I have been inspired, now have ?s.

[krazy kat2]

I wanted a table top fountain for my living room, but the one I wanted turned out to be plastic, yuck. I read the thread about Bettas, and decided it would be nice to have a small aquarium again. I found a cute little 2 gallon purple one, and a beautiful multi colored betta to go in it. He is so cute. He will come right up and look at you when you enter the living room, and will stay nose to nose with the cats. Pepper, Fluffy, and Scooter are fascinated by him, and have not tried to go after him, so I cleared off the rest of the book case so they can sit up there and watch him.
I have a few questions for those experienced with bettas or aquariums in general. Can you put males and females in the same tank without them fighting? Do I need an algae eater or some sort of tank cleaning fish in such a small tank?
The person that sold me my big tank said they will be ok with any fish that does not have flowing fins. I had a big male betta in with black mollies, and they did just fine. I know 2 gallons is a small tank, but he looks so lonely in there by himself.

 

[jlutgendorf]

He may be ok with a bottom feeder fish (i suggest cory cats) but he may attack them. We've had several betas and only one was agressive to the cory in his tank (we had to remove the cory). Cory's can also gulp air like betas, so you don't need a bubbler.

If you don't want to try another fish, try some live plants. All our tanks have live plants. They change the layout of the tank daily as the float around and I think the fishes like to swim in them and rub up against them. They also provide oxygen and help keep algea levels down.

~Julia

 

[laureen227]

Originally Posted by jlutgendorf

He may be ok with a bottom feeder fish (i suggest cory cats) but he may attack them. We've had several betas and only one was agressive to the cory in his tank (we had to remove the cory). Cory's can also gulp air like betas, so you don't need a bubbler.

If you don't want to try another fish, try some live plants. All our tanks have live plants. They change the layout of the tank daily as the float around and I think the fishes like to swim in them and rub up against them. They also provide oxygen and help keep algea levels down.

~Julia

what kind of plants are best? i had a problem with algae last year in my betta tank, & i had a bubbler. i wouldn't mind adding plants, but i don't know which would be best...

 

[jlutgendorf]

Banana plants are easy to take care of and they can make small "lilly pads" which are really cute. I can't remember the name, but there's a free floating plant that has very tubular stalks that does well. I would go to petsmart (or your pet store of choice) and talk to the employees there to find out about the plants that are easiest to care for in your tank size (some are easy to keep small, other can get really big, really fast!).

~Julia

 

[goldenkitty45]

Rule of thumb for fish/size of tank. One gallon of water per inch of fish. If you have a 2 gallon tank your fish (minus the tail) can only be 2 inches long; or two - 1 inch long fish.

So if you want more fish in there, you have to buy a 10 gallon tank for the number of extra fish.

Two MALE bettas WILL fight to death - you can buy one or two female betta and be fine. Just remember the inch per gallon rule.

 

[solaritybengals]

Yah what GoldenKitty said. Sometimes females will go ok with males and sometimes not. You could add some snails or shrimp without it affecting the bioload to much (bamboo shrimp at Petco, ghost shrimp at Petsmart). Most algae eaters get to be 6+ inches (most plecos) so not a good idea. The only one that stays pretty small is the otocinclus catfish. But they do better in groups of 3+. So your tank is a little too small for them...

 

[sharky]

I have had two male betta s that were fine with all other water creatures///
My female is not
I dont recommend male and female because one can kill the other after the mating or before if they arent prepped ...

You could try a few ghost shrimp for bottom cleaners ... My male s did fine with them in small tanks... My female thinks there a snack ....

As for the one inch rule it is not perfect... My local pet store which the folks have decades of aquarium experience explained this... top dwellers dont count and neither do bottom dwellers... I use this and have been quite succeful with my "nano" aquariums ie ones that are under ten gallons ...

 

[arlyn]

What Sharky said.

Also, the 'one inch' rule does not take into account surface area, filtration type(s) or whether or not live plants are present as all of these affect how many fish a tank can safely support.

For bottom cleaning in micro tanks, I've had great luck with Corydoras, Khuli and Dojo loaches, Ghost and bamboo shrimp.
Banana plants are nice, but your betta would be more appreciative of something he can incorporate in the bubble nest he will eventually build.

I like anacharis, you can plant a single bunch and leave a strand or two floating.
It does really well though so you'll have to cut it back regularly.

 

[witchykitty]

Good to see lots of experienced aquariasts here! I may need some help one day too!

One thing you should consider when putting females together is their personality and size. They should be similarly sized as the larger may become agressive and pick on the smaller one. And as far as putting males and females together, you're probably best not to. I have a male and female in a small tank, separated. I filled the water up too much, and my female was able to jump over the barrier between them. I didn't notice after a few hours, apparantly, because she was kinda beat up. Some of her scales were missing and her fins were ragged. She was okay after a few days and some melafix.

 

[soka]

To be on the safe side, don't put males and females together and NEVER put two males together. Females can be ok with each other, but its best to keep them in a larger tank. My sister had two females and one died. I currently have two betas. One red male crowntail and a good sized reddish female. I put the tanks beside each other and Jolly Rodger, the male, is constantly trying to impress her.

 

[meow_cat]

www.petfish.net Go there for starters.

Male BetTa's must never be kept with another betTa. Females and males should also never be kept together. Breeding betTas is very complicated. Its not like guppies where you just put 2 females and males together. Females should only be kept together in a trio or larger. 10 gallon tanks is the minimum to keep a female betTa sorority.

I would just stick with the 2 gallon and your betTa. A snail will be nice. Don't worry he isn't lonely in his tank. Especially since he is guarding his tank from kitties all day That must be cute to watch.

Oh and a good easy plant to keep is a Java fern. But remember you need lighting to keep plants. Plants will also help control the algae.

 

[witchykitty]

I also read that if you have females together, there should be no less than 3, and all should be equally-sized.

 

[meow_cat]

Well some females are to agressive to live with other females. thats why you need to becareful.

 

[witchykitty]

Yeah, I was at a petshop a few months ago and I saw a tank with 3 females in there. One was especially large and was chasing and nipping at the other two. I felt sorry for the two smaller females because all they could do was hide in the fake plants.

 

[arlyn]

Sometimes the shops get it wrong too.
I've seen male short finned bettas in groups in tanks.
They were assumed females due to their short fins.

 

[meow_cat]

short finned males are called plakats

Most lfs aren't to bright >.<

 

[witchykitty]

Yeah, that shop I was talking about also had a male with shredded fins in the same tank as a small female. I was buying the female- and I asked the store employee over. She asked me which one I wanted, and I told her the female. She asked which one. And I'm like, no... that's a male. He was large and had no white spot. I was annoyed. That poor female looks good now that she's not being harrassed every day!

 

[quill_luv]

I rescued a plakat male who was harrassing two gigantic females in a guppy tank. I felt sorry for the little guy (who looked so stressed he was pale), so I brought him home and politely informed the employee that the females were not guppies .... She was a little bit surprised at that! Nonetheless, the rescued male is coming along sweetly. Sadly I couldn't go back for the females since I didn't have room. He's doing wonderfully, now he's a deep turquoise.