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hella-free-space · 7 years

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Hi I’m in college and thinking about getting a betta. I was wondering what youd recommend me getting or give me like a list of what all I need. I plan on using tank about 2.5 gallons.

hey there @merelivia :D sorry it took me so long to reply this post is a great starting point! :) there are probably a few things missing from the supplies list i included in that post (i really gotta update that post), so here’s a more accurate one!- 2.5+ gallon tank (the bigger the better tho! a 5.5 gallon is a good minimum to start with imo…and it’s easier to keep a stable cycle with!) you can buy an all-in-one tank like the fluval spec or the top fin glass tank, a starter kit (usually 5 gallon kits don’t come with heaters, but some 10 gallon kits do), or buy all of the items separately.- filter (after having HOBs, built-in filters, and sponge filters…sponge filters are my fave .-. but built-in filters like the fluval spec’s and top fin glass tank’s are 2nd fave). if you get a hob, you may need a baffle! if you get a tank with a built-in filter, you may need to buy a sponge to slip over the out-spout.– How sponge filters work + how to set them up– Pros + cons of sponge filters -heater (76-82F) i have three of these heaters and they’re great! the cords are really short tho, thats the big downside :T this post has a ton of other heater suggestions!-thermometer glass ones are my personal fave, and way more accurate than the sticker kind. i think theyre 1-2$ at walmart!- 1+ hide (caves, terra cotta pots, an ornament, just a place where they can hide out or chill in)- decor (lots of decor ideas listed below!)- silk/live plants (plastic isn’t the best idea since plastic plants can tear a betta’s delicate fins)– craft mesh “betta beds”– dollar store flowers (remove wire, soak to make sure they don’t bleed)- pvc, terra cotta pot, mug, glass, jar hides (your cabinet, goodwill, dollar store)– dollar store betta tanks– diy decor– craiglist, facebook marketplace, offerup, letgo, etc. BE HUNTIN!– petco’s plants are bogo rn (i thought they were buy one get one free, but my receipt tells me they’re buy one get one 50% off…either way its a win~)– petco and petsmart usually have plants and supplies for sale on their website but not in the store. if you show the cashier the online price, they’ll match it at the checkout so make sure to do some online window shopping before you go! – hobby lobby and micahaels have a ton of their floral stuffs on sale right now as well!- quality food i like new life spectrum thera +a pellets (long name, i know, but i know u can buy them at petco!) or omega one pellets or the betta buffet flakes. frozen foods like blood worms and shrimp are also good additions to a betta’s diet :)- test kit this kit is my favorite! the value is faaaantastic and the tests give more specific readings than the strips :p- lid bettas can be jumpers so lids are recommended. if your tank doesn’t come with a lid or is an odd shape and you can’t buy one, then craft mesh may be good option! it’s really cheap at walmart or craft stores and you can cut it with regular scissors. it’s basically plastic mesh…you can weigh it down or create a frame for it since it’s pretty light ^-^- light if you don’t buy a kit that comes with a hood+light combo, or any light at all…you’ll probably need one! leds are a good choice :) i just bought 2 of these nicrew lights and they work amazingly! definitely bright enough for at least medium light plants and super white~ you can also buy clip-on LED with a gooseneck like this one (tho i’d be sure to check the measurements on lights as cheap as these!) or even a light from home depot~ for a tank that small, you could also use a desk lamp. with a desk lamp you could probably grow low-light plants like anacharis and anubias. when i had a little planted vase on my desk, i just went to goodwill and got one for $3 ^-^”- water change bucket it’ll make water changes so much easier. one of the best $3 investments i’ve ever made. you can get 5.5 gallon buckets at walmart and home depot :p- aquarium siphon (also called a gravel vac) helps remove water during a water change and can suck up gunk from the substrate- water conditioner i love seachem prime!If you’ve never had fish before, these posts might also be helpful!General Fishkeeping + Equipment:Fishkeeping 101“Seeding” a tank Why do we do water changes? How much water do I change?Invest in a waterchange bucketAquarium siphoning + vaccuumingBaffling a filter Everything I’ve learned about filters and filter media

Decor + DIY:DIY Aquarium DecorAn ask that lists some easy aquarium plants How to superglue plants to stuffTidbits for Planted Tanks

Care Guides:A betta care guide: All about bettas!I bought a betta, now what do i do!? (fish-in cycling included!)

