hi everyone, i officially have a new challenge! with new challenges comes new questions, of course. My earth science teacher wants a betta fish for his claassroom. He wants me to get that betta fish and take care of it. he has supplied a tank which he has room for in his classroom. it has no filter, no heater, and is only about 1 gallon. he wants me to use this tank because its what he has room for because he also has a turtle and a lizard which take up alot of his extra space. now my first question is how much of the water should i change for my weekly water changes seeing as how it is such a small tank. my second question is where should i get the betta fish. the easiest for me would be one of the cup bettas at my lfs but i dont know how healthy that would be. if i got a betta from a breeder id have to spend more money and it would have to be shipped. i dont know if that fish would be alivee when it came seeing as how it is cold and the beggining of winter. any answers would be apreciated thanks :;hi1
hmm... well you could tell your teacher to invest in a heater and filter. He "might" just be "ok" in the tank. i would go for a cup baby. btw, bettas will choose you, you dont choose them ;D
Question, does the teacher have the tank already? if not he could go for a 2.5g kit... they have evrything all you need is the heater...
Perhaps if you print a care sheet for bettas that explains their needs, he'll switch it to a shrimp tank. As a teacher, I can't imagine the purpose is to try to force the fish to survive in inadequate conditions - what does that teach? I bet the teacher wants to make the right conditions, but is uninformed. Perhaps bring a care sheet for ghost shrimp with you, and that way you can show it's the better option for that tank. (As a shrimp tank) I'd suggest 50% water changes twice a week - the shrimp don't make much bioload, but the decomposition of their food will create deadly ammonia. Without a heater or filter, I don't think weekly water changes are going to make much of a difference for the survival of a betta in 1g. :-\
if you read the betta care guide, you'll see that bettas do best in a 5 gallon. 2.5 is the very minimum recommended. I understand the space restrictions. I think you should do a little research to show your teacher how it won't be healthy for a betta to live in an unfiltered, unheated one gallon tank. Maybe even do a little research on some shrimp that would do okay in that environment. Maybe your research could educate him and make him change his mind. Hopefully you can even get some extra credit for all the work. Good luck! lol, ninja'ed by iloveengl
With a tank that size I would do 100% water changes using Natural Spring water or dechlorinated tape water. And yes You can get a nice fish from your LFS. They are not the best fish but look carefully and you can find one good enough for this purpose.
Sounds like the teacher needs a lesson. The first one being Bettas are tropical fish and do best in water that is warm and a consistant temp. Can bettas live in a 1g unheater unfiltered bowl? Sure, but surviving isn't thriving. I agree with iloveengl, prinint out out Betta Care Guide is a good start.
Hmm I'd change the water every few days and if it is too chilly without a heater perhaps put a warm lamp on the tank to heat the water up. I would say rescue a cup betta, they need the love and anything is better than the life they are already living!
As others have said, I'd hate to see a betta in an unheated tank. Even if it had a lamp on the tank during the day what about weekends and holidays? I sure hope you are able to "teach the teacher" about proper conditions for a betta to thrive. It could turn into a great opportunity for the students to interact with a betta (perhaps Fishtroy could provide some training tips) not to mention a lesson in empathy.
Unfortunately, I don't think a betta's chances would be very good in that setup.. daily water changes and adding 2 drops of prime daily might help with the water conditions but the varying temps would be very hard on any tropical fish.
Happy to help on training front, even though I'm not sure how a betta would go interacting with several people at once. Mine get pretty attached to me one on one. I am thinking that someone would definitely have to be nominated to take betta baby home with them on non school days. He couldn't be left alone all that time.
