I know this is going to sound weird!

[Guanchy]

i have a cycled 15g and a small betta tank i think its like 1g. I was given this betta by a friend and it came with the small tank, unfortunately i cant get a bigger tank right now because i dont have my own place, i live with my family and they wont let me bring another tank to the house anyways...

When im doing a water change in my 15g i was thinking to use the water i take out for my betta tank, since the water has 0 ammonia, 0 Nitrite etc...

is this a good idea? or should i just keep using tap water and just add prime to my betta tank?

 

[FishDad]

I would use tap water with prime. I bet you don't have zero nitrAtes from that water. You will probably end up slowly poisoning that betta since you will never be removing nitrates and constantly adding them. The removal of nitrates is the main reason behind water changes. Plus its only 1 gallon, seems to me it would be easier just to use tap water. If you want to use old tank water for something, its great for watering plants.

 

[Guanchy]

thanks! and my nitrate is not 0, but its not supposed to be 0 is it? mine is lower than 20ppm

 

[exhumed07]

0 nitrates is almost impossible to get to without a lot of plants that feed from the water column.

 

[FreshyFresh]

I'd put the beta in your 15g to see how he/she does. Most times they'll do perfectly fine in a community tank. If he gets picked on, put'em back in the 1gal and be sure to do regular water changes on it.

 

[Thyra]

I agree with Freshy - depending on what is in your 15g tank. A betta will do fine in a community tank once he gets acclimated (which could take a few days because he is not use to all that space). Be sure there are plenty of hiding places - I have notices they really seem to like floating plants even if they are fake. If your 15 g tank is crowded it may not work. Other fish are more likely to pick on your betta than the other way around.

 

[Newman]

what fish do you have in your 15 gal tank? i agree you have the option of just including the betta in the community. and tap water is indeed better for the betta's water changes. dont forget the prime.

 

[Guanchy]

nop, i actually tried putting her in my 15g, and she killed 3 neon tetras and went after my pigmy cories!

I mean she seems fine, swims around the little tank all the time especially when i get close to it she gets excited lol and i make sure she eats good, i buy her brime shrimp, frozen and dried blood worms, shrimp pellets. And i divide the food through out the week. I try to feed her something different every day so i know shes happy. i have a heater in the little tank and plant and gravel and i change the water weekly, sometimes twice a week. so she is doing good i just feel bad because the tank is not too big u know.

I dont know if me feeding her all these food has anything to do with her being so aggressive because usually females are more passive than male and i had a male in the tank with my neon tetras for months and they were all fine! he never went after them or anything.

and according to my friend he had her in his tank before giving it to me

 

[Thyra]

I have observed it to be the other way around - the female bettas are much more aggressive in a community tank than the males IME. Maybe its just me, but I think when you take a betta who has been kept in a very small container and put it in a big tank they really don't know what to do for a few days - like a kid from the country being dropped in a big city! All that space and activity must be frightening to them.

 

[Guanchy]

I have observed it to be the other way around - the female bettas are much more aggressive in a community tank than the males IME. Maybe its just me, but I think when you take a betta who has been kept in a very small container and put it in a big tank they really don't know what to do for a few days - like a kid from the country being dropped in a big city! All that space and activity must be frightening to them.

yeah i thought about that as well, i thought of just leaving her there until she got used to the whole thing but its a risk i dont want any of my other fish to get kill or injured

 

[FishDad]

I don't know what your financial situation is but you can get a 10 gallon starter kit for like 30 bucks. Might be worth it if you can spare the cash.

 

[Newman]

yeah i you have small fish in your 15gal, adding the betta is a no go.
female bettas can be aggressive hunters, just like males. they are faster too since females do not have long fins. they are like plakat bettas in terms of attitude and mobility.
in the future i'd get at leas a 2.5 gal or more for the betta with a small sponge filter and the heater you already have. for now i think the betta is set. if you get the chance you should upgrade her to a bigger tank.

 

[FreshyFresh]

I have observed it to be the other way around - the female bettas are much more aggressive in a community tank than the males IME. Maybe its just me, but I think when you take a betta who has been kept in a very small container and put it in a big tank they really don't know what to do for a few days - like a kid from the country being dropped in a big city! All that space and activity must be frightening to them.

I've got 4 female bettas in my community 55g. The only fish in the tank smaller than them are 4 zebra danios. All other fish are larger.

The female bettas will shove each other around every so often, but I've never seen them show aggression to any other type of fish in the tank, but there's quite a bit of room and the tank is pretty heavily planted.

They've grown quite large in the 6-7mo I've had them. These betas were Petsmart $0.99/ea purchases. I caught them on sale and had to have them.

 

[exhumed07]

a country boy dropped into a big city, all the space and activity frightening? lol that amuses me as i am a country boy. to me there is no space and not much activity in the city vs the country. always things to do in the country and alot more space but my activity is different then city activity.

 

[Thyra]

Actually in the city the space is filled with traffic - in my younger days I could handle Seattle traffic but now I find it downright claustrophobic, but I suppose I was really thinking a fish might think it had to defend all that territory instead of just a tiny piece of it and that might cause aggressive behavior.