beth Posted October 31, 2006 Report Share Posted October 31, 2006 Hello, i would like to ask any one the follow questions- 1 do i NEED to use salt? 2 do i need a heater- I live in north queensland!!!!!!!!!!!!!townsville! and what is the exact temperature? 3 is water conditiner and geo liquid enough for the water? and is two days aging enough? 4 I have around 15 liters -4 chambers- all share same water, how often to i change water? 50% twice a week and 1 complete change- is that enough? 5 would freeze dried shrimp, blood worm and the bes quality pellets be enough 6 do i have to ph test even though i have added the geo liquid? 7 if i let them see each other all the time will they settle down evenually? this i think is NO 8 when you say dried banna- is that from a shop? where, when and how???? 9 do they like air???- I have asked this before and every one tells me so different!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 10 do they like direct sunlight through the window and do they like to be covered at night? and how long should I leave a light on for? OKOKOKOKOKOK THIS IS THE STORY- i have been on lots and lots of sights and 3 pet shops and asked all these question and I keep getting different answers! iam not THAT worried because i have two boys and they seem so happy to me but I want to know if things like banna leaves and salt can help this is my new hobby and iam not scared to spend money if it makes them happy since they are stuck in such a small area! mayby 3 liters and since i put a plant in their colour is majic any way i would love any help but dont know who to listen to! i also want to thank any one who has answered me or will i had no idear about this world till two weeks ago!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU just read nOONOOOOOO i just read they can get worms!!!!!!!!!!!!!! could you please tell me the most common problem and what to buy to be prepared! thanks ever so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splendidbetta Posted October 31, 2006 Report Share Posted October 31, 2006 You don't need to use salt, but some people swear by it. I only use sodium chloride when I need to treat an illness, but I do use blue aquarium salts which can be bought in a small pack at an lfs. Bettas should be kept in temperatures between 26 and 30*C. There should be very little fluctuation in temperature. So a heater might be needed even where you live. 2 Days ageing sounds ok. I don't use geo liquid. I use a good bottled echlorinator, treats 10 liters with 4 drops, although I usually double or triple that 50% WC twice a week sounds fine. Bettas like dry foods like small floating/slow-sinking pellets, Freezedried brineshrimp or bloodworms or daphnia or tubifex worms. They also love those foods in their live state as well as frozen. It's up to you to decide what you want to feed them, I feed mine a variety of foods; Freezdried tubifex, frozen brineshrimp, frozen bloodworms, live bloodworms, mosquito larvae, grindal worms, Tim Addis dry food. It is a good idea to test pH regularly. Bettas usually get bored of eachother after a while. You can keep your bettas from seeing eachother by putting a peice of card in between their containers, or up against the dividing glass. Remove it once or twice a day to let them flare for 15 mins. Dried banana leaf usually needs to be found fresh and then dried, or if you are lucky, picked dry off the plant. If you can't find the leaf yourself, there are several member who might be able to send you some. Bettas are labyrinth fish. This means they have a special organ which allows them to obtain oxygen from the atmosphere as well as the water. So Bettas need to breath air to thrive. I don't think a lot of direct sunlight is good for bettas. E.g, you wouldn't put them right in front of an uncovered window, as you'd only see silhouettes. Too much light can make algae grow, and can stress the fish out. 12 Hrs a day is enough, I think. I recently found out that light actually promotes diseases like Velvet, because velvet is a parasitic alga which likes to have some light to thrive. Most people keep their bettas in container holding upwards of 1 litre. And yes, bettas can get worms. There is a very good thread in the Clinic forum which talks about treating wormy bettas with Avitrol (a bird wormer). As well as searching Ausaqua (which is one of the best forums for bettas and IMHO the best one in Australia), you can look through sites like bettysplendens.com and bettatalk.com. HTH, and I'm sure you'll get quite a few more responses from other members :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
y2jdaze Posted November 1, 2006 Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 i'd agree with prettymuch everything that has just been said but i'll add to it... a lot of people fuss over the pH but while they prefer more neutral/slightly acidic water they can get used to more alkaline... the thing is that it must stay constant, it's really bad if the water suddenly goes from a pH of 7.4 to a pH of say 6.8, so if you're testing it and it keeps changing and you have to adjust the water all the time, i'd say forget about adjusting it and they'll get used to having that pH. a more important thing to worry about is the build up of ammonia and nitrites which are very toxic to fish! (i know i had 2 die from ammonia spikes - rise in ammonia) it's a good idea to get an ammona testing kit and a nitrite testing kit... now with these ANY ammount is bad, you should always get a zero reading, if you have ammonia/nitrite you need to do a water change of however much to reduce the reading back to zero... so if you've done a water change and have zero and 3 days later you see ammonia in there you need to water change again.... the larger the body of water the less water changes you need. another thing you can think about is getting a good sponge filter (for larger tanks say upwards of 3 litres). with a filter the tank will develop "good bacteria" that use nitrite and ammonia as a source and can convert it to non-toxic nitrate. with a filter you can get away with a lot less water changes (i have one tank and i just top it up when it evaporates these days) a filter is not necessary though, you can get away with frequent water changes and they'll be quite happy. good things to have in a fishy 1st aid kit----> melafix, pima fix, malachtite green/methaline blue combination (multi cure), tetracycline and or triple sulfa. i think that should cover most maladies that can affect our little bettas i'm sure someone else will add even more to this post and yes there are a lot of different opinions out there... but basically if it works for you and your fish go with it! ~Stacey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted November 1, 2006 Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 Well said Stacey and Stefan!