Betta 2.5 Gallon Debate

Honestly I just wand to know what others think. I come to a conclusion that 2 gallons is my lowest maybe 1.75(really depends) but no lower. Unless for betta jaring. What are your opinions on tank sizes?

 

I keep mine in a 2.6 gallon. If someone keeps theirs in a 2 gallon, it’s not the end of the world. I won’t cry over -.5 gallon.

 

I keep mine in a 2.6 gallon. If someone keeps theirs in a 2 gallon, it’s not the end of the world. I won’t cry over -.5 gallon.

100% agree with you Scareface!

 

5 gallon minimum IMO. 2.5 just doesn't have the swimming space. Also harder to keep stable parameters. It's a puddle!

 

I personally wouldn't go smaller than five gallons.

 

5 gallon minimum IMO. 2.5 just doesn't have the swimming space. Also harder to keep stable parameters. It's a puddle!

I disagree with it being compared to a puddle. My cousins betta lived for nearly 4 years in a .5 gallon vase(urged them to size up but never did, they did do water changes) he built bubble nests and lived long. of course, I won't put any of my bettas is a .5 tank but I just think 5 gallons is a lot, considering some people don't have the money or space, Like me.

 

Wasn't there a post about this a few weeks ago? I don't mind a 2.5 for a long finned betta. Bigger is always better though.

 

My bettas are in all various tank sizes. I have one in a 2.5, 3 in 5.5s and two in 20 longs. The one that I have in the 2.5 has been the ones that has lived the longest and IMO is the healthiest fish that I have! I even once had him in a 1.5 gallon tank as I got him as a baby betta and he was so small! Some of the ones that I have had in larger tanks haven't fared as well. (I don't have the best luck picking betta fish though, so a few of them were sickly when I got them and two got eaten by Ghost Shrimp, so I can't really say that tank size had anything to do with their demises!)

 

I just cannot deal with the aqueon 2.5 gallon tanks, they feel and look way too small, but they are easy to fit somewhere, and easy maintenance.

 

Mine is in a 3.5 and doing great. I wouldn't go any smaller than a 2.5 or any bigger than a 5. Long finned male Bettas do not need a lot of swimming room. I think too big of a tank can actually tire and stress them out. They just need room to find their food easily and not have to chase it very far and plants and places for them to rest on or in are great. The shorter finned varieties and females can better utilize a larger space.

 

It doesn't worry me

 

Mine is in a 3.5 and doing great. I wouldn't go any smaller than a 2.5 or any bigger than a 5. Long finned male Bettas do not need a lot of swimming room. I think too big of a tank can actually tire and stress them out. They just need room to find their food easily and not have to chase it very far and plants and places for them to rest on or in are great. The shorter finned varieties and females can better utilize a larger space.

Totally agree. My long finned male lives in a 2.5 and is doing great, but when I had him in the 10G he was having trouble swimming to the surface. Although my female betta was very heathy and active in the 10G.

But to answer your question, IMO 5G is the minimum, but for some bettas, 2.5G would be good.

 

One of mine was in a 1g, has done much better since putting him in a 2.5g(credit much of that to a heater though). The rest are in a 3.5g and 2 5.2gs. They all seem to like their habitats well!! Though, may have to put the white one in a bigger tank, that dude swims quick as lightning

 

I kept my betta in a 10 gallon for a little while after raising him in a 2.5 (got him as a baby) but when he went in the 10 gal he became extra aggressive and wouldn’t eat, seemed like all that space for him was confusing and he couldn’t find the food. He’s in a 2.5 with heater and frequent water changes, thriving, smartest most robust fish I’ve ever had. Some fish just do better in smaller environments I guess

 

My bettas are in all various tank sizes. I have one in a 2.5, 3 in 5.5s and two in 20 longs. The one that I have in the 2.5 has been the ones that has lived the longest and IMO is the healthiest fish that I have! I even once had him in a 1.5 gallon tank as I got him as a baby betta and he was so small! Some of the ones that I have had in larger tanks haven't fared as well. (I don't have the best luck picking betta fish though, so a few of them were sickly when I got them and two got eaten by Ghost Shrimp, so I can't really say that tank size had anything to do with their demises!)

My longest living betta is in a 1.75 rn, but I have 3 gallon cycling for him. Almost a year!

 

I would never recommend anything below 5 gallons. It doesn't give them any room to swim or explore. I kept mine in a 5 gallon and didn't feel he had enough room. It's just depressing seeing them in anything smaller than 5 gallons imo.

 

I personally think it's cruel to confine a fish it's entire life in 2,5 gallons. Like I would ever be happy living my whole life in my bedroom. I know it's not comparable but I do not get why peole can afford a 2,5 G tank with heater etc. and not a 5 G. I want the best for my fish and my Betta is happy in his 29G community tank. Lots of area's to explore and he seems to do well with his tankmates.

