The Puffer Forum

due to the loss of "cream puff", my DP, i have a vacant 10 gallon aquarium
i'm thinking about getting a betta (i've never had one and have always wanted to )
this is the one i have in mind

does he look healthy?
his keeper says that she's had him since Feb 2012, when she bought him, and he was very small at the time
he only eats Top Fin Colour Enhancing Betta Bits from PetSmart (i'm interested in trying different foods for him)
some help i need from you guys, from experience:
recommendation of a really good betta website
food recommendations
possible tankmates? fish? snails? etc.
thanks!

Ive never cared to care for a betta. They just sit there and look pretty

The only good looking "betta" is the marine betta imo .

Looks healthy from what I can see.

I have had a bettas for a while they are pretty much sedentary, I actually got bored with mine after a while. Mine got excited around meal time and that was it. However my wife had one in college that one got excited every time she walked by.

Mine was in a 5 gallon then I moved him in my large 75 gallon community that had a large school of cardinals, a large school of cherry barbs and a few silver mollies just to try it out. The beta got along fin but it was till sedentary only moving around meal time.

You maybe able to do a few tetras in a 10 gallon. stay away from all fin nippers and guppies. Berta's will fight with guppies.


Snails will work, shrimp will not (at least with mine) mine ate the ghost shrimp.

PS its good you will be providing him with a tank. They really should not be kept in those tiny bowls.

I really like bettas and find them quite busy and interactive

Flutter wrote:I really like bettas and find them quite busy and interactive

thanks Flutter
i'm hoping to find him to be also
does he look to be in good shape to you?

I loved the betta I owned, always on the move. Looks in pretty good shape to me.

I find bettas have a wonderful personality. Each and every one is different, just like puffers.

They are fun. I've kept 3 females in a 10 gallon before. Just get them all at the same time. And maybe a few ghost shrimp.

Eventually all 3 females were released to a 55g peacefull community tank.

While I like the look of bettas I would never keep one again. I really hate how they are kept n LFS..small bowls with no heating or filtration...shudders..

Master of Puffers wrote:While I like the look of bettas I would never keep one again. I really hate how they are kept n LFS..small bowls with no heating or filtration...shudders..

It's the only way you can get one without mail order...But all in all the same disaprovements could probably be said about all fish sold in a LFS? I would be curiouse to see the loss rates in the store about both.

But most bettas are probably lost after the the sell. Who is to blame; Corps, clerks, or ignorant fishkeepers? IDK.

JRC3 wrote:Who is to blame; Corps, clerks, or ignorant fishkeepers? IDK.

A mix of those

thanks for your responses
brought the betta ("chumley") home several weeks ago
great fish, very interactive, very pretty, and very happy to be out of that miserable bowl he was kept in
eats a variety of foods and has three rasboras, two golden mystery snails, and two ghost shrimp as tank mates

Thats great! It is true if you place a Betta in a regular aquarium (rather than a specimen cup that they are sadly kept in and sold thru most of their lives) they can be quite active and their personalities tend to show better. Otherwise they have nothing better to do than to float around looking pretty.