I’m a big betta fan myself.
I currently have two males in separate bowls (which I sometimes push together to watch them get all pissed off at each other) and all I do is feed them a pinch of flake food twice a day and clean their bowls once a week (I use filtered water from a Britta filter). They’re probably the most low-maintenance fish around; goldfish do better in an aquarium with a filter and treated water.
if you have any more betta questions, feel free to ask!
I don’t know much about fish but I do know that bettas are very easy to take care of. My kids were fascinated with fish too so Easter 2001 I bought them a betta fish. The large fishbowl, colored rocks, fake plant and fish cost me about $20.00 and the kids loved it! It’s a very easy fish to take care of… I just add water to the fishbowl when it starts getting low and I feed him every other day. I’ve been doing this for over a year and he’s still alive and kickin’! The kids named him Harry and they still like to watch him swim around… I was afraid their fascination would wear off once we got him but it hasn’t. Maybe when they’re older I’ll look into getting different kinds of fish but for right now we’re happy with our betta.
I kept a 5 gallon flat-backed hex in my office for years. I had a few gouramis in there. Very easy fish, and they even have a bit of personality. At least, they’d come over to the side when I’d go look at them. That may have something to do with getting a snack, though. They’re on Algernon’s list of easy fish.
StG
Who says Skinner was wrong and Behaviorism is bunk?
While I generally tell people that fish are as dumb as a throw-rug, they are very Pavlovian… any hope of food and they metaphorically salivate by schooling to the front of the tank. Since I put in my outdoor pond last year I’ve found the Koi and Shibunkin have learned the same behavior. I even make a throwing motion as if I’m tossing food pellets, and the pond fish go into a feeding frenzy. Somewhat cruel I know, but entertaining nonetheless.
Another long time aquarist checking in. Depending on your budget, they now sell starter bacteria for tanks. I use StressZyme, but there are others. These introduce good bacteria used for breaking down fish waste into the tank. Good for initial setup, and I also use it whenever I change my canister filter media (about every six months…very low maintenance). Excellent filtration, low maintenance, but expensive (initially) compared to other filters. I also like undergravel filters if you’ll have no live plants (which I’ve never had luck keeping).
I’ll second going with the largest tank possible. Choose it’s home before you buy it! At approx 8 lbs./gallon, once the tank is set up, it will not be moved. Moving a tank with water in it is very bad for the seals. A tank should not be in direct sunlight or near a heater/air conditioner.
As for starter fish, those are the only ones I will buy from Petland or Petco. I look for what’s on sale; danios, barbs, small tri-color sharks. I get about 4-6, expecting a 50% mortality rate as the water cycles. After the water cycles, then I visit one of two trusted pet stores with clean tanks and helpful owners. I’ve heard too much bad advice from chain store clerks; some new what they were talking about, but not most. And they wouldn’t admit it.
Lastly, you’ll need to test your water for pH and ammonia at a minimum, so don’t neglect these kits. I like to use a product called Neutral Buffer to regulate pH. Again more money, and may not be entirely necessary, but it also breaks down chlorine and chloramine, so it serves a dual purpose.
Good luck.
Okay, I am going to post. I tried last night, with this wonderful long informative post, and the computer ate it.
Be sure to get a heater for your tank. Most fish need a heater. All tropical fish, including bettas. A betta in a tank with a heater is a much, much more active fish than a fish in a cold bowl. Don’t have too much current in a betta’s tank. In my experience, female bettas fight each other all of the time.
Goldfish are hard to keep. Most people think they are ‘hardy’ so they treat them like crap. Including pet stores. People that breed them for stores often use steriods, so you get internally damaged fish.
If you get corys, be sure to get at least two together. These shy fish need at least one companion to be happy. They also need special sinking food tablets since the bits that drop are not enough.
If your child was fascinated by the tank, it might have been the bubbles. Bubble wands add valuable aeration and are also attractive.
Chiclids are pretty, but they get very big. So you’d need to plan for that.