Other handy dandy posts (written by other awesome tumblrs):Fishless Cycling MasterpostThere are a few different ways to cycle a tank and this post is insanely informative!How to do the thing (cycling)Cycle your tank! Handy Articles Master PostGetting the most out of aquarium plantsPlants melt and that’s okayBig list of aquarium plantsList of low-light aquarium plantsPlanted Tanks for Beginners and So Can YouComprehensive Planted Tank Guide Dollar Store Fish Tank“Cleaner Fish” Why They Don’t Exist & Your Aquarium Doesn’t Need One By Ren Brooks

//if anyone has any info to add, please do!

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hella-free-space · 7 years

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Jessica, this one’s for you! :)

i hope your son is enjoying his new fish <3 and glad your husband has found a job! hoping things continue to go well for you and your family <3

this post is a great starting point! :) there are probably a few things missing from the supplies list i included in that post (i really gotta update that post), so here’s a more accurate one! Since you already have your betta, this post might help you out more :) more under the ‘cut’/’read more’/’keep reading’! :)

Supplies

-2.5+ gallon tank the tank you have comes in a 1 and 2.5 gallon kit. The 1 gallon measurements are 7.5" x 7.5" x 10.25" and the 2.5 gallon measurements are 12.3" x 9.4" x 11.4". hopefully now you know which tank you have! the 1 gallon kit comes with a little bubbler (not a filter, just an aerator / air stone) and an under gravel filter (how effective under gravel filters are at holding a cycle is debated, but for now, don’t worry about that) and the 2.5 gallon kit comes with a filter (but it’s way too strong for a betta...it would have to be baffled).

if you have the 1 gallon kit (it looks like you’ve got the air stone, so probably the 1 gallon) you can get a sponge filter! however, in a tank so small, a stable cycle is hard to keep :/ in my opinion, you’d be best off spending 10 dollars on a 10 gallon tank (even if it is sparsely decorated) (rn at petco the 1$/gallon sale is going on so 10 gallon tanks are just $10!) first, before getting a filter. why, you ask? well, because if you only have 1 betta, waste will build up muuuch slower in a 10 gallon than in a 1 gallon and you could honestly probably get away with not having any filtration for a while...since the bioload (how much waste is produced by a fish) of 1 betta is so small...as long as you do large weekly water changes (at least 50% 1x a week). also, any heater (even those small 7.5watt ones, which are the lowest watt ones i’ve found) will be unsafe for a 1 gallon, mostly because the risk is pretty high for overheating the tank :/ with a 2.5+ gallon one, you could get an adjustable heater! these ones are great and the price is just as great! only downside is that they have short cords (i own 3...but its not an issue since all of my tanks are pretty darn close to their outlets) :/ think of waste (ammonia, which is toxic) building up like this: you’ve got 1 gallon of water and 10 gallons of water. in this analogy, colored drops (like food coloring or something) will represent your fish’s waste. let’s say you put 5 drops of coloring (waste) into the 1 gallon tank and 5 drops into the 10 gallon tank. the 1 gallon will be a lot darker right? because in the 10 gallon the color will be way more diluted! same goes for waste. (this is also why ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are measure in “ppm” or parts-per-million. it’s a proportion instead of an exact measurement: like 1/2 (proportion) vs of .25 inches (exact measurement) if that makes sense) - water conditioner it removes chlorines (some also remove chloramines and heavy metals) from the water and makes the water safe for the fish

