Looking for a Betta Setup

[Drumachine09]

After seeing all of these great pictures of peoples Betta tanks, and for the large sum of money burning a hole the size of texas in my pocket, i have decided to get a Betta tank. Does anyone have any suggestions on:
-Size of tank
-Plants
-filtration
-heat
-light
-plants
or - type of betta?
I could probobly get the tank filter, heater, and light in a combo pack of some sort, and i was thinking about getting a combed tail Betta. Does anyone have any recommondations or know about the lump price?
Thanks

[Glasstapper]

well, I can tell you about my experience.

5 gallon starter kit - $40
bag of eco-complete for substrate (4 inches deep in back, 2 inches in front) - $18
heater - $12
corkscrew val. - $5
anubias nana - $9
rock cave - $6
crowntail betta - $7
pair of albino corys - $6

total: $103

of course, the eco complete was a splurge for me. I really wanted to give my plants a boost. I probably could have found some better deals on the rest of the stuff, but I didn't feel like bargain shopping.

[Lady Hobbs]

I was so surprised when looking at Betta's the other day. Ya know how they are always kept in those plastic cups or vases in the stores? I went to this one store and one of the vases held all fry. I wondered if they were selling them all together like that?

[Lady Hobbs]

I can't remember the price of a 10 gallon glass tank but you could possibly get one of those and use a divider and get two betta's.

[bettaboy691]

in my opion, the bigger the better for betta tanks, it depends if you want to keep it alone or try it in a community.like someone said before, 10 gallon devided would look great with two bettas and give the fish plenty of room to move, but a 5 gallon would be great too, PLEASE WHAT EVER YOU DO, DO NOT GET ONE OF THOSE HORRIBLE BETTA TANKS YOU SEE FOR SALE ON THE INTERNET,THEY ARE WHEY TOO SMALL AND ARE UNHEATED, UNFILTERED AND YOUR BETTA WILL PROBALLY DIE WITH IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS.

any way..after my rant and back to the question...what ever people say, bettas do need a heater unless you keep them in a heated room ect.heaters keep the water at a constant temperature and make the betta feel more at home.
filtration, to me is important but if you can and are willing to, regular water changes are fine.having a filter would reduce a lot of the work tho.
lights are important with live plants.it also makes it easier for you to see your fish.
plants are excellent to have in your tank, live or fake, it makes your tank look better and gives the betta something to look at.live plants need some sort of substrate and light, but fake plants dont.not having substrate(gravel, sand, ect) makes it easier to clean and doesnt bother the betta but its up to you.
bottom feeder would look nice along side the betta but im not sure if they need substrate or not?
the type of betta you chose is up to you, what ever takes your fancy, combtail betta look ace, but then again, all betta look ace to me.
getting a combo pack you described sounds perfect. i don't know much about prices as i live in the UK and dont work in dollars,but im guessing, what ever the price, its worth it, plus when the inevitable happens(your betta dies :-( )you still have the tank and all the bits and pieces to start again.

hope i helped a bit,
bettaboy691

[Drumachine09]

Thanks for all of the good suggestions. I wouldnt even dream of getting any thing smaller than a 3 gallon for a betta. I already have a 10 gallon, (empty) with a filter and heater and such, so all i need is some good substrate, some plants, a divider, and of course the Bettas! Thanks. Should the LFS have a tank divider? Or will i have to get it off of the internet?

[Drumachine09]

Also, i have never used live plants before. Are the ones Glasstapper suggested easy to maintain? Or should I step it down a level to some easier ones?

[Drumachine09]

Oh yea, one more thing. I heard that Bettas can not have strong current from filters, in-order to build a bubble nest. What is a bubble nest, and how can i combat the filter current. Do airstones cause current?

[Glasstapper]

Hi. :) yes, the plants I talked about are actually very easy if you have the right setup going. The eco-complete substrate is plant food, and my light gives off almost 2 watts per gallon. The corkscrew val. is constantly sending out new runners and I have to actually cut them off once in a while because the betta can't easily swim through the thickness. The anubias nana is a tad pricey, and very slow growing, but has beautiful thick leaves the betta likes to rest on once in a while. It makes a perfect betta hammock. Be sure not to plant either plant too far down. Leave some of the anubias roots showing, and don't bury the rhizome (bottom stem) on the anubias. Two other easy plants would be java fern and java moss (tied down to an ornament or left floating for both.)

air stones cause some current, but really only on the surface. I've heard some bettas build their nest anyway, or you could try to put a feeder ring around where the bubbles surface so the rest of the surface isn't disturbed. it's a great idea if you're planning to use a sponge filter.

[kimmers318]

I believe I paid 40 or 50 bucks for the eclipse 5 gal corner tank we have a betta in at petsupplies plus. I have seen similar tanks by other makers less expensive, but have been more than pleased with both my eclipse tanks. Everything is under the hood.....filter, light and biowheel. The filter is an all in one job that you remove and discard when necessary. Rainbow loves it, shares his home with 3 panda cories. The water flow doesn't seem to bother him.....I originally bought a nice silk plant to have under the water flow to disperse it a little, and I always find him hanging out in the plant!
Kudos to you for not wanting a cheezy betta tank that would be way too small, bettas are lovely fish and deserve a happy home.
A small caution about tank dividers though. I bought and used a tank divider for a brief time to separate my new dps from the existing one to avoid aggression issues and you could look at the water and see the difference in the water on the filter side versus the unfiltered side even though there is supposed to be enough flow. I even enlarged about 1/2 the holes with a drill bit to help increase the flow from one side to the other and was disappointed. I ended up physically scooping water from the side without the filter into the side with the filter a couple of times a day to help it along. Ask around and look on websites dedicated to bettas for a tank divider that is better suited to provide better flow thru. Something like what you see in petstores with slots would probably be better. There may even be someone here who can help ya DIY a good divider.
Good luck!