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Betta's And Their Tanks?

Smells Fishy

Member
Joined
25 Oct 2015
Messages
474
Location
Scarbourgh, UK
I'm toying with the idea of getting into nano tanks and Betta's are a good choice from what I can gather. I'm just a bit stuck on the ethical view on what there tank size should be. The smallest acceptable tank size is 3.8L from what I've read, how stupid is that. I want the tank to be just for the Betta and some snails to help keep the plants clean. If you haven't seen Black Dragon Betta's yet go and search them, they have a beautiful caudal fin. I saw one in my LFS not long ago for £12 so since its not super expensive I think I'll go for that one. I know bigger is better but ideally I would want the tank to be small its just there's such a huge range out there its very hard for me to make a decision. So far I like this tank that holds 15L https://www.amazon.co.uk/Litre-Mini...F8&qid=1495881970&sr=8-30&keywords=nano+tanks it seems like a great deal but obviously I want to aquascape it so there is potential for it to only hold 10L. Not to sure about this one since its a big price jump https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tetra-Aqua...d=1495922834&sr=1-12&keywords=tetra+fish+tank but it's 30L and unique. Or this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Interpet-E...qid=1495923445&sr=1-13&keywords=interpet+nano which is costly for such little litres in my eyes and it doesn't look like it has a cover.

If there's any other tanks you think will be worth me looking at or anything else let me know.

Cheers.
 
The Superfish Home range, and the Aquaone AquaNano range are both good choices. Make sure whatever you go for has adjustable flow, for the sake of the betta.
 
The AAGB (Anabantoid Association of Great Britain) say 5 litres is the minimum size for a permanent home
Which is ok as mostly all imported Bettas have spent all their life so far in a whisky bottle in less than 500ml

I've been to a few betta farms in Thailand and seen for myself how they are bred and kept

The only thing I'd like to say is that they really struggle with high flow rates (especially the long fin breeds) and surface movement
So please think about the fishes requirements

They breath atmospheric air
So a shallow tank is best

They sleep as close to the surface as possible, I've had loads who like to sleep on a ledge just 5mm below the surface

ammano shrimp make good companions
Red cherry work too but don't expect many babies to survive
You could buy low grade ones that have lost the red and let them breed to feed him

Also they predators and as such are intelligent (compared to guppies) so they need stimulation
Give them live daphnia to hunt
place a small mirror on the glass for 5 minutes a day for him to flare at there's loads on YouTube about exercising Bettas

See how much you can pick up a tank at a decent lfs I like 12x8x8" or 18x10x10" and a hob filter


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The AAGB (Anabantoid Association of Great Britain) say 5 litres is the minimum size for a permanent home
Which is ok as mostly all imported Bettas have spent all their life so far in a whisky bottle in less than 500ml

I've been to a few betta farms in Thailand and seen for myself how they are bred and kept

The only thing I'd like to say is that they really struggle with high flow rates (especially the long fin breeds) and surface movement
So please think about the fishes requirements

They breath atmospheric air
So a shallow tank is best

They sleep as close to the surface as possible, I've had loads who like to sleep on a ledge just 5mm below the surface

ammano shrimp make good companions
Red cherry work too but don't expect many babies to survive
You could buy low grade ones that have lost the red and let them breed to feed him

Also they predators and as such are intelligent (compared to guppies) so they need stimulation
Give them live daphnia to hunt
place a small mirror on the glass for 5 minutes a day for him to flare at there's loads on YouTube about exercising Bettas

See how much you can pick up a tank at a decent lfs I like 12x8x8" or 18x10x10" and a hob filter


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cheers for all the good info.

It's interesting that you've been to fish farms, so do they do sort of tours or let in the general public? As If they are kept in whisky bottles how would you even get the fish in it tho? The bottle lip would only be like an inch hmmm. I can sure think of more practical ways of them being farmed.
 


Did you understand any of that because I didn't. Now that is seriously shot through especially when they walk over the bottles! But when they pore them out and then handle them, its not gentle at all, it's sad to see. I wonder where the first origin is for those Betta's, well its obvious its the breeder. What I mean is if these peoples set up is like this then what is the breeders going to be like? A lot more madness no doubt.

I don't mind the 25L looks good but its a shame the corners aren't round. How did you find the filter and can you move it from the middle? I have it in my head I want an aquaponics filter that's why I asked. The light looks really cool as well.

Cheers.
 
I've cut the filter/heater box out.
The filter is too powerful for a betta,but I've pointed it towards the left side and it's fine.
A bit messy :oops:.

IMG_20170528_215606.jpg
IMG_20170528_215618.jpg
 
I've cut the filter/heater box out.
The filter is too powerful for a betta,but I've pointed it towards the left side and it's fine.
A bit messy :oops:.

