and finally...Rainbow...daughter's new betta

[kimmers318]

My 4 yr old wanted a fish tank....took her Christmas $ and bought a 5 gallon eclipse. So far nothing has been real happy in it (imagine that) so I decided to check out bettas. Heck, if they can be kept in 1 gal containers....a 5 gal cycled/filtered tank should be a mansion...boy was I ever right. I went about this real sneaky too....you other moms can understand. First I printed several pics of bettas....waited for the "mom can I have one?"...went thru the explanations of why they have to be alone. More "can I have one"...and low and behold she was ready willing and able to put the poor neons into mommy's tank if she could get a betta. I did some research and off we went to a store that at least houses their bettas in cubbies on the wall instead of those doggone cups...and here is Rainbow.
Rainbow's new home
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h216/kimmers318/100_0724.jpg
Rainbow...not sure what tail type...but boy is he happy cruising this tank. I never knew bettas could be so active!
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h216/kimmers318/rainbow2.jpg
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h216/kimmers318/rainbow.jpg

[William]

Very nice Betta

[kimmers318]

Thank you William! This is our first foray into bettas since they aren't always community fish and so far he has been an interesting additon to our household.

[rollie]

i have one in every tank but the cichlids tanks.

[CoryCat]

Your Betta is a Veil tail, from my limited knowledge. I am glad you have decided to care for your betta properly.

I hate to see them in unfiltered and unheated bowls, it is cruel, I don't care if they come from rice paddys, they are not there now and you should keep them properly like you are doing :)
They merely survive in poor conditions and in my opinion a fish should not just survive but be given the oppertunity to thrive in a tank enviroment.
I would never keep a betta in less then a 5 gal tank, I would also never keep one unfiltered or unheated.

Again it is another species that there is much debate over, and I am not here to argue or make anyone mad about it, it is just my opinion and I cannot make anyone change their views or treatment of betta's.

You are doing a lovely thing having him in that nice big tank. He might be ok with the neons if they were in the tank first, bettas can get along with other fish so long as the others were there first as bettas can be territorial and don't have much contact with other fish as when they are caught/breed they are isolated by lfs pretty much from the start, so they have no social skills so to speak :)

I am glad that Rollie has found that the bettas can go with others, a more then a little relieved you didn't put one in the Cichlids :) lol.

[rollie]

no way would i do that.

[William]

I think you find most people on this forum to agree with you corycat. I know I am 100% behind you on this.

[Full3R]

Corycat is right, just because they CAN survive in such small areas of water and bad water quality doesnt mean that they prefer it

[kimmers318]

I must agree also corycat...I had never had bettas before because all I knew about them was they couldn't be kept together. Seemed like an unhappy fish tank to have just 1 fish in it. I tried to talk Riley into getting a bigger tank...but this is what she wanted (actually went with a stupid glo in the dark one first which sucked!). She has been awesome about properly feeding (yes at 4) her hamster and fish, but none of the fish she has chosen so far have been too happy in a 5 gallon, so they have ended up in my big tank. I decided one night to do some research and ask around about putting a betta in there and I came to the same conclusion....a betta would be much happier in this tank than anything else that would be colorful. My only fear was that it wouldn't be active since I have never seen an active betta. Guess that is because they don't have proper homes cuz this guy cruises around constantly! The first day he stayed still most of the time, but by day 3 he was whizzing around and checking us out. I take care of the weekly water changes, she feeds and watches. I taught her how to make him flare with a mirror and she looks forward to giving him a few minutes of flare time each day. So know, if there are any more bettas in this house they will go into something larger than a 1 gallon fish bowl, and tank will be filtered! There are plenty of inexpensive small tanks out there that really aren't good for much, but would be great for bettas...I just wish store employees would tell people that!

[rollie]

GREAT. WELL PUT!

[CoryCat]

I must agree also corycat...I had never had bettas before because all I knew about them was they couldn't be kept together. Seemed like an unhappy fish tank to have just 1 fish in it. I tried to talk Riley into getting a bigger tank...but this is what she wanted (actually went with a stupid glo in the dark one first which sucked!). She has been awesome about properly feeding (yes at 4) her hamster and fish, but none of the fish she has chosen so far have been too happy in a 5 gallon, so they have ended up in my big tank. I decided one night to do some research and ask around about putting a betta in there and I came to the same conclusion....a betta would be much happier in this tank than anything else that would be colorful. My only fear was that it wouldn't be active since I have never seen an active betta. Guess that is because they don't have proper homes cuz this guy cruises around constantly! The first day he stayed still most of the time, but by day 3 he was whizzing around and checking us out. I take care of the weekly water changes, she feeds and watches. I taught her how to make him flare with a mirror and she looks forward to giving him a few minutes of flare time each day. So know, if there are any more bettas in this house they will go into something larger than a 1 gallon fish bowl, and tank will be filtered! There are plenty of inexpensive small tanks out there that really aren't good for much, but would be great for bettas...I just wish store employees would tell people that!

You are all stars :) I have been to some forums, and in fact I am banned from 2 becasue I didn't agree with someone who raised bettas for fighting, and kept the poor little fish in the tiny cups, no heat no filter nowt.
I didn't even swear at the people, just disagreed with what they were doing and they toallty flamed then banned me :P

I am glad that most peeps here agree, but like I said, not everyone agrees and I wont argue about it, but I will state my opinion :) lol :)

[rollie]

i to have been told to leave 3 fish forums. they did not like my advice.

[mtnrat]

They are so much fun to watch when thay have some room.So Beautiful.

[AQUA_KING]

I agree with everything said in this whole board. By the way that is the most colourful betta i have ever seen. I wanna get one just like it. Is your tank filtered and heated because i have a small 7 gallon but no heaters fit in it. If you do have a heater could you tell me which brand. Thanks

and Good luck with you betta.

AQUA_KING