 

I personally think it's cruel to confine a fish it's entire life in 2,5 gallons. Like I would ever be happy living my whole life in my bedroom. I know it's not comparable but I do not get why peole can afford a 2,5 G tank with heater etc. and not a 5 G. I want the best for my fish and my Betta is happy in his 29G community tank. Lots of area's to explore and he seems to do well with his tankmates.

Sometimes it isn't bout money but about space. My bedroom is extremely small and most of it goes to my fish. Of course I agree with the bigger is better idea.

I personally think it's cruel to confine a fish it's entire life in 2,5 gallons. Like I would ever be happy living my whole life in my bedroom. I know it's not comparable but I do not get why peole can afford a 2,5 G tank with heater etc. and not a 5 G. I want the best for my fish and my Betta is happy in his 29G community tank. Lots of area's to explore and he seems to do well with his tankmates.

Thank u for your opinion. Though I don’t believe it is cruel if everything they need is givin in a smaller space. Schedule water changes to keep water quality top notch and to monitor for any signs of possible sickness.

I would never recommend anything below 5 gallons. It doesn't give them any room to swim or explore. I kept mine in a 5 gallon and didn't feel he had enough room. It's just depressing seeing them in anything smaller than 5 gallons imo.

Thank you for your opinion! I always think bigger is better. But if people can give a betta what they need in a smaller sized tank, then go them!

 

Sometimes it isn't bout money but about space. My bedroom is extremely small and most of it goes to my fish. Of course I agree with the bigger is better idea.

Well I am a student and the room I live in is 12 square metres. I have two 29G aquariums tho. You can do a lot with little space

 

I believe that if you keep a betta that is NOT active in a 2.5, and do very regular water changes then it is fine.
IMO, I would never keep a betta in anything less than a 5 gallon, since it is harder to keep water parameters and temperature stable in anything less than that.
And I would definitely not keep a female betta in a 2.5, as they are normally shorter finned than the males, and need more space to explore. I also believe that if you can find a tank longer, compared to one higher, I would pick longer as in the wild a male bettas territory consists of several feet with only several inches deep.

 

One of my bettas was in a 5.5 gallon and he had so many issues swimming that I moved him to a smaller tank and he did so much better. He had swim bladder issues and was always floating around, swimming was difficult for him. Currently he is having major issues, and I don't think he will survive much longer, so even his smaller tanks seems too small for him as he is having swimming issues, worse than before. (TBH it's probably time to euthanize him). I really think the size of the tank depends on the betta, some are fine in smaller but some need larger ones.

 

I personally think it's cruel to confine a fish it's entire life in 2,5 gallons. Like I would ever be happy living my whole life in my bedroom. I know it's not comparable but I do not get why peole can afford a 2,5 G tank with heater etc. and not a 5 G. I want the best for my fish and my Betta is happy in his 29G community tank. Lots of area's to explore and he seems to do well with his tankmates.

It may be cruel for almost all fish, but not for a male Betta. Like I said, mine is a 3.5g that is 12" wide at the back and 11" tall. The width varies because it is a half moon shape. The largest spot between front and back measures 8 inches. My Betta, and his friends, (a Mystery snail, a Nerite snail, and 2 Ghost shrimp) are doing great with weekly one gallon water changes. He has enough room to swim and the rock tunnels and real and artificial plants give him plenty of things to explore and swim under and through. He seems very happy in his home.

The reason why I went with the 3.5 over anything larger is because the tank had to sit on top of my dresser. The dresser is rated at 35-40 pounds max to go on top. The 3.5 weighs right around 30 with everything in it and a 5 would have exceeded the max weight. Otherwise, I might have gone with the 5.5 kit instead. I'm happy with my choice though.

My opinion is that anything from 2.5 to 5 gallon is fine for a male Betta. Smaller is too cramped and larger is a waste of space if he's going to be the only fish.

 

The one is only in a 2.5g right now because when I put him in there, his fins weren't looking so good and there seemed to be other issues going on as well, so I wasn't sure he was even going to make it. He looks a lot better now, returning back to his old self, and when I have room in the budget he will probably be getting an upgrade to at least a 5g. Fins still haven't returned to original glory,

It may be cruel for almost all fish, but not for a male Betta. Like I said, mine is a 3.5g that is 12" wide at the back and 11" tall. The width varies because it is a half moon shape. The largest spot between front and back measures 8 inches. My Betta, and his friends, (a Mystery snail, a Nerite snail, and 2 Ghost shrimp) are doing great with weekly one gallon water changes. He has enough room to swim and the rock tunnels and real and artificial plants give him plenty of things to explore and swim under and through. He seems very happy in his home.