View attachment 105611 View attachment 105612

I'm gonna shop around some more and see what turns up. Anyway the tanks a wee bit expensive for me if I want this Betta thing to happen any time soon.
 
Cheers for all the good info.

It's interesting that you've been to fish farms, so do they do sort of tours or let in the general public? As If they are kept in whisky bottles how would you even get the fish in it tho? The bottle lip would only be like an inch hmmm. I can sure think of more practical ways of them being farmed.

You have to know someone to get you into a true breeders farm, luckily I have contacts all over the world where fish are concerned

I'm 6'2" 18 stone and when I was told to walk across 1000's of bottles to find the type of fish I wanted was very scary, I'm easily double the weight of the average Thai

The life cycle starts in a small plastic type washing up bowl where a male is put with a few bits of plant then one evening the chosen female is added
Breeding usually happens in the first 24 hours, the female is removed to leave the male to look after his 100's of kids
Once they are free swimming and eating well they are put into ponds (2-3ft round concrete vats) to grow on
They are netted regularly and those that are found to be males are then put into a bottle and moved out to the area where they stay until approx 3 months old
Being fed live daphnia - if there's no daphnia then it's scrambled egg and as a last resort commercial fish pellets as the first two are free





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You have to know someone to get you into a true breeders farm, luckily I have contacts all over the world where fish are concerned




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice one I'll make sure to hire you for my next expedition lol.
 
I have always thought about the Dennerle Nano cubes for a betta if I could have another tank. There is a choice of sizes (10/20/30L) you can buy tank only or complete set up depending on your budget.

CMac
 
I have always thought about the Dennerle Nano cubes for a betta if I could have another tank. There is a choice of sizes (10/20/30L) you can buy tank only or complete set up depending on your budget.

CMac

Yeah I did have a look at them. I have considered getting one since I like what they stand for with there fish food but since my budget is small it would be tank only and it gets expensive adding all the right equipment yourself (well for me it is).
 
I was going to suggest one of our sponsors but looking at their site their prices seemed to have increased considerably! Glad I bought mine a while back when they were about £20 cheaper which puts them in the same bracket of the ones you were looking at. They did have a 10% off for ukaps members at one point, not sure if this is still running, obviously no filter or heater with them though.
Am I the only one who felt a bit uncomfortable watching that video? Yeah I know it happens but still. Back in the day I used to breed fighters, they were my favourite fish. They live in the wild in puddles with low oxygen so this tends to make people thin they can survive in anything, nevertheless I still think you should provide the best conditions you can for the fish. just because it can survive doesn't mean it shouldn’t thrive.

I tended to keep mine in whatever small tank I had lying around with a perspex or glass lid. I read somewhere that it's best to have a lid so that the air above the water is warm and humid. I read that when they come to the surface taking a gulp of cold air can be bad for them, not sure how true that is. I've always run my tanks with an air driven sponge filter, keeps them from getting swirled around in the tank plus breaks the water surface to prevent scum making it easier for them to surface for air.

Another thing I did which worked quite well was to get a maybe 600mm tank and divide it into three sections using tank dividers so they can't see each other. I suppose frosted glass or perspex would have the same result. You can then run three sponge filter just off one air pump. One light covers the whole tank and a heater in the middle section.

With regards to shrimp, don't know about Amanos but RCS in some cases is a no-no. I do hear of people who have them living happily together but IME if they get a taste for them they will turn hunting them down into a full time sport.

I gave up on breeding and used them now and again as a feature fish in some setups, the exercise was to see if I could get a really bright red strain by in-breeding good coloured fish but to be honest it didn't seem to matter, the young were various colours that came off the parents. I even had short finned brown coloured ones like females that I had inadvertently dropped in my community tank which later on turned out to be males! The breeding of them is fairly easy and was that successful that I had to give up because I couldn’t give the fish away. You need to keep an eye on them in a breeding situation, wait to the male already has a bubble nest and drop in a fat female but get ready to get her out sharp once they've spawned. The male will destroy her to protect fry and eggs and also if he hasn't prepared the nest.

Lovely fish, if you could keep several males together I'd keep them again in large numbers.
 
This tank has just popped on my radar https://www.aquasabi.com/brand/aquael/aquael-shrimp-set-smart-black , it's a nicely made video and I like the jamin\happy aquascape music (its a new genre of music I just made up). I know it's intended for shrimp but it doesn't really matter, what matters is you get a decent light, glass lid, heater and filter for cheap. At aquasabi its out of stock but this site has it even cheaper. http://www.zoofast.co.uk/aqua-el-shrimp-set-smart-pg-16431.html The heater worries me a bit tho seems a bit iffy. Has anyone had any experience with this tank?
 
