Bamboo and betta

[johndoe222]

If I put a couple of stalks of bamboo into my bettas 1g betta bowl (I feel horrible about that) would it provide any biological filtration and cut back the need for so many WCs or just make the bowl look "pretty"? And if I can is it true that the betta will eat the roots and cut back on feeding? Any help is welcome!

[Brhino]

first of all, keep in mind that bamboo is not an aquatic plant. The top of it needs to be out of the water or it will rot and die.

You CAN create a biologically balanced fish tank with nothing but plants for filtration, but it requires a lot of plants, a lot of sun, and very few fish. There's no way you could accomplish it with a 1 gallon bowl and a betta. The betta needs a bigger tank and a filter, or it's not going to live nearly as long as it should. No way around it.

[Rue]

In your set-up the bamboo wouldn't help. But it won't hurt either.

But as Brhino says...a proper set up for your betta will be much nicer...and easier to maintain...

[KatzeSlaugen]

just make sure that if the bamboo is submerge you take it out as soon as its dead. when doing water changes feel the bamboo and if its squishy take it out. rotting organic matter releases ammonia which will kill

[johndoe222]

Brhino & Rue I wish I could and as soon as I get the money I will. But if I were to get enough bamboo and make sure it's longer so it sticks out would that help at all? I just want something that'll cut down on WCs until I can get a good sized tank.

[Brhino]

No. It won't help. Save your money for a proper tank. In the mean time, since you have no filter frequent water changes are vital. Given that we're only talking about a gallon bowl, water changes will neither be expensive nor time consuming. There's no excuse not to.

[johndoe222]

Ok thanks Brhino! I actually just gotta save up for a good filter since my dads gonna give me a 10g if he can find it. Anyone know of any good (preferibly cheap but if not ohwell) filters?

[Brhino]

I'd recommend an Aquaclear 20, it's what I have on my 10 gallon betta tank. Should be able to find it for $25 or less.

[johndoe222]

Thanks again Brhino! If I buy it sometime this week or next and put it in my dads 55-100g (I can't tell how many g's) how long would it take to seed the filter and would that speed up my tank cycle or would it skip the cycle? Sorry for asking so many questions. I just want whats best for my betta.

[Brhino]

if you keep it in his tank for two weeks or more, when you put it in the 10g with your betta it should cycle it instantly or very quickly. Alternately, if you can take some of the biomedia out of his filter and put it in your new filter in the 10g tank, that should do the trick too.

[johndoe222]

Ok thank you Brhino. I see why your wife married you.

[Brhino]

it's actually mostly just because I can reach things on high shelves.

[johndoe222]

Lol. That's why my mom keeps me around! :hmm3grin2orange: If I do wind up with this nice setup are there any schooling fish that would be able to live with a betta?

[Brhino]

it depends on the betta. Some are fairly tolerant of other fish so long as they're not bettas (or long finned fish that they might confuse for bettas), others will attack anything that moves. You could probably do a school of one of the small tetra species, or something like dwarf corys or otocinclus.

[johndoe222]

Okie dokie! Thanks again Brhino!