A good 10 gallon fish family would be 3 female mollies, 2 female platys, and a male guppy. This would give you good color and movement, and not too many babies. And if you added fish at the rate of about two at a time, it would cycle well and not be too hard to maintain (cleanliness-wise).
You can visit my page for more fishy stuff. I love fish.
sticks
Okay, question -
can you keep anything in a tank with Cichlids? What if you went with South American instead of African?
I would really like a tank that has some fish and some crabs, can you mix or will they eat him?
Also, you might consider looking you the want-ads of your local paper for a used aquarium. Plenty of people burn out on it after several years and are willing to sell the whole set-up relatively cheap, so you could get a larger tank for your dollar. I understand you have to be careful that the tank has only held fish, not rodents or reptiles.
StG
Poysyn, sure you can keep other species in cichlid tanks. You just have to up the ante on the aggression scale for each.
Note that it is not recommended that South American and African cichlids be mixed. They have very distinct water requirements–South Americans tend to like it acidic, Africans alkaline–and can interfere with the prospering of each other.
I’ve had and bred both families of cichlids. What I find makes good tank-mates:
Both:
Synodonis Catfish: Use in place of corycats, which will be brutalized to death–large (4-6"), territorial, and more than capable of keeping up with his tankmates. But–beat the shit out of my plecostamus. Do not mix the two!
African Butterfly fish: These are surface dwellers that basically appear to be a pile of leaves to their tankmates.
Kuhli/Coolie loaches: totally ignored by either cichlid type
Plecostamus: note, don’t mix with synodonis! But…on their own, they can manage quite well. They are tough little buggers. I even had one that should he be chased by a cichlid, he’d chase right back!
Tinfoil barb: Warning, these are HUGE fish–up to 15"–and they grow quickly! These are great “target fish,” particularly if you’re interested in breeding. “Target fish” are quick-moving, larger fish that can be recipients of the hormonally-charged cichlid’s temper. It deflects it away from other cichlids, and they are always faster than their aggressors and just swim away. I had one that was the only free-swimming midwater fish that could manage in a 60 gallon tank with breeding Jack Dempseys in it. The Oscars were torn to pieces.
Reed fish: Super cool, and long–up to 15". They appear rather eel-like, and are also completely ignored.
Clown loach: These guys are adorable, but I’ve had a long history of killing them. I ended up settling for kuhlis. The larger the clown loach, the better–try not to go smaller than 2 1/2" (they get up to 6").
Others that work, but are HUGE and are only for the largest tanks: shovel-nosed catfish and red tail catfish (be warned, they get big enough to eat the largest cichlid) and large bala sharks.
Things I thought would work out and were killed/eaten:
*Black ghost (dammit, they’re so cool! I was so pissed…)
*Any kind of crab/shrimp (snack food–found shells along the bottom)
You could try very large crabs with cichlids, but there’s no guarantee. 
I’m sure others will add other species that have worked for them, too. Good luck!
My three year-old son recently won a coloring contest as part of the grand opening of a local Petco and the only thing he has asked for is a fish. We finally gave in and said yes so this thread has been of considerable (timely as well) interest to me.
We purchased an Aquatic Gardens Two Gallon Mini-Aquarium, Kordon Smart Start Aquarium Water Conditioning Kit (AmQuel and NovAqua), some Wardley Premium Betta Food, and 2 pounds of gravel (Kordon Wonder Rock I think) because what came with the aquarium was not enough to cover the bottom of the aquarium.
I washed all of the aquarium parts (no soap) as directed then rinsed the gravel and got everything set up in the aquarium. I then added about 1.75 gallons of distilled water and 1ml each of the AmQuel and NovAqua (directions = 5ml per 10 gals) then put the cover on, switched on the lamp and the pump and everything works great. I have placed the aquarium in its final location, the kid’s bathroom, because it is fairly climate controlled and receives no direct sunlight and let the entire setup run for about 24 hours.
