I just bought a betta and wanted to know if distilled water was okay for him.

Thank you!

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Do you need water conditioner, if you are you using bottled water for fish bowls?
If I am getting a Betta, is it best to get a tank or bowl?

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I have a corner box filter in my 10g. I have an empty 2.5 gallon and im planning on putting a betta in it eventually. I dont wanna use a corner box filter because its gonna take up a lot of room in that small tank. So what other filters are tiny enough to fit in a 2.5g? Thanks.

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Just curious. I have always used power filter that hang over the side. I have a 2 gallon that came with an undergavel filter that my betta is in and I have not needed to change the water in over a month. I’m just curious how the undergravel filter works. The tank also has about 100 ramshorn snails in it.

What are the principle in which the undergravel filter works?

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Have you been using tapwater for your betta? How long did they/it live with tap water?

How do I treat the water?

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> The 10 gal. planted tank is for work: a 400 sq ft room with 6 people in cubes (low noise & traffic), 2 2x5ft windows, flourescent lights on for about 18 hours per day.

> No direct sun.

> No under gravel filtration.

> The plants will be added (java moss, various anubias’, amazon swords) to very fine, gravel-topped substrate (undecided type).

> Lighting will be 2 Flourescent bulbs with regular incandescent sockets (20W, 2000K or so).

> Undecided on CO2 system (must be cheap initially! will upgrade later once aquarium is deemed "success" by boss…)

> Timer, heater, stand, rocks, BOGwood, RO water from Walmart (Culligan?) + Osmoprep, etc

> Stock Filter & media came w/ aquarium "starterkit"

> Fish….
> 1 Betta (already part of our ‘office family’)
> 1 Peppered Cory (already part of office family)
> 1 or 2 additional Cories to join the existing one (since they shoal)
> 1 kuhli loach
> 1 shoal of 3-5 rasboras or tetras
> all added GRADUALLY!

Thx
Wow, thanks for the quick and detailed responses!

I will keep this open for another day or so, but to clear up a couple of things, the betta is currently confined to a half-gallon ornamental tank. I know, I know, I’m an arse, but it is all that I thought I would get away with on my desk at the time–he will like the 10G tank, much more, I am sure; plus it is a heck of a step up from the shot-glass I bought him in

Glad to hear about not requiring the CO2–I will keep the light down until we are ready to upgrade to a high-tech tank.

Regarding the timer, I will be using that to shut off the lights and (would have) the CO2, but with this feedback, I do not think a timer will be necessary. I figure the CO2 was probably a bad idea anyway considering the size of the tank, my inexperience, and modest starter budget, but that is why I am asking you guys, ha ha

Thanks again, so far!
All this advice is really helpful, thank you.

I’ve just found out that we’ll be getting a 30G tank instead of the 10G! I’m very pleased about this, & it opens the door for so many more possibilities.

Obviously I’ll need more substrate, gravel, & lighting, but I’d like to keep the current live configuration, and just increase the shoal sizes (except my betta, of course, ha ha).

It really is hard to pick the best advice, b/c you all have bits & pieces which are really helpful in the overall picture. As a result, I’ll pick the 1st post as the best.

Thanks, BG; Maybe we will be able to fit in a few kuhlis, now. The rasboras are out, though–thxs for the heads up!

Thanks, Artwork; we will be mindful of the amount of fish we put into our tank & keep the light at a reasonable level (1.5-2 W/G) for now.

Thanks, Darryl; we will respect the khulis need for a shoal, & try tying the Java and Anubias to driftwood if we decide to add wood to our aquarium.

Thx again, ev1!

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It so pisses me off the pure ignorance of some users on here. I’ve seen so many people posting answers saying, "In the wild Bettas live in tiny muddy puddles" Or, "In the wild they live in fields, so they don’t need big tanks." and, "They can breathe air so they don’t need a filter".

GAH!

Ok Betta splendens originate from Siam, hence the name Siamese fighting fish, today Siam is known as Thailand.

Bettas do live in fields, these are called rice paddies, it’s where rice is grown, and these fields are flooded with water.

http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=91927&rendTypeId=4

They can also be found in rivers.

Bettas can survive in tiny puddles, until something eats them, or until the rains come again….but it’s not through choice.

In the rice paddy their territory is about the same size as a 10 gallon tank.

So they do need a heater (24-30 Celsius or 75-86 Fahrenheit). They need space; at least 5 gallons or 20 litres and they need filtered water. They don’t like strong currents though.
awc: I know a rice paddy is larger than 10 gallons, but there are usually more than one fish in there. They find the best territory they can win the fight for, this territory is about the same size as a 10gallon tank.

In comparison, the territory from an African lion is around 100 square miles, although I think the whole of Africa is bigger than 100 square miles hehehehehe
JME: "You go girl" ???
Austin: Do idea in theory, but if the pet store owners gave a shit about the fish in the first place, we wouldn’t be having this conversation

If it pisses you off too and you see the fish treated badly, take your business elsewhere.
Austin: One minute your on here saying how sad you are that the fish are treated badly, then next minute you’re telling someone that they don’t need a heater for their betta….you’re full of shit.
BettaChris: You’re missing the point; this question isn’t aimed at betta breeders. I know they need to be separated at about 8 weeks, from one spawn alone, you’d need about 50 individual tanks for the fry. I agree with using jars for this purpose. I’m sure you give sound advice on the care for your fish.
I’m talking about the people who bought a Betta from the store and the permanent home is a tiny bowl/vase/jar, because that’s all they know, that’s what they think is the ideal home for the fish.

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Well.. I’m cycling a 5 Gallon Tank for a Betta and an African Dwarf Frog. And.. Today I tested both Nitrite and Ammonia both reading Zero. And I decided to do some research on what exactly did I do during my Fishless Cycling. Turns out.. I don’t think I did any cycling. I did NOT add any Ammonia. So It just started out as Tap Water. I just put Tap Water with some Stress Coat. I let it run with a filter, Air stone, and a Heater. It has Pool Sand.

Did I actually cycle? Or is it just.. Pure water?

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I got a betta and had it in a tank and the water wasn’t staying as clean as I wanted it to be so I got a small filter and it seems fine. I am not sure if it is filtering the water conditioner I put in there.

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