Male or female?

[karma_llama]

My male betta 'Igor' appears sad (that is if it is possible for a betta to be sad) as he is on his own in his tank. His tank is set up in my bedroom as there is no where for him in the rest of the house (as other family members are not too welcoming) so he doesnt get to see me very often.

If i was able to build a divider is the tank big enough to support two, and if so would it be better to get a female friend for him or does it not matter?

The tank is about 1.7 US gallons, and has a pennplax filter and a low wattage thermostat heater (being in cold uk!)

 

[Igor The Cat]

Hahaha "Igor"

bettas like warm water of about 80 degrees.

-Java

 

[Igor The Cat]

also i would say get a 2.5gal. for him or you could get a 5 and divied it and if the filter is a penn plax air powered thouse a JUNK IME. get a small hob.

-Java

 

[karma_llama]

His themostat is set on about 76. The pennplax filter came with the set up, i had no choice in the matter, i've found hobs hard to come by around here. It seems to work well tho, for the moment anyway.

 

[Igor The Cat]

do you have a thermomitor (spelling) if not get one and heat it up to about 80.

-Java

 

[karma_llama]

yeah i have a thermometer. I'll set the heater a bit higher then.

 

[theeyrietrainer]

well my bettas do fine around that temperature, its not a MUST for an 80, but it IS much better than having one below it. i dont think you should get him a female. he just gets to see her and not breed with her. the female might be scared constantly, and since you have such a small tank, its not advisory to add anything else or a divider there. besides, sometimes they just look dead like that, liven them up by putting a mirror there then removing that mirror after 10 minutes. that should liven him up just right again!

 

[Iggy]

Ok, I have had 3 divided tanks so far, so I might be able to give you some insight...

First, dont bother dividing anything smaller than 2.5 gallons., its just too cramped for cleaning with dividers. I built dividers for my two 3gal tanks using 3mm acrylic sheets, a jig-saw and 4mm drill for holes.

Here is a link to the photos...
http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=87457
http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=87459

Here is the entire thread link...
http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10709&highlight=iggy

I would suggest an eclipse 3, it has a built-in filter well suited for divided tanks (picks-up water on one end and drops on the other)

Heating... 78F is purrfect for adults. Careful small tanks can easily get overheated!

Ok, the last part... male to male or female to female, I do NOT suggest mixing sexes... I did and it ruined 2 great mating pairs, plus it sends the male into a frenzy for days.

Same sex divided tanks works better, sure the males will flare for a few days, but they will eventually relax.

Females seem to do better in divided tanks, they don't flare as much or as long a divided males.

 

[karma_llama]

thanks for your advice. I think i'll wait until i can get a bigger tank, or in the distant future when my 10g frees up enough.

I had set my heater purposely lower due to the overheating aspect as you said. I've left it on arounf 75/76 ish now.

I have a mirror for him, he darts around his tank all flared up. I dont leave it there for too long as i heard too much flaring can stress them out.
His tank is next to my other small tank which is housing two barbs temporarily, he doesnt seem to interested in their flashes of orange tho! He is however quite impressed by the picture of the betta on the top of his Hikaro betta food next to the tank.

One other thing (save another thread) - What is the minimum temperature a betta can survive in? Do you use heaters etc in the US/Canada? Would one survive without a heater here? (Don't worry i have enough heaters to go around by a friend asked me and i couldnt give her a straight answer !)

*Karma*

 

[Toyman321]

Just an idea, do you have anything inside the tank for him? I had a beta in a 1.7g u.s. and I eventually put a small live plant in there with him, I always kept it trimmed so it only went half way up the inside of the tank to still leave him plenty of swimming room. He always seemed to like the plant, he would swim up under and through it being very curious, he would also rest on the plant as well. It seemed to keep him happy


As for the temp, I would reccoment keeping their tanks in the normal range for tropical fish, but then again Im not a beta expert...

 

[karma_llama]

he has an ornament and a fake fern plant that goes 3/4 way up and spreads nicely (It looks so real i actually thought it was!). He likes sitting by the filter and heater though or indide the ornament.

 

[Iggy]

I would say mininum is 72F, lower than that really seems to affect their immune system and certainly lowers their activity level. They can take down to 68F for short periods as long as it is a gradual decrease, but anything lower can kill them in a short period of time.

If your room temperture is around 72F, the betta will survive, but not very active and more susceptable to catching illness.

 

[fishboy]

Originally posted by Iggy
. I built dividers for my two 3gal tanks using 3mm acrylic sheets, a jig-saw and 4mm drill for holes.

Just a little something to add. You can also find material that professional companies use to make dividers at Home Depot . It is called "egg crate" and will usually be in the lighting section.

HTH,

Daniel