The reason why I went with the 3.5 over anything larger is because the tank had to sit on top of my dresser. The dresser is rated at 35-40 pounds max to go on top. The 3.5 weighs right around 30 with everything in it and a 5 would have exceeded the max weight. Otherwise, I might have gone with the 5.5 kit instead. I'm happy with my choice though.

My opinion is that anything from 2.5 to 5 gallon is fine for a male Betta. Smaller is too cramped and larger is a waste of space if he's going to be the only fish.

My crowntail seems pretty happy with his halfmoon 3.5g as well. Got a nice big cave with many openings he explores. Also is in the main room on a bookshelf so he can watch everyone as we go about our business!!

 

5-gallon minimum IMO. Any smaller is tiny, no space. However, I'd never ever recommended anything smaller than 3-gallons.

 

I think if I put my plakat in anything smaller than the 20 long he is in right now, he would not be nearly as happy. It's him and 12 nerites snails. He swims in every corner of the tank and is almost always moving. The only issue I have with this tank is finding the perfect plants I want, so it does look bare from time to time but the water sprite that is in there now seems like it's growing at a decent rate.
My halfmoon was in the same tank for the last half of his life. Though he didn't go through some of the decor, he still swam quite a bit. I used large, silk plants back then and lots of them so it was like a jungle. He seemed pretty happy as well.
Before I had the 12 nerites, I had 3 and only did water changes once a month. Now that I have a lot of snails I will be doing water changes every two weeks until the plants really take over. I don't feel obligated to be on a strict schedule and I take comfort that if I had to, I could leave town for a week or two and not have to worry about someone cleaning the tank.

 

Whether someone thinks a betta should be in a 5 gallon minimum or 10 gallon minimum is perfectly fine with me. What I don’t get is somebody saying anything less than that for a single betta is hard to do. Keeping water parameters stable in a 2.5g with a single fish is not difficult. I don’t know where people get the idea that smaller aquariums are harder to maintain. In fact, I’d say it’s easier than my larger aquariums. A water change takes less than 5 minutes.

 

Whether someone thinks a betta should be in a 5 gallon minimum or 10 gallon minimum is perfectly fine with me. What I don’t get is somebody saying anything less than that for a single betta is hard to do. Keeping water parameters stable in a 2.5g with a single fish is not difficult. I don’t know where people get the idea that smaller aquariums are harder to maintain. In fact, I’d say it’s easier than my larger aquariums. A water change takes less than 5 minutes.

I agree, they are easier to work with. I have no fancy equipment for water changes. I just have 2 one gallon jugs and a length of standard airline tubing. I turn the filter and heater off with the inline switches I put in the cords. I start the siphoning into one jug and then fill the other one from the kitchen sink tap making sure the temperature feels about the same, and add my TopFin dechlorinator. Then go back to the tank where the siphoning still has a little to go, wait until the jug is full, pull the tubing from the tank, and slowly add the new water, straining it through my net. Then I turn the filter and heater back on and the whole job is done in about 10 minutes or less.

The only time I can see it being harder is if something dies and you don't see it before an ammonia spike happens. It can build up faster in a small tank. Once things are stable though, maintenance is very easy. I'd like to have a bigger tank like a 50 gallon but I don't relish doing 10 gallon water changes every week or so. That's like work and I'm retired.

 

I have various tank sizes... 2, 3, 3.5, 5, and 14 gallons. Ironically thus far the smaller tanks in my situation have had the longest life spans but that could just be because the fish are survivors I wouldn’t personally go under 2 gallons, one day maybe I will have a fish room and space won’t be an issue!

 

For goodness sake, do not scream at me, but I have a baby male I keep in a little one gallon. I had him in a five gallon and he seemed so lost, and I was cleaning it, so I put him in the one gallon and he became much happier. But I am extremely careful about keeping it stable.
But, he also is small and has little interest in exploring his tank, and more interest I interacting with what is outside his tank. (I give him lots of attention) My seven months old Betta, sir Lancelot (who dies last week, rest in peace) was a big male who lived in a ten gallon community tank. And he was so happy. So in my experience every fish has its own preference. But you must remember the smaller the tank, the harder it can be to keep it stable

 

My first two lived for 3 years with me (they were about 6months and 1.5years when we got them ) in 2.5gallon each with filter and heater. 100% water changes

This time I got two 5gallons. I have lost two Bettas in a short time as one was old when we got him and both had severe finrot and fin melt when I got them

Now we just have Niko and I was going to upgrade him to a 17.7gallon but with his tail he may struggle with that from what I’ve read. And I was running into filter issues as my current ones wouldn’t work on it.
So I did a 360 and decided I’m happy with my 5gallons

 

3gallon is my limit for bettas. Unless it a baby betta. But I also agree with Leah SH.

