Betta splendens biotope

Hey guys, so following the thread where I said my rummy noses were attacking betta etc, I figured out best option was removing betta from community tank. So I decided to give this guy end to his suffering by building him a biotope. As close to reality as possible. I have read a lot about it and, I'm gonna try my best to replicate his natural habitat in my spare 5 gallon tank. Gonna put some driftwood, rocks, live plants and a lot of leaves for tanins. Now question, should he have some tankmates? I'm thinking snails and shrimp, but does he tolerate any fish at all? Some from his natural habitat? Like kuhlI loaches? Rasboras? Then what kind of shrimp and snail is more suited for such biotope? Ive read ideal ph is 7 but in such brown colored waters where they're from, how come it's not acidic?! Thanks

 

In a 5 gallon I wouldn't personally suggest any other fish tank mates but snails or shrimp should be ok. Depending on his personality he may or may not like the shrimp though. I find snails seems to be the best bet for bettas.

 

The only creatures that bettas are interested in are humans. I'd move the tank next to your armchair. You're the only tankmate he'd be interested in!

 

Yeah thought so, even kuhlI loaches can get too big for that tank. I guess I'll go with shrimp and snails. On the community tank sometimes he chases shrimp adults, so I suppose he's gonna eat baby shrimp. Which is fine. Provides him with some hunting natural behavior and a healthy snack once in a while, same for snails, the ones I'll be using is ramshorn as they're over populating my community tank, I'll get some in the 5g, I heard bettas eat the baby snails, which I'm perfectly fine with. I also plan on putting some guppy fry from time to time to keep him entertained hunting.
So hopefully he can relax and be finally happy. He seems extremely stressed out in the community tank. Hopefully he won't get bored or unhappy and thrive on the new tank. What about ph? Am I right on it being acidic? With all the decomposing organic matter..
And yeah this tank is going to stay in my bedroom so I suppose I'm gonna be his tank mate

 

I think that whatever you end up doing, will be the right thing. You're putting the fish first and you'll be a great tank mate! Re the pH, I don't know. My tap water pH is 8.2 and I panicked when I found out. I do nothing about it though, because every fish within hundred of miles of me has the same pH!

 

I think that whatever you end up doing, will be the right thing. You're putting the fish first and you'll be a great tank mate! Re the pH, I don't know. My tap water pH is 8.2 and I panicked when I found out. I do nothing about it though, because every fish within hundred of miles of me has the same pH!

Thanks! I try to. This poor guy has suffered enough. I'm not even sure it's the best option but hes being fin nipped at the community tank constantly. I don't wanna return him to the shop to be trapped in a small cup again. The only person I know that has an aquarium has another male betta so this leaves me with my spare 5g. I'm sure he'll be happier there though for now anyway. When I upgrade the community tank to a 50 gallon he can have the 20 gallon all for himself. When I get my salary by the end of the month I'll buy the stuff and build him his own tank, I'll add cicled filter and cicled lava rocks so I can add him immediately.

 

So on this fine Christmas morning while everyone was asleep, I went turn on the lights to see the betta stressed again. I got tired of waiting for my salary and I went into the Wilderness and look for a similar habitat, here in Portugal. Collected these materials. Almost ready in a couple days it should be done just need to sterilize all of this. I'll post the final product then