shellbell4ever

Someone gave me there kids Bettas free, one boy and one girl,there in plant vases right now Till I get out this weekend and get there new homes My question is this what's the smallest tank size they would be happiest in, and how do I set them up safely as I won't have a cycled tank for them.Any suggestions would be of great help as I am new to these fish as well!By the way I have named them Bonny and Clyde

Shawnie

Hi shell..cant wait to see pics!! I would say minimum of 5 gallons...and as far as cycleing, take some filter media or some gravel from your already cycled tanks and maybe even some water and put in the new ones....goodluck! and congrats!!!

shellbell4ever

Thanks for the comment back...I was thinking I could do that!Thanks again

chickadee

Well unless you have used one of the products that produce an instant cycle (Bio-spira or Turbostart700) then your other tank is not cycled yet either is it? If that is the case the only thing I can suggest is to get the tanks and heaters and just face a lot of water changes. Bettas can make a tank of 5 gallons toxic in just a matter of a couple days with ammonia so it will mean a 30% water change in each tank probably every day. Otherwise they will probably have some trouble. When I got my betta (the very first one) I had not found Fishlore.com yet and just by chance I started doing a daily water change and he did fine. The secret is to do the testing for ammonia every day before the water change and make sure you are changing enough to keep the ammonia below 0.5 at the highest and around 0.25 at the best. You cannot unfortunately keep it at 0 or the tank will not cycle. The fish would love to have it at 0 all the time but your cycle needs a little ammonia to happen. Just don't let the manufacturer of your tank tell you that the filter media needs to be replaced every two weeks. Just rinse it in the water you removed from the tank and do not wring it out or overwash it as it will contain a lot of the bacteria that are needed to get the cycle going. Then in about a week start to test for nitrites and keep them below 1.0. I hope this has helped a bit.

Rose

COBettaCouple

Use Prime for your tap water conditioner. 5g would be minimum really, but if you could get them 6.6g bookshelf tanks, they'd be VERY happy in those.

shellbell4ever

Update...
I thank you all for all the advise,
I got 2, 5 Gallon Set Up's Today!(Unfortunately 1 was cracked and will have to wait to be replaced a few more days)
I set up like this,rock and plants and water from first tank,prime,Lot's of Love Bio-Spria is not aval in my area :Added Clyde's pic's today... Bonnie's to come soon!