I Need Opinion For Moving My Betta To A Larger Tank...

I need some gentle opinions --- I'm getting ready to upgrade my Betta's tank ... a little bigger space with a bit more to entertain him. I've had "Ao" for a year now, the only fish I've named. He's a genetic mess with several deformities ... he's a Blue Veil Tail with one side of his body strangely smaller, he's a real Nemo ---

Anyway, that's Ao.

The reason for this post: I need to move him into a new tank, but I cannot setup his new tank until he's out of the old tank (I need the space his current tank is in for his new digs).

Therefore, I have to make a choice and I need some thoughts. I understand Betta's can be temperamental about tank mates. Ao originally shared a tank with both Shrimp and Snails then one day he offed all but one shrimp and one of the snails, it was like a switch flipped. Keeping this in mind here are the options I pose -- if you have another idea, lemme have it.

(1) I can move Ao into a 5.5 gallon tank that currently has 6 wild green neons and a peacock gudgeon ... the tank would be biologically overloaded for a very short period of time - but it would only be for about a week (setup time for Ao's new dig). The 5.5 is something of a jungle, with surface vegetation and several C. Spiralis plants.

(2) I can quickly setup a 1 gallon fish bowl with Ao's heater and lone Sword plant ... it would be very small and cramped ...

What are your thoughts?

 

I would go with option two. Option one would end up with severe overstocking and could crash your cycle.

 

If it is purely temporary, though very small, the gallon tank would be okay in my opinion as long as you change his water every 3 days-ish. I think it would be safer for the other fish you have, and likely less stressful on Ao (great name!) He'll be lacking space and entertainment, but I've also had to do something similar when changing tank setups. It's easier on everyone. You could also, given enough space, keep him in a nursery net in the larger tank so he was safe from the other fish and visa versa. I would not advise such a setup for longer than a week, of course. Adding stress Coat as the water conditioner and possibly a bit of bacteria could help keep conditions more optimal for him. The plant will give him a bit to do. Either way there is obvious risk, but I'd say in my own opinion and experience that the one gallon tank or nursery net would be the cautious way to go.

 

Thanks for your insight.

Honestly, I was already leaning toward the fish-bowl.

I do have a 2.6 gallon spec III tank ... setup and cycled, but it's home to some blue-velvet shrimp. I am not considering that tank as an option, given Ao's previous history with shrimp.

 

yeah its better to go with the bowl since it would be safer and healthier for all of them since it is only temporary