I'm done with bettas

FlameTetra333

FlameTetra333

Large Fish
#1
Jul 18, 2011
291
0
0
underwater
#1
Hey
so my betta died about 4 months ago. Thinking it was just a sick one to begin with i got a second betta. Today it died. I don't know how people can keep bettas in unfiltered unheated bowls whilist i cannot keep tem in 5.5 gallon heated tanks with a jungle of plants and a 10g filter. So I've decided to give up on bettas. Ironically my oto catfish are hardier than my bettas as they survived in the same 5.5G.

Now I'm stuck wth a beautifully aquascaped tank (my best work) with two dull otos who hide so much that i have to rip all my plants out of the substrate jusr to check if they're alive. So...

What should i do with this tank? I don't want inverts as they are icky.
My tank is currently stocked with just two otoincli.
Just to save the age-old first response: Yes my tank qas cycled. 0 ammonia and nitrites but some nitrates

Thanks for your help.
 

MdngtRain

MdngtRain

Large Fish
#2
Jan 9, 2011
288
0
0
New England
#2
Hmmm. That's weird about your bettas. Mine has lived for several months in a10g filtered and planted. He's now in the 29g community tank... We'll see how that goes for him. What's your water change schedule like? Have you been getting them from the same place? Maybe that store has poor quality fish? Just throwing stuff out there.

As for other that could live in there... Hmmm... You could do 2 or 3 male guppies. They can be showy, and if you just get males, you won't have an over-population problem. Kim not sure what else would wirl in such a small tank.
 

O

OrangeCones

Elite Fish
#3
Feb 27, 2009
4,395
0
36
#3
Sometimes a man-made fish or a mass-produced-in-captivity fish does not live as long as a wild-caught fish. I've never kept betta, so I have no input on their care. I keep 3 species of otos and do not find them to be hard to keep at all, provided you do not stress them and offer them food they will eat. I've had some of my otos for over 5 yrs.
 

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Thyra

Superstar Fish
#4
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
0
0
Yelm, WA
#4
Bettas are pretty hardy - I kept one in an unfiltered, unheated, probably uncycled bowl for about a year I got on this forum and learned differently. I just completely cleaned his bowl every week. I think you just happened on a fish that already had a problem. OC, is right when she says they are man-made and mass produced. It seems like a lot of people are trying to breed them - even the plain looking brown females are selling for more then the males and Petsmart said they can't keep them in stock. They had really nice looking males for $1.99 including crown tails. With everything as you said it is, I am sure you can find one that would enjoy being rescued.
 

skjl47

skjl47

Large Fish
#5
Nov 13, 2010
712
0
0
Northeastern Tennessee.
#5
Hello; If you decide to try a betta again, try to have a tight fitting cover for the tank (if you do not already). The bettas come to the surface for a gulp of air and I came to feel that they need warm moist air. A tight cover (not sealed, just pretty tight) seems to hold the humidity well enough. I also like to keep a betta tank in the higher 70's to 80 or so degrees. Live food is a good thing if you can manage it , but I would give a little fish protein in the form of tiny bits raw catfish or salmon from time to time. The best that I can recall bettas took uncooked peas from time to time as well.
The most practical (sort of practical if you do not think about it too much) live food I ever had for bettas was wingless fruit flies. (vestigal winged drosophila melanogaster)(there are several varities of wingless fruit flies available. Most any will likely work but you do not the ones with multiple mutations.)( I will try see if there is information on the most hardy type if you are interested) These flies are bite sized for an adult betta. They are a genetic mutation that breeds true so that with some fairly modest equipment and a suitable food source you can raise them in an ongoing manner. Their wings are deformed so you do not wind up a house full of them flying around. Dump a few on the surface of the water and they do not fly off. Once a betta decides they are food they will be eaten with gusto. I have kept cultures going for years at a time. I used to order them for my biology classes and started giving them to my fish many decades ago. They can be kept in small plastic vials and with the food that can be purchased the cultures do not have to smell (Unless you get lazy about starting a new culture). I suppose Carolina Biological Supply or Wards still carry them. Most all top feeders will take them as well.
 

Fuzz16

Fuzz16

Superstar Fish
#6
Oct 20, 2006
1,918
3
0
Wellsville, KS
#6
im sorry about your bad betta experiance ): like said, they are mass bred for colors not for health. their a couple years old by the time their in the store and the amount of stress and bad care they received before that time is unknown so i would not blame yourself.
 

FlameTetra333

FlameTetra333

Large Fish
#7
Jul 18, 2011
291
0
0
underwater
#7
Yeah, the two bettas I had were both from Petco (figures) and they were pretty fancy; my first was a halfmoon double tail male and it had all sorts of whites, purples, reds, and blues, and my second was a sky-blue delta tail.

Would you guys recommend lyretail guppies? One problem though: I can't get all of one gender as both male and females are put in the same tank (yes I know about the gonopodium on the male, but I can't get the LFS guy to specifically pick one out for me).

So is one lyretail guppy going to live happily by itself? Because I don't think they are a schooling fish.
Hmmmmm....
If that doesn't work, then should I move one of my dwarf gouramis to the tank?

Thanks
 

MdngtRain

MdngtRain

Large Fish
#8
Jan 9, 2011
288
0
0
New England
#8
Not sure about the guppies living alone. The one that had been living alone seems much happier now that he has another guppy around (still keeping a close eye out for signs of aggression, as that's why the little guy was operated in the first place).
The gourami might work in the 5.5, it might be a tight squeeze.... Not sure tho.
 

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