How long do FW Male Bettas usually live?
- Thread starter treybom
- Start date
chipmaker
Active Member
" my little sister just got a male betta we put her in one of my empty 2 gallon tanks"
Why would you stuff your little sister in a 2 gal tank? sorry could not resist.......
I have been fooling with and raising bettas now for over 25 years and have some males as well as females over 5 years of age. I have found that simple filtration is certainly better than no filtration and pico sized tanks are ideal, contrary to what is written on them being perfectly happy in a brandy snifter or mason jar.......I also keep mine at 70 to 72 deg or at the bottom of the temp range normally given for tropical FW fish, and have even kept them as low as 68 deg, and have never had a problem. Most of my older males are in 68 to 70 deg water and do just fine....They do not like overly bright tanks and prefer to have a plant to rest on.
All we feed is 4 to 6 pellets a day at most to each betta......
I think its was a great decision on your part to house it in a 2 gal tank.......Its hard to say how ong the one you bought will live as there is no way to tell the age. A lot of males sold in stores are grown males that were originally used for breeding, so they may already be 2 or 3 or more years of age when you buy it....The ones we have that I know how old they are are ones we raised up, so they do have a fairly long lifespan if fed and housed properly....I would have to venture a guess as 5 or 6 years of age as being about it for a well kept betta.
Why would you stuff your little sister in a 2 gal tank? sorry could not resist.......
I have been fooling with and raising bettas now for over 25 years and have some males as well as females over 5 years of age. I have found that simple filtration is certainly better than no filtration and pico sized tanks are ideal, contrary to what is written on them being perfectly happy in a brandy snifter or mason jar.......I also keep mine at 70 to 72 deg or at the bottom of the temp range normally given for tropical FW fish, and have even kept them as low as 68 deg, and have never had a problem. Most of my older males are in 68 to 70 deg water and do just fine....They do not like overly bright tanks and prefer to have a plant to rest on.
All we feed is 4 to 6 pellets a day at most to each betta......
I think its was a great decision on your part to house it in a 2 gal tank.......Its hard to say how ong the one you bought will live as there is no way to tell the age. A lot of males sold in stores are grown males that were originally used for breeding, so they may already be 2 or 3 or more years of age when you buy it....The ones we have that I know how old they are are ones we raised up, so they do have a fairly long lifespan if fed and housed properly....I would have to venture a guess as 5 or 6 years of age as being about it for a well kept betta.
speg
Active Member
A lot of people buy these bettas from the LFS and they are in tiny little glass bowels with NO filtration. If kept like this... this is why these fish would die young.
Keeping them in a decent sized tank with filtration and of course keeping them well taken care of (as any fish should be) they'll give you year(s) of enjoyment.
Keeping them in a decent sized tank with filtration and of course keeping them well taken care of (as any fish should be) they'll give you year(s) of enjoyment.
treybom
Member
Originally Posted by Speg
A lot of people buy these bettas from the LFS and they are in tiny little glass bowels with NO filtration. If kept like this... this is why these fish would die young.
Keeping them in a decent sized tank with filtration and of course keeping them well taken care of (as any fish should be) they'll give you year(s) of enjoyment.
ya when we got it today it was in a litle shallow bowl and had no room to extend its tail fins
got a ?.... will the fins ever get fully extended?? like the tail ones
A lot of people buy these bettas from the LFS and they are in tiny little glass bowels with NO filtration. If kept like this... this is why these fish would die young.
Keeping them in a decent sized tank with filtration and of course keeping them well taken care of (as any fish should be) they'll give you year(s) of enjoyment.
ya when we got it today it was in a litle shallow bowl and had no room to extend its tail fins
got a ?.... will the fins ever get fully extended?? like the tail ones
cartman101
Active Member
Oh yeah, these are those fish that you see in little cups at pet stores right?
When ever i see them in those little cups i just want throw them into a lake where its big! Those poor fish....
chipmaker
Active Member
Originally Posted by Beth
I have never bred bettas, but when I was doing FW, I alway had one. My understanding is that 78-80 degrees is the best temperature. They will not do that well below that. I would put a heater in that tank.
On the contrary, I keep mine in a range of 68 to 72 deg and they do better than when I used to keep temps in the high 70's range.......been keeping them for years and years at the low temps just fine......and its been years since I had any ich occur, which was a problem when kept at higher temps as well as shorter lifespans.
I have never bred bettas, but when I was doing FW, I alway had one. My understanding is that 78-80 degrees is the best temperature. They will not do that well below that. I would put a heater in that tank.
On the contrary, I keep mine in a range of 68 to 72 deg and they do better than when I used to keep temps in the high 70's range.......been keeping them for years and years at the low temps just fine......and its been years since I had any ich occur, which was a problem when kept at higher temps as well as shorter lifespans.
treybom
Member
Originally Posted by chipmaker
On the contrary, I keep mine in a range of 68 to 72 deg and they do better than when I used to keep temps in the high 70's range.......been keeping them for years and years at the low temps just fine......and its been years since I had any ich occur, which was a problem when kept at higher temps as well as shorter lifespans.
so should i get a heater for it?
On the contrary, I keep mine in a range of 68 to 72 deg and they do better than when I used to keep temps in the high 70's range.......been keeping them for years and years at the low temps just fine......and its been years since I had any ich occur, which was a problem when kept at higher temps as well as shorter lifespans.
so should i get a heater for it?
space_geek
Active Member
No, they do fine at room temperature. In fact, a heater will make them live a shorter life.
treybom
Member
Originally Posted by Space_Geek
No, they do fine at room temperature. In fact, a heater will make them live a shorter life.
ok cool.. im gonna see how this one goes and then maybe in a couple of months...i will get about 4 more dont woory not in the same tank... there are these awesome hang on the wall bubble bowls for betts that i want to put in mybathroom since the bathroom has an ocean/fish theme to it already i would like to put a small inwall reef into the bathroom but the bathroom wall is connected to the actic which is FREEZING!!!!
No, they do fine at room temperature. In fact, a heater will make them live a shorter life.
ok cool.. im gonna see how this one goes and then maybe in a couple of months...i will get about 4 more dont woory not in the same tank... there are these awesome hang on the wall bubble bowls for betts that i want to put in mybathroom since the bathroom has an ocean/fish theme to it already i would like to put a small inwall reef into the bathroom but the bathroom wall is connected to the actic which is FREEZING!!!!
space_geek
Active Member
Cool!