Mari

They are special, my non-fish freaks buddies always joke about how I am crazy for having bought antibiotics for my betta when he got fish rot in one of his fins, and how much time and money I spend getting them food, plants, hiding places... but I love my betta! Question though, are there any other fish in that habitat of theirs? I wonder how they interact with the other animals living in the paddies...? Just wondering because my betta lives with 6 cardinals and 2 albino corys quite well (sometimes I see him chasing the cardinals but most of the time he behaves)... but still I wonder if sharing his 20 gallon tank with them stresses him

chickadee

No the fish you mention and the size of tank is very adequate for him in fact most generous. He should be fine and very comfortable if not spoiled. He is a very fortunate little betta to be in such a fine tank and not have any more tank mates than that. The cardinal tetras are the only tetras that are not known as fin nippers so they should not bother him and the albino cories should be no problem although they usually do like to be in groups of 3 or more. His chasing of the cardinals is only his way of asserting his territorial rights and they have only probably crossed into a part of the tank that he considers to be his territory. He will be that way, but I doubt that he will hurt them. The bettas will generally only become terribly beligerent when they are overcrowded and he definitely is not that.

Rose

Mari

Thanks Rose, I would love to get one more cory but actually I really am afraid of overcrowding and ruining my water's chemistry because of the waste. As it is, my betta is just recovering from fin rot. Actually he got fin rot in two fins, one is completely healed and has grown back (actually is longer than when I got him) and other one just does not want to get better (luckily it is not worse either)... not sure what to do to make it grow back, have given him good food, vitamins, sulfa (when the rot was bad), salt and conditioner after every wather change (50% every 5 days)... but it just does not get any longer. I find a lot of people with this problem here at fishlore, many think it might be the substrate... I wonder.....

phlox

It isn't the substrate but the dirt that hides in the substrate if not vacuumed regularly and properly with a gravel vacuum. Bare floor gets just as dirty and the Betta will lay in the filth at night. Smooth gravel, about the size of a small pea is perfect. Larger stones and marbles have deep crevices where dirt collects and the Bettas tail can easily slide down and sit in the dirt when he sleeps. With the smaller gravel the dirt collects deep down and the top stays fairly clean if vacummed every week.
Gravel also helps with water quality as it provides lots of surface area for beneficial bacteria. Without substrate it would be hard to keep the tank cycled properly and that would make finrot and other problems worse.
No substrate works well in a very small hospital tank that is getting lots of water changes but not for the regular tank. It also looks pretty boring.

Mari

Yes that is what I meant actually.. it is interesting to see how small pebbled gravel is better. I was intently looking at Pepe (my betta) all day yesterday and he actually seems much better... if only his fins would be much longer! That would make me really happy... I will try to post a pic of him so you guys can judge for yourselves. Thanks for the input!