Do I Need A Big Tank Right Away?

Hello! I have adopted my fish betta fish since I was a little kid, and I'm keeping him in a 1.77 gallon tank. He swims around in it, and he grew in size slightly and grew a longer tail since the two weeks ago I bought him. My home is around 70+ degrees F, so I don't have a heater yet, but I have a filter ordered for him. He swims around and eats but I'm wondering, does he really need a 2.5 tank so fast?

 

Holy **** my grammar is suffering, I haven't adopted a fish since I was a little kid**

 

Hello! I have adopted my fish betta fish since I was a little kid, and I'm keeping him in a 1.77 gallon tank. He swims around in it, and he grew in size slightly and grew a longer tail since the two weeks ago I bought him. My home is around 70+ degrees F, so I don't have a heater yet, but I have a filter ordered for him. He swims around and eats but I'm wondering, does he really need a 2.5 tank so fast?

They need 5 gallon+ tanks. Just because they can be lethargic doesn't mean they can live in small tanks.

 

Mhm, will he still be able to be happy if I keep him in there temporarily (around 1 month)?

 

HI there, welcome to the forum.

I agree with the person above that 5+ gal would be better if you are upgrading size and I would arrange this as soon as possible. I see you said 1 month, someone with more knowledge than me would be able to advise if he'll be ok for this long.

However I think you might have bigger problems for now than tank size. You have mentioned you have a filter on order for him, does he have any filtration at the moment and is your tank cycled? Are you treating the water with conditioners? And if it is uncycled, any BB supplement? Furthermore, do you know your water parameters? (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate). A pet shop usually tests this for you for free if you take some water in but even better would be API liquid test kit.

You also mentioned your home is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, I think a heater is really important as I think the minimum temp for betters is more up at 75 degrees Farenheit and they prefer around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. (Someone else can confirm this I do not yet have a better, hopefully in the future)

 

HI there, welcome to the forum.

I agree with the person above that 5+ gal would be better if you are upgrading size and I would arrange this as soon as possible. I see you said 1 month, someone with more knowledge than me would be able to advise if he'll be ok for this long.

However I think you might have bigger problems for now than tank size. You have mentioned you have a filter on order for him, does he have any filtration at the moment and is your tank cycled? Are you treating the water with conditioners? And if it is uncycled, any BB supplement? Furthermore, do you know your water parameters? (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate). A pet shop usually tests this for you for free if you take some water in but even better would be API liquid test kit.

You also mentioned your home is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, I think a heater is really important as I think the minimum temp for betters is more up at 75 degrees Farenheit and they prefer around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. (Someone else can confirm this I do not yet have a better, hopefully in the future)

My friend let me borrow her fish conditioner, so I put in enough drops, and since I don't have a filter yet, I have been doing more frequent water changes.I don't have a tester so I'm not aware.

 

That is great you're doing frequent water changes How often and what percentage of the water are you change? Are you dosing the water with conditioner when you put it back in the tank?

If you know, which water conditioner is it? I think Seachem Prime would be good in this situation, as it helps with nitrites as well as ammonia (some only treat ammonia, chlorine, chloramine and not nitrites).

Someone with more experience might be able to help you with tank size, but I think filtration, heating and keeping on top of water changes is going to be really important for your new pet.

 

I do around 50% in a few days

That is great you're doing frequent water changes How often and what percentage of the water are you change? Are you dosing the water with conditioner when you put it back in the tank?

If you know, which water conditioner is it? I think Seachem Prime would be good in this situation, as it helps with nitrites as well as ammonia (some only treat ammonia, chlorine, chloramine and not nitrites).

Someone with more experience might be able to help you with tank size, but I think filtration, heating and keeping on top of water changes is going to be really important for your new pet.

I do around 30-50% every 4-5 days or so. The conditioner is called Complete Water Conditioner and is from PetCo

 

I wouldn't keep a betta in anything less than a 2.5 gallon. (they are about 2 gallons after gravel etc,) Three of my tanks are 3.5 gallons. I also have two bettas in 5 gallon tanks but they are basically Aquagarden tanks that just happen to have a pooping betta in them. The last betta is in a 5 that is waiting to be divided. So I guess I'm saying "Yes". He really does need a 2.5 gallon that fast.

 

I wouldn't keep a betta in anything less than a 2.5 gallon. (they are about 2 gallons after gravel etc,) Three of my tanks are 3.5 gallons. I also have two bettas in 5 gallon tanks but they are basically Aquagarden tanks that just happen to have a pooping betta in them. The last betta is in a 5 that is waiting to be divided. So I guess I'm saying "Yes". He really does need a 2.5 gallon that fast.

I don't know if this is awful, but I've been keeping him in a bare bottomed tank, for an easier cleaning process.

 

I don't know if this is awful, but I've been keeping him in a bare bottomed tank, for an easier cleaning process.

Bare bottom is not a problem. You can still drop plants in to keep him more comfortable or a hiding place. They love cave type decor as long as there are no rough edges.(I have had to sand two of mine)

 

the bigger the tank , the faster the better, but In my opiniom bettas need a 5 gallon minimum.

I would do 30-40% water changes every other day , try getting yourself some PRIME by seachem it will allow ammonia and nitrite to be non toxic for a 24 hour period which you can dose the recommended amount daily.

A heater is very important and should be ordered asap, set the temp to 78-80f.

you could also consider getting a freshwater master test kit, so you don't always have to go to a petco to check your water parameters, which is very important once you get your filter.