other bettas (not even a female), Oscars and Cichlids. These are too aggressive.
You can get some snails when you start seeing algae for them to eat. They will eat natural plants you put in there so be aware if you go natural you will have to replace those.
No matter what you do, a tank must be cared for, be it fish bowl or 55g. Water changes and cleaning up the decorations and gravel are a part of life with a fish.

 

[9supratt4]

How about some neon tetras or something like that?

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by 9supratt4
http:///forum/post/3202303
How about some neon tetras or something like that?

Not a problem, but get the big ones (if you want to call them that LOL.) I had nothing but neon’s in my 10g once and still they disappeared. The betta never bothered them.
I love the way they school, and glow as they go. It’s a favorite. They are so tiny that in a 10g you can keep around 15 of them.
But like I said, they seem to just disappear. I figure they eat each other, and the other fish do too. They glow so they draw attention, like a lure when you go fishing. I never found a body nor witnessed it.
I did see the betta get a little attitude a those fancy tailed guppies, maybe he thought they were mini bettas.

 

[pezenfuego]

Originally Posted by 9supratt4
http:///forum/post/3202303
How about some neon tetras or something like that?
Yeah, make sure you get big ones. Bettas may try to eat them. However, they are WAY faster. So if they get sick to the point of almost dying...don't be surprised if they get eaten by your betta. Lemon or cardinal tetras would be my choice lol.
@Flower: Fancy tails are a no-no.
@Flower again: I personally think that 15 neons in a 10 gallon is too crowded by far. I know what you mean because as far as growth and bioload go, they would live in that large of a group just fine.

 

[stdreb27]

you're making them out to be way more aggressive than they are. As long as they don't have similar body styles, and you're not dropping them in with aggressive fish. You'll be ok. In reality Betta's are giant wimps. In fact, you really need to be more worried about what the othe fish will do to the betta.

 

[beaslbob]

Originally Posted by 9supratt4
http:///forum/post/3202279
His room is quite cold...as there is zero heat in there!!
then perhaps a heater would be in order. but my platys have lived and breed in a 20g in the screened back porch. night time temperature gets down to 65F even with two 300w heaters.
This seems like a lot of work for a small 10 gallon and a 5 year old. His mother doesn't like to take care of things either

takes more to explain that actually do. Once setup all you do is feed the fish, turn on the lights and replace evaporative water.
my .02

 

[pezenfuego]

Originally Posted by beaslbob
http:///forum/post/3202333
then perhaps a heater would be in order. but my platys have lived and breed in a 20g in the screened back porch. night time temperature gets down to 65F even with two 300w heaters.
takes more to explain that actually do. Once setup all you do is feed the fish, turn on the lights and replace evaporative water.
my .02
cycling...water changes...testing...

 

[browniebuck]

It isn't necessarily body style that will set the betta off, it is the fancy tails and/or fins. The betta thinks that there is something else in the tank that is competing for the "most beautiful fish" in the tank award.
I have cichlids in my classroom and one of my students told me that he was going to bring in his betta to watch it beat up my african cichlids...even after having him for two years, he still thought that his betta was the toughest fish out there....he was also telling another teacher that his betta would kill his foot long jaguar cichlid...ain't gonna happen, cap'n. The only thing that bettas can take our are other bettas and any docile fish smaller than they are.

 

[stdreb27]

Originally Posted by browniebuck
http:///forum/post/3202415
It isn't necessarily body style that will set the betta off, it is the fancy tails and/or fins. The betta thinks that there is something else in the tank that is competing for the "most beautiful fish" in the tank award.
I have cichlids in my classroom and one of my students told me that he was going to bring in his betta to watch it beat up my african cichlids...even after having him for two years, he still thought that his betta was the toughest fish out there....he was also telling another teacher that his betta would kill his foot long jaguar cichlid...ain't gonna happen, cap'n. The only thing that bettas can take our are other bettas and any docile fish smaller than they are.
They don't like guppies...

 

[9supratt4]

I figure I'll be able to skip the cycle by using the gravel from the current betta holding tank. It's a lot of gravel...at least one bag worth.

 

[fishtaco]

For what it is worth, a 15 gallon nano is makes a great small FW tank. The lights are great for growing plants and the filtration system is almost overkill. Mine stays clean with very little maintenance, I add water every couple weeks and clean the foam filters every couple months and nothing else. I regularly harvest the hornwort and duckweed that grows like crazy to feed my herd of large silver dollars in another tank which saves money and time by not having to go to the LFS to get them some fresh salad.
Fishtaco