 

I don’t know where everyone is from, but here in the U.S. 2.5g is what’s normally sold. I guess you can call it our 3g. But hey, it’s only .5g less.

 

Bettas are big fish. Well, they’re not sharks, but they’re a good 2 1/2”. They are also intelligent (as far as fish go). They like to explore and need exercise and enrichment. They aren’t lazy, they are active and 5 gallons is MINIMUM IMO. In Germany the minimum is 10 gallons. In Britain it’s highly debated but 5 is generally agreed upon. A trend I’ve noticed is that when an animal becomes popular, people try to justify putting it in a small space. A good example of this is with the crested gecko. Gargoyle and crested geckos have the same care, they’re the same size, and are just as active as each other. Crested geckos are all the rage right now while gargoyles are on the side lines. The (American) minimum for a crested gecko is 10 gallons. For a gargoyle it’s 20. (The minimum for either species is 30 gallons for me) Ya see what I mean? not right. Some people have success with it, and I’m fine with that, everyone has their own ways, but I think for the animal’s well-being we should rethink our tank sizes.

 

For goodness sake, do not scream at me, but I have a baby male I keep in a little one gallon. I had him in a five gallon and he seemed so lost, and I was cleaning it, so I put him in the one gallon and he became much happier. But I am extremely careful about keeping it stable.
But, he also is small and has little interest in exploring his tank, and more interest I interacting with what is outside his tank. (I give him lots of attention) My seven months old Betta, sir Lancelot (who dies last week, rest in peace) was a big male who lived in a ten gallon community tank. And he was so happy. So in my experience every fish has its own preference. But you must remember the smaller the tank, the harder it can be to keep it stable

I agree with the baby bettas that smaller might be better at first. With my first two I started them in a tank about 1-2 gallons and then moved to bigger as they grew. I still have them and they are doing great. However the last two babies I attempted to raise I put in a 3.5 and a 5 because I started to feel bad about the smaller tank ....well they both have since passed. It was hard to monitor them and see what they were eating because they were so tiny. With the small tank there is less room for food and excess waste to hide and it also keeps me doing very regular water changes...I can also use a smaller filter that's not too powerful for the betta to swim but still cleans and cycles that water....so its ideal for me. Once I see growth I will def change to a large space. I am contriving ways to get my next larger tank as we speak.

scarface I assume you mean 2.5 for standard long aquariums? There are 3, 3.5, and 4 gallons in other shapes hexagon, round, halfmoon

We could start debating tank shapes next

 

I hate hexagon and bowfront / halfmoon tanks! The only type my bettas live in are standards, though I do have a 2 gallon cube, but it's not currently being used.

 

Okay, I think this all really depends on the betta, like, I know some bettas would honestly be better in smaller tanks (1.5) for other reasons (really old, really young) or if they’re disabled, ect. And I know I have had bettas that have been flat out scared of being in bigger tanks (I put a female in a 10gal and she hid 24/7 cause she didn’t know what to do with the space) and then I put her in a 5gal and she did really really well, so I think it depends on the betta really. Just doing whatever is best for the individual fish, cause they’re all different

 

I hate hexagon and bowfront / halfmoon tanks! The only type my bettas live in are standards, though I do have a 2 gallon cube, but it's not currently being used.

The only shape I don't like is fully circular. The bowfront does some things a standard doesn't. It makes the sides invisible when viewed from the front so I can't see either my heater or thermometer from the front. I like that. It also magnifies things the further from the front they are. It took a while to get used to it but now I kind of like it.

I like the more standard shaped 3.5 they have at PetSmart but for some unknown reason, they cost twice as much. I paid $19.99 for mine including the hood, light, and filter.

 

I find with all my tanks my bettas camp out in a favorite spot much of the time lol. The betta in my 14-15 gallon tall (I dunno it’s a weird tank yet to see one in store) he doesn’t utilize even half the tank. I don’t really have a preference or notice any big difference in shape. The 5 gallon long seems ideal for a betta I have one of those as well but I don’t have counter or any space for a bunch of those so I do have some round, hex, halfmoon tanks. I would like to try a rimless one day.

I hate hexagon and bowfront / halfmoon tanks! The only type my bettas live in are standards, though I do have a 2 gallon cube, but it's not currently being used.

What do you dislike about them?

 

I think Hexagon are awful. They don't usually have a big enough footprint IMO and I hate how some of the bowfront / halfmoon ones that I have seen magnify everything.

 

5 gallon minimum IMO. 2.5 just doesn't have the swimming space. Also harder to keep stable parameters. It's a puddle!

Agree with ya