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted November 1, 2006 Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 1 do i NEED to use salt? Nope. You can if you want to, some people feel it helps keep the fish healthy by making the water too salty for the bugs to live in, but it isn't necessary. 2 do i need a heater- I live in north queensland!!!!!!!!!!!!!townsville! and what is the exact temperature? I don't think you need a heater in Townsville, not over summer anyway. You would probably be wise to get one for winter. The temperature must be over 24*C, that is the absolute lowest you want it at as anything below that will make the fish weak and susceptible to disease.24*-28* would be ideal. It is also very important to keep the temperature stable. Its better to have the tank at a constant 23*C than bouncing around from 20 to 28 to 24 etc. Heaters are useful for keeping tank temperatures stable as well as heating them up. 3 is water conditiner and geo liquid enough for the water? and is two days aging enough? Are you on town water? What brand of water conditioner have you got there? With water conditioners you generally don't *need* to age the water for changes, but if you can, 2 days is ideal Are you filtering the water or changing it all weekly? This can make a difference as to what specific products are better to use. 4 I have around 15 liters -4 chambers- all share same water, how often to i change water? 50% twice a week and 1 complete change- is that enough? 4 chambers = 4 fish? Any filtrers or air pumps? Any live plants? This is where the water additives make a difference. Ammonia locking products etc can be useful in unfiltered tanks as you can leave a bit more time between changes. Is this a glass Dalbarb tank? 5 would freeze dried shrimp, blood worm and the bes quality pellets be enough Plenty Generally bettas seem to prefer softish pellets with a high meat content. I've had good luck with Hikari Betta Biogold and HBH Betta Bites/Guppy Bites. 6 do i have to ph test even though i have added the geo liquid? If you are changing the water every week, there probably isn't much point unless you really want to. take in a sample of fresh tap water and a sample of 2 day old water to the fish shop and get them to test it and tell you all the numbers ("fine" and "not good" are not good enough answers, you need numbers). The LFS might try to tell you that you NEED a pH of 7, but that isn't exactly true. What you need is a stable pH, and its likely that your tap water will play a big part in what pH your fish live at. Bettas are very tolerant, so if the number isn't 7, don't stress. Just bring the number back here and we can help you sort out a way to make it nice for your fish without having to adjust it with chemicals (thats rarely stable, pH up and down usually make it nice for a while and then it goes all over the place). 7 if i let them see each other all the time will they settle down evenually? this i think is NO Actually, its yes they figure it out pretty soon and stop flaring. If you want to block off the compartments, get some of that plasticy aquarium background stuff from the rolls at the pet shop, cut that up to the same size as the dividers and slot it in with the glass It works pretty well 8 when you say dried banna- is that from a shop? where, when and how???? No, its from a banana tree. Generally people with banana trees will give you a dried out dead leaf if you ask nicely 9 do they like air???- I have asked this before and every one tells me so different!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, they like air, they need access to the surface to be able to breathe and for the air to mix with the water (called 'gas exchange', its how the oxygen gets into the water so fish can get it out with their gills) When it comes to bubbles though, some like it, some don't, but you don't need an air pump and airstone. There are a few fish tht will play in the bubbles, but most of them don't really like it. In the wild they live in reasonably still pools with little to no water flow, and those fins aren't good for swimming in currents, so mostly they like very gentle current or still water. 10 do they like direct sunlight through the window and do they like to be covered at night? and how long should I leave a light on for? Direct sunlight will make the temperature fluctuate. Indirect sunlight is fine, but don't put them in front of a window. If you don't have a heater, covering them at night will help stop the heat escaping and keep the temperature more stable. Unless you are growing plants you don't need a light on, especially if they have indirect light from outside, but if you want to the general rule is 12 on, 12 off in summer and 10 on 14 off in winter If you are using a desk light, get yourself a screw-in fluro bulb from the supermarket (about $5) as they give off a cooler light and shouldn't interfere with the tank temperature too much. I sound like a bit of a broken record with stable temperature and stable pH, but they are very important, and often people in the fish shop will try to sell you a bunch of pH things that aren't always the best way to get a nice stable pH. Feel free to keep popping questions in here, if you get confusing advice I'm sure we can sort it out for you :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbies Betta Posted November 1, 2006 Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 those are 10 pretty good questions, as they're the basic, first betta owner questions, and the answers are awesome could I suggest making this a sticky? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figure_8 Posted November 1, 2006 Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 those are 10 pretty good questions, as they're the basic, first betta owner questions, and the answers are awesome could I suggest making this a sticky? Done :thumbs: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted November 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 thank you very much i have learnt lots some breeder say they keep the teperature up to 30! wow i have noticed mine stays on 27 now as i have been watching iam really getting into this when i get really set up iam going to send pics but my boys are looking very very healthy and very happy at the moment with every thing you tell me i have bought the best of every thing but slowly so i can afford it all and there is a place i found that is the best and the cheapest and will deliver to you all! www.townsvillepetcare.com.au it is so good!!!!!!!!!! any way whaen i get set up i want to buy a few female and more males but i have measure all the litre of each tank so you all know what iam going on about water- i bought a water ager, change 50% twice a week and whole water once- too much? 14-15 liters-will measure on week end i have air pump on low, two plants and no filter but will get one if you think it is a good idear- the less water changes the better as i feel this is a hobby the easier you make it the better it is to maintane and then it does not become a chore! dalbar- dont know that one??? 2 fish but will have 4 and i would like to get into good habits now as if i do have 4 can i really feed them all they want in one sitting??? or does it depend on food - i have hikari betta bio-gold but i think it swells in their stomic? ok the woman at the shop said only 4 hours light and it a very common aquirum light? you say here 12 hours- who is right? does geo liquid affect the ph and put it right? they like the bubbles but not too much but i like the idear to keep the water fresh! My red fighter plays in it and want to know ever thing that i do- has NO fear! blue one hides at the mere sound of me doing any thing! thank you i cheak every day for your answers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted November 2, 2006 Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 ok the woman at the shop said only 4 hours light and it a very common aquirum light? you say here 12 hours- who is right? well, the sun shines for 12 hours a day in Thailand, so I'd say the woman at the shop needs to do some research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted November 2, 2006 Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 water- i bought a water ager, change 50% twice a week and whole water once- too much? 14-15 liters-will measure on week end i have air pump on low, two plants and no filter but will get one if you think it is a good idear- the less water changes the better as i feel this is a hobby the easier you make it the better it is to maintane and then it does not become a chore! dalbar- dont know that one??? Rightio Thats not too much, but with 15L of water, only 2 fish and some plants, you could probably get away with dropping one of the partial changes during the week. If you don't want to outlay too much on the filter, I think you might like the Lee's Disposable or the PennPlax Smallworld filters. you use them instead of an airstone, just plug them into your air pump tuping and off you go Thhe benefit with the ones that run off an air pump is that you can get little taps that go in the air tubing so you can turn the bubbles down or up, depending on what your betta likes. you can also get a little 2 way valve so you could put a filter up each end, or a filter up one end and an airstone up the other, without having to buy a second pump 2 fish but will have 4 and i would like to get into good habits now as if i do have 4 can i really feed them all they want in one sitting??? or does it depend on food - i have hikari betta bio-gold but i think it swells in their stomic? Test for yourself Grab a glass of water and stick a pellet in it and see if it swells too much. Usually the Hikari ones don't swell too badly and are nice and spongey when they do. I feed 3 in the morning and 3 at night, but you could split it up even futher if you'd like. ok the woman at the shop said only 4 hours light and it a very common aquirum light? you say here 12 hours- who is right? They need a 'day'. This can come from general room lights, open curtains or your aquarium light, but there needs to be a clear distinction between day and night in order for the fish to function at its best. You could have the aquarium light on for a few hours if you'd like and just rely on the outside light or room light for the rest of the time if you'd like. The plants though, depending on what they are, they will need the aquatrium light on for longer than 4 hours. Do you know what type of plants they are? Do they have roots or do they look like cuttings? does geo liquid affect the ph and put it right? I believe it adds a bunch of trace elements, so it probably has some effect, but i've never used it. I'll find out for you :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted November 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 well what great advice i will get a tiny filter i have left light on just at nights for 3-4 hours i bet every one would like a photo? i will take one tomorrow for you all they are really really colourful and very very very happy i did not know they had personallities, my blue one swims along the tidy peice of drift wood i have in there! and the red plays in the bubbles but i turn it down at night but up just a little during the day No idear about the plants but ive decied i will put them in another tank because they are in very very very small pots and i still feel they take up room i want to grow one on the tiny bits of drift wood in there- they absolutly love the wood i swear they play games and hide under it the blue one seems to like getting him self logged under the wood and getting out/??? he does it again and again like it a game when i changed the water the red one tried to get near me and want to look at EVERY THING I DO! I have 2 veil tails as they were my first and i didnt even know there were so many types iam going to set up two more tanks 1 females 2 breeder but like i keep repeating -iam doing this slowly and getting the right stuff has any one heard of a barrel filter or a bara filter??? ok i will keep in touch, i am so interested in what you all say and i must say does any one ever meet in a big group once a year??? beth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted November 2, 2006 Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 where are you located beth? we do have group outings in our local areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted November 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2006 where are you located beth? we do have group outings in our local areas. i live in north queensland-townsville i have up dated everything ok i have 3 tanks now what is the wild female betta? i bought one today and she is simply beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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