- filter – How sponge filters work + how to set them up – Pros + cons of sponge filters - heater (76-82F) i have three of these heaters and they’re great! the cords are really short tho, thats the big downside :T this post has a ton of other heater suggestions! - thermometer glass ones are my personal fave, and way more accurate than the sticker kind. i think theyre 1-2$ at walmart! - 1+ hide (caves, terra cotta pots, an ornament, just a place where they can hide out or chill in) - decor (lots of decor ideas listed below!) - silk/live plants (plastic isn’t the best idea since plastic plants can tear a betta’s delicate fins) – craft mesh “betta beds” (you can buy plastic craft mesh sheets at walmart for like 1-2$ and you get a few big sheets!) – dollar store flowers (remove wire, soak to make sure they don’t bleed) - pvc, terra cotta pot, mug, glass, jar hides (your cabinet, goodwill, dollar store) – dollar store betta tanks – diy decor – craiglist, facebook marketplace, offerup, letgo, etc. BE HUNTIN FOR THEM DEALS! – anacharis is pretty cheap: one bunch at petco is 2.99. the stuff grows like CRAZY and it makes a great floating plant! it’ll send of lots of runners and in no time your fish will have a big anacharis jungle to swim in! plants also use the nutrients in fish waste to grow. since anacharis grows pretty fast, it uses up lots of waste! i have it in my 10 gallon with little led light and it went from 8″ to 24″ in 2-3 weeks...that’s crazy imo. – petco and petsmart usually have plants and supplies for sale on their website but not in the store. if you show the cashier the online price, they’ll match it at the checkout so make sure to do some online window shopping before you go! – hobby lobby and micahaels have a ton of their floral stuffs on sale right now as well! just be sure to avoid glitter and remove any metal stems, etc. in the ‘diy decor’ link above, there’s a video that shows you how to make diy silk plants! you definitely DONT have to make plant weights tho...you can usually set silk plants on the bottom of the tank no problem, and there’s nothing wrong with floating plants either~ - quality food i like new life spectrum thera +a pellets (long name, i know, but i know u can buy them at petco!) or omega one pellets or the betta buffet flakes. frozen foods like blood worms and shrimp are also good additions to a betta’s diet :) hikari betta bio gold is an okay food (i know they sell it at walmart, so that’s why i wanted to mention it), but its got fillers. for now, whatever you have for food will be okay :) just wanted to give you some options in case you want to change your food in the future. - test kit this kit is my favorite! the value is faaaantastic and the tests give more specific readings than the strips :p - lid bettas can be jumpers so lids are recommended. if your tank doesn’t come with a lid or is an odd shape and you can’t buy one, then craft mesh may be good option! it’s really cheap at walmart or craft stores and you can cut it with regular scissors. it’s basically plastic mesh…you can weigh it down or create a frame for it since it’s pretty light ^-^ - light if you don’t buy a kit that comes with a hood+light combo, or any light at all…you’ll probably need one! leds are a good choice :) i just bought 2 of these nicrew lights and they work amazingly! definitely bright enough for at least medium light plants and super white~ you can also buy clip-on LED with a gooseneck like this one (tho i’d be sure to check the measurements on lights as cheap as these!) or even a light from home depot~ for a tank that small, you could also use a desk lamp. with a desk lamp you could probably grow low-light plants like anacharis and anubias. when i had a little planted vase on my desk, i just went to goodwill and got one for $3 ^-^” - water change bucket honestly just really helpful to have...if you have one bucket (or any large container, tbh) you can empty old tank water into it and then after you’ve dumped that out, you can fill it with new tank water and add conditioner to prepare the water before adding it to the tank!

- siphon is optional, and for smaller tanks a turkey baster works! you can also just get some airline tubing and use that...same principle! siphons usually have a plastic tub attached to small rubber hose (same thing as airline hose) and they help to drain your tank when you take old water out of it during a water change.

What’s this cycle thing?

It’s the Nitrogen Cycle!

All fish produce waste. Because all aquatic animals produce waste, they require (biological) filtration of some sort to process that waste.

Fish produce waste in the form of ammonia. Ammonia is toxic above 0ppm (parts per million). So you’ve got all this ammonia floating around in the water, right? and you’ve got water running through your filter…so these bacteria start growing all over your fish tank, wherever there’s water flow, but we want to concentrate on the bacteria that are growing in your filter media. This bacteria will be processing the waste that your fish or aquatic animal produces :)

So your fish produced some waste, and it’s floating around in the water as ammonia. The first bacteria (#1) that grows will ‘eat’ the ammonia and then ‘poop’ out nitrites.

Nitrites are also toxic to aquatic animals above 0ppm though :/ so then another bactiera (#2) grows and it ‘eats’ these nitrites that are floating around in the water and ‘poops’ out nitrates.

Nitrates are safe for fish (up to 20ppm)! :D Since there’s no bacteria that’s going to grow to eat these nitrates that are in the water, we have to physically remove them by doing a water change. A helpful post about water changes, how they work!

If you have live plants, they will use some of the ammonia, nitrite, and/or nitrates in the water as nutrients :) Some plants will use more than others, as some plants are heavy root feeders, some are floaters, and some prefer to be somewhere in the water column. (note: live plants SHOULD NOT totally replace water changes! water changes are still necessary even for planted tanks :3)

To recap, “the cycle” aka “the nitrogen cycle” goes like this: Fish waste (ammonia) -> bacteria #1 -> nitrite -> bacteria #2 -> nitrate -> water change

Okay, so how do I make “the cycle” happen? How do I “cycle” my tank?

Note: knowing where you are in the nitrogen cycle (how much ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate is in the tank / being produced) requires a test kit.