We plan on getting one male beta hopefully tonight or tomorrow. I plan on reading about ‘acclimating’ a fish to its new environment in a few minutes. From what I read on the food directions feeding should be done once or twice daily and only enough food that the fish will eat in three to five minutes and that overfeeding is a definite no-no (we have already lectured the kids about feeding the fish without mommy or daddy).
From what I said above is there anything that I am missing or really need to know?
NP: Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
As for crabs - it’s my experience that crabs (at least, the little fiddler or red crabs you usually see at pet stores) don’t do well in a typical aquarium. Most of them prefer brackish water, and while they will survive in freshwater it stresses them. And while they can survive totally submersed for a long time, they prefer to be able to spend more time out of the water than in. They’re better off in a setup where they can climb out of the water onto a sort of beach area.
Reedfish: Beware of these unless your tank is 100% tightly covered (many are not - those tubes have to leave somewhere); it will find the opening eventually. Coolest fish I ever had, but decided one day it wanted to go for a walk (behind the tank, no less).
Crabs, crawfish, freshwater shrimp: Cichlid treats. I found a beautiful blue crawfish. I placed it in a tank with two small cichlids in a community environment. Claws and armor were no match. I never tried another, even in non-cichlid tanks. [The cichlids were late comers; the aquarist had done the job of assimilating his cichlids to community environments. They weren’t able to take over the tank due to size and established community practices.]
Interesting. My experience with Cichlids and Crawfish is the exact opposite of D_Odds’.
I have about a dozen aggressive Cichlids in my tank, and I have an Electric Blue Crayfish. I’ve done this for years and never had a problem. For the most part, the Cichlids and Crayfish seem to ignore each other. Occasionally a fish will swim too close to the crayfish and he’ll wave his arms about, but that’s the extent of it.
http://www.aquariumfish.net/information/fish_bowls.htm has good information and a nice offer for a complete betta kit.
just recently i had 4 large goldfish go belly up on me. i couldn’t figure out why. i spoke to a friend about it and found out it could possibly be because i painted in their presence.
the goldfish in the covered tank with filtration died. the betta in an open bowl is still going strong.
the betta is a good choice for a first fish, just ask rasa.
Algernon, you must have had nicer cichlids. I didn’t have anywhere else to keep the crawfish, and only comforted myself with the fact that it’s on an evolutionary par with a cockroach as I watched the cichlids peck at it. One was a Juliochromis ornatus (http://www.tanganyikan-cichlids.co.uk/Articles/Picj0.htm); the other was of similar shape, slightly smaller and completely yellow. By morning, all that remained was shell.
Cichlids don’t do very well with piranhas either.
My brother had a three inch long Texas cichlid sharing a tank with a piranha. That lasted about a month, when one day my brother looked into the tank and saw the as usual impassive piranha, and the front half of the Texas cichlid trying to tread water :eek:
Then again, maybe it was just a bad idea putting a young cichlid into the same tank as a piranha.
Then again, maybe it was just a bad idea putting any other type of fish in the same tank as a piranha.
Although plecostami aren’t on the list, I was glad to see Ruffian mention them. I loved my plecostamus and he seemed pretty hardy.
A question about feeding. How much should a single beta be fed each day? How often (1X a day, 2X a day)? I tried feeding our new fish Wardley Premium Betta Food that comes in hard little pellets and he will eat one, appear to try and chew it for a minute, then spit it out. In the 2 days we have had him he probebly hasn’t eaten a total of the 4 little pellets. Is this normal or do I have a problem? Any suggestions are appreciated.
Just wanted to chime in and say that yeah, bettas are cool.
I’ve managed to keep mine alive for over a month now! He’s a VERY picky eater–won’t eat flakes, pellets, betta bites or the bloodworms in the gel; only thing he’ll eat is freeze dried bloodworms. Hella cheap, and much cleaner than the other foods, so that’s fine by me.
I don’t even really clean his water cuz it’s clear. I keep tabs on the pH, and depend on my snail to eat any overactive bacteria/algae.
They are good company.