I was going to suggest one of our sponsors but looking at their site their prices seemed to have increased considerably! Glad I bought mine a while back when they were about £20 cheaper which puts them in the same bracket of the ones you were looking at. They did have a 10% off for ukaps members at one point, not sure if this is still running, obviously no filter or heater with them though.
Am I the only one who felt a bit uncomfortable watching that video? Yeah I know it happens but still. Back in the day I used to breed fighters, they were my favourite fish. They live in the wild in puddles with low oxygen so this tends to make people thin they can survive in anything, nevertheless I still think you should provide the best conditions you can for the fish. just because it can survive doesn't mean it shouldn’t thrive.

I tended to keep mine in whatever small tank I had lying around with a perspex or glass lid. I read somewhere that it's best to have a lid so that the air above the water is warm and humid. I read that when they come to the surface taking a gulp of cold air can be bad for them, not sure how true that is. I've always run my tanks with an air driven sponge filter, keeps them from getting swirled around in the tank plus breaks the water surface to prevent scum making it easier for them to surface for air.

Another thing I did which worked quite well was to get a maybe 600mm tank and divide it into three sections using tank dividers so they can't see each other. I suppose frosted glass or perspex would have the same result. You can then run three sponge filter just off one air pump. One light covers the whole tank and a heater in the middle section.

With regards to shrimp, don't know about Amanos but RCS in some cases is a no-no. I do hear of people who have them living happily together but IME if they get a taste for them they will turn hunting them down into a full time sport.

I gave up on breeding and used them now and again as a feature fish in some setups, the exercise was to see if I could get a really bright red strain by in-breeding good coloured fish but to be honest it didn't seem to matter, the young were various colours that came off the parents. I even had short finned brown coloured ones like females that I had inadvertently dropped in my community tank which later on turned out to be males! The breeding of them is fairly easy and was that successful that I had to give up because I couldn’t give the fish away. You need to keep an eye on them in a breeding situation, wait to the male already has a bubble nest and drop in a fat female but get ready to get her out sharp once they've spawned. The male will destroy her to protect fry and eggs and also if he hasn't prepared the nest.

Lovely fish, if you could keep several males together I'd keep them again in large numbers.

Nice one good to know you've breed betta's. Yeah betta 's are turning out to be my new favorite fish. They seem like a very niche fish to breed and that makes me like them even more. Lucky PFK mag are doing an article about Betta breeding next month. I would like to try but I'm Just worried about how many males I could potentially get from one spawn, not sure I'm up for housing a 100 males separately. How many did you have to deal with?
 
From an average spawning I would probably end up after losses with about 40/50 fish maybe a third being males. At the time I could give away to a few friends locally a few and there were 3 small LFS which would happily take them off my hands. Since P@H opened round my way we are down to one LFS who now bizarrely has a policy of not taking in fish based on they need quarantined and they were sick of people bringing fish back because they weren't getting on with other fish in the tank. I have explained that I've been dealing with them 20 years and all my fish are healthy but there you go. If I had a pet shop and local breeders brought their results to me I'd be over the moon from a pure profit, locally kept in local tap water and environmentally friendly point of view not getting dragged around motorways in wagons. No fish farms or taken from the wild and fish that should be kept with their parents if that's what they should be naturally so the fry learn those parenting skills rather than being artificially raised to keep numbers up.

As it stands as interesting as it is I don't breed fish intentionally any more because I have no where to house the offspring.

I don't think think there is much need to read into betta breeding, just add water :D as you've seen the fish are pretty much bullet proof. Ideally I would say softish water more for the eggs than the fish. I used tanks with no gravel which was easier to keep clean by syphoning off food remains etc and when fry were free swimming the baby brine shrimp would sink to the bottom and the fry would hoover them up. A sponge filter which collects bits and pieces for the fry to graze on, doesn't cause too much surface agitation breaking up the bubble nest and adds a bit of o2. A few floating plants and a bit of wood with hidey holes in with a bit of java fern or similar tied to it. The bit of wood or any hidey hole is important as the male is extremely aggressive towards females when done with her for the want of a better phrase.

Firstly I would let the male build a decent bubble nest, add the female who will keep hovering around under the nest but gets chased away until the male is happy with it and usually they would spawn that night or next morning. Soon as the spawning is over get the female out and usually 2/3 days later the fry are free swimming and leaving the nest. Male will continuously catch them and spit them back but you need to judge a time most fry are free swimming and lure the male with some food to take his mind of parenting and get him out sharpish as well. Sometimes if you don't net him first time he can panic and start troughing his own young. From then it's baby brine shrimp and fine dried foods but they pretty much take to most food straight away.

Oddly I found Betta males are fine together in the same tank even when they are clearly semi adults with full finnage. They only get aggressive towards each other if they are separated and reintroduced into another tank.
 
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