Finland

Alright well i would really love some kind of small tank in my room, we have a 60 Gal in our living room... Im leaning on a Betta.... Im not sure yet though.. I mean a male and female Betta would be cool. Would they be okay in a 10 G? and when they spawn would i need to remove the fry?

Any input would be nice, thanks!

Barbrella

You can't keep a male and female betta together. They should be put in the same tank only when the female is ready to spawn, otherwise the male may kill her. Breeding bettas is a very expensive and labour-intensive undertaking - requiring many tanks, lots of equipment, hundreds of jars and tons of time.

You could keep a male OR a female in your 10 gallon, or you could divide the tank and keep two bettas.

If you have one betta, you could put some snails, shrimp or otos in with it, but caution is advised with the shrimp since they may be eaten or picked on.

Finland

Ahh. I see. Thanks for the info! Would a mystery snail be okay with a betta? we have several in our "main" tank.. Ive looked on www.petsolutions.com where we get our fish and there seems to be a better selection of males. I just want to go get one from Petco though, i feel so bad for the little fellas in the cups. I wish they would at least put them in 1 G tanks... eh

Barbrella

Unfortunately, mystery snails get too big for a 10 gal and will just pollute the water.

You'd be better off with something like Zebra nerites, which are excellent algae eaters and won't breed in freshwater! Also, they're very pretty.

Finland

the Zebra nerites look cool, ill look more into those. I really would like a betta, thats probably what im going to end up getting. Sorry for bugging you, but when i buy the tank ,any suggestions on filters, lighting, heater for a 10 G?

Sorry again for bugging you, just wanna get it all right, hehe.

Barbrella

You're not bugging anyone! We're all here to share information.

A 50 watt heater is good for 10 gals. I would get the submersible kind. I like the Hydor myself, but others will have recommendations too.

On my 10 gallon, I have a Penguin Bio wheel filter, made for up to 20 gallons. For a betta you will have to modify the outflow, as the current will be too strong for a long-finned male and he'll be tossed around. I fixed this by putting a piece of filter sponge over the outflow and securing it with an elastic band. You'll have to experiment a bit to get the flow just right.

I have 25 watts of light on my tank, and use 2 compact flourescent bulbs. This is good for growing plants and the snails will take care of the algae.

You didn't ask, but for a betta you'll need to get frozen bloodworms and you can also feed good quality pellets like Hikari BioBetta gold.

Finland

Thanks! we have the bio-wheel in our 60 gal and it seems to work great. Ill look into this and if/when i get this ill get some pix up! Thanks for the help!

Lucy

Hi Finland, a betta will love a 10g, mine has really blossomed in hers.
Becareful of the decorations, make sure there isn't anything that can snag those beautiful fins. I've read on here that if it can snag panyhose, you should avoide it.
For the same reason, you should be careful of the substrate. I use small decorative river rock, others have used glass marbles. Both look great and they're betta-fin safe.

Barbrella, thanks for the info about the snail. I've wanted one for my betta tank