Keep your water parameters .25ppm ammonia/.25ppm nitrites/20ppm nitrates or less :) In order to do this, you’ll have to do a ton of water changes, but your fish will thank you since ammonia and nitrite are toxic to fish! Bettas are pretty hardy, and one of the only fish that you can perform a fish-in cycle with, so just be sure to keep those parameters as low as possible until your readings are 0 ammonia/0 nitrite/ x nitrates (these are the parameter readings for a cycled tank). After that, make sure your nitrates stay 20ppm or below, doing a water change whenever they reach 20ppm or higher. Also note that it’s important to continue to test ammonia and nitrite levels even if your tank is cycled, since sometimes parameters spike or a cycle crashes, and you wont know unless you’re checking for that!

Okay, but what about water changes??

This post

explains how to figure out how much water you need to change!

You should do a water change at least 1x a week! You need to remove at least 50% of the tank’s water 2-3x a week for now (if you have the 1 gallon tank), and when you upgrade you can do it 1x a week. After you get a test kit / can monitor your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) you can figure out how much water to change and how often. You can remove the water via a cup (just scoop out the water) or a siphon (a ‘gravel vac’, tho most will be much too large for small tanks, airline tubing, a turkey baster, etc.). If you have a large container or totally clean (not used for chemicals, dirt, etc.) bucket then you can prepare your new water in that! add dechlorinator to the new water in the container, sitr well, then add it to the tank. make sure the temp matches. since you have no heater, let the water adjust to room temp (since the tank should also be room temp) by letting it sit out for a while before adding it to the tank. if you don’t have a container to make new water in, you should take out water from the tank, add dechlorinator to the tank, then add new water to the tank (preferably at room temp...as a sudden temperature fluctation can shock your betta. extreme temp shock will kind of paralyze your betta for a while so its important that the new water matches the tank temp within a few degrees). you can remove the fish if you’d like and then add him back after you’re done.

The order i think you should buy supplies in:

- water conditioner (you said you have some, but you wanted to get a better one) - 5+ gallon tank - filter - heater - thermometer (it’s pretty cheap, so you could probably buy it sooner rather than later) - decor (1+ hide, silk/live plants, substrate (sand, gravel, etc.)) - test kit - lid - water change bucket - light - quality food

why this order? - your fish will die without water conditioner. it removes chlorine (some also remove chloramines and heavy metals) from the water, and your fish cannot live in chlorinated water. - a bigger tank means that you can safely heat the tank. a bigger tank also means that waste will be more diluted so as long as you keep up with large weekly water changes (of 50%+) then you can hold off on the filter for a little while. - filter after getting a bigger tank, best to find a filter and start fish-in cycling the tank! - bettas need heat to regulate body temperature (like reptiles!) and it’s an important basic necessity - you should get a thermometer as soon as you get your heater. even if you get an adjustable heater (which should come with an internal thermostat, so it knows when to turn off/on and keeps the tank from being too cold/hot), the heater may be off by 1-2F, meaning that you could set it to 78 but the tank’s actual temp is 76. it’s just good to have and only 1-2$ so you could probably get it around the same time you get your heater. - bettas need cover to feel safe / not be stressed: another important part of your fish’s overall health and wellbeing! hides, decor, plants, etc. bettas love space but they dont necessarily like open space. there’s cheap diy decor links throughout this post and below! - if you’re doing large weekly water changes, your ‘water parameters’ should be okay, but knowing what those parameters are is still important! so definitely make plans to get a test kit :) - i dont think that jumping happens that often, so foregoing a lid for a bit and getting more important items first is okay imo...but its still an important precautionary item to have, so i recommend still getting one! - a water change bucket will make your life so. much. easier. about $3-5 at home depot or walmart. usually they’re 5.5 gallon buckets! - you can put the tank in a well-light place in the room (NOT in direct sunlight tho) and be okay! if you want to get a light so you can see the tank better, go for it :) - i think that buying good quality food (if you dont already have it...usually protein should be 38%+ and the first few ingredients shouldn’t be “__ meal”s but whole ingredients) comes last since if you’ve got your fish you’ve probably also already got food...so your fish has food and that’s already covered! upgrading the quality or adding variety can wait until you’ve got all the other bases covered :)

Supply Suggestions: - first off, i always recommend checking letgo, offerup, facebook marketplace, craigslist, and/or other local classifieds or ‘for sale’ sites! also check out any thrift stores like goodwill! you might find some of your equipment or decor at super low prices!! i’ve gotten all of my equipment either on sale or second hand so there’s absolutely no shame in hunting for second hand deals! - seachem prime water conditioner lasts foreeever (it’s highly concentrated so you only need a few drops per gallon! i use a pin to poke a hole in the seal of a new bottle instead of totally removing the seal so that i can count how many drops i need!) and will neutralize ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate for 24-48 hours in case of any parameter level spikes! if you can’t find prime, that’s okay! most liquid water conditioners will do just as well. i know that tetra makes some “betta+ water conditioner” or whatever but you don’t need a “betta-specific” water conditioner...most things labeled “for bettas!!!” are gimmicky and unnecessary and you can use the ‘regular’ product most likely :p - 10 gallon tank at petco, $10 - if space is an issue, consider a 12″ bubble bowl (3-5 gallons of water, depending on how much decor is in the bowl and how full of water it is). you can find them at some walmarts in the floral section and most hobby lobbys/michaels. at hobby lobby, you can present their 40% off coupon and it’ll probably be about $10 as well. a bubble bowl will probably not work with hang-on-back filter, tho, but they usually work great with sponge filters. - sponge filter from petsmart - sponge filter from amazon - pack of sponge filters from amazon - small hang-on-back (HOB) filter (azoo palm, also called azoo mignon) - thermometer - heater from amazon - terra cotta pot hide (craft section at walmart, $1 and no drainage hole which means your fish can’t get stuck in it! you don’t have to buy it at walmart, and it can have a drainage hole. just make sure the pot is actually terra cotta and not painted and if it has a hole, just bury the pot deeper into the substrate (gravel, sand, the stuff you’ve got on the bottom of the tank). - silk flowers from craft stores or the dollar store. hobby lobby gives a 40% off coupon and they’re always having sales on seasonal floral stuff so you could get a big bunch of silk greenery or stem(s) of silk flowers for cheap! - glassware hides (ceramic fully glazed/sealed mugs, glasses, glass bowls, glass mugs, etc.) can be found in your own kitchen or at local thrift stores, often for less than $1! if you need to disinfect something, DONT use soap, use hot water or hot water + vinegar instead! be sure to rinse extra well if using vinegar. - anacharis costs 2.99/bunch at petco. try to get the greenest looking one (sometimes the ends are or a stem or two is brown tbh but it gives new grown pretty fast!), and then prune / throw any any brown parts. if all of the edges of the leaves of a stem are brown, but the middle/stem is green, keep that stem til you see new stems branching off. when those new stems are 2+ inches, just snap them off and throw away the original stem. if the stem turns more brown and doesn’t give off new shoots, throw it away. if the stem is totally brown on one end but green on the other, cut off the brown part of the stem and keep the green. anacharis can be cut / snapped into pieces and then grow from the pieces! - craft mesh to make a lid with. i think it’s also called plastic craft canvas or something like that and you should be able to buy it at craft stores as well - you can also use craft mesh to make those betta hammocks i linked to in the ‘supplies list’s ‘decor’ section above. you cut out a strip and then tie the ends together with thread / fishing line or use zip ties. whatever you have available. - i gave lighting suggestions under the ‘supplies list’ section above

If you’ve never had fish before, these posts might also be helpful!

General Fishkeeping + Equipment: Fishkeeping 101 “Seeding” a tank Why do we do water changes? How much water do I change? Invest in a waterchange bucket Aquarium siphoning + vaccuuming Baffling a filter Everything I’ve learned about filters and filter media

Decor + DIY: DIY Aquarium Decor An ask that lists some easy aquarium plants How to superglue plants to stuff Tidbits for Planted Tanks

Care Guides: A betta care guide: All about bettas! I bought a betta, now what do i do!? (fish-in cycling included!)

Other handy dandy posts (written by other awesome tumblrs): Fishless Cycling Masterpost There are a few different ways to cycle a tank and this post is insanely informative! How to do the thing (cycling) Cycle your tank! Handy Articles Master Post Getting the most out of aquarium plants Plants melt and that’s okay Big list of aquarium plants List of low-light aquarium plants Planted Tanks for Beginners and So Can You Comprehensive Planted Tank Guide Dollar Store Fish Tank “Cleaner Fish” Why They Don’t Exist & Your Aquarium Doesn’t Need One By Ren Brooks

endnote: i think i’ve covered most stuff? someone let me know if i forgot stuff, or leave a reblog/comment with links or extra info!! :)

#jessica #this one's for you #this one's for you!#fishblr #bettablr #aquablr

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