Im Interested in becoming a Betta owner, I have some questions though:

Hello,
So I'm a college student looking to get a small betta tank for my dorm room but I want to make sure I do everything right. I have done some research but I still have some questions.

1. Is buying an all in one set up a good idea or is building a simple set up myself a better idea? It seems pretty straightforward and likely to save a little money but being a newbie I don't want to get in over my head. Cost is a pretty big factor being as I am a college student.

2. Is buying form a chain pets store (i.e. Petsmart or Petco) a bad idea. My dad had a salt water aquarium for a while and always tried to avoid them. I was planning on getting most my stuff from one of those stores though.

3. I may have to bring the fish on car rides during long breaks and the summer. It's about a 4 hour ride from home to school. Would this overly stress/harm the fish? Itll probably have to ride 3-4 times a year at most.

Thanks for any help and be sure to leave and other suggestions that you might have for a newbi!

 

Answer to question 1: I have mainly bought a tank and everything else by it self I feel as is much cheaper (but that’s where I live‍♂️)

Answer to question 2: in my experience buying from large chains is cheaper but the fish don’t always live as long.

As for question three I can’t give you any help

Ps make sure he has places to hide and that the tank is at least 3 gallons

 

Hello,
So I'm a college student looking to get a small betta tank for my dorm room but I want to make sure I do everything right. I have done some research but I still have some questions.

1. Is buying an all in one set up a good idea or is building a simple set up myself a better idea? It seems pretty straightforward and likely to save a little money but being a newbie I don't want to get in over my head. Cost is a pretty big factor being as I am a college student.

2. Is buying form a chain pets store (i.e. Petsmart or Petco) a bad idea. My dad had a salt water aquarium for a while and always tried to avoid them. I was planning on getting most my stuff from one of those stores though.

3. I may have to bring the fish on car rides during long breaks and the summer. It's about a 4 hour ride from home to school. Would this overly stress/harm the fish? Itll probably have to ride 3-4 times a year at most.

Thanks for any help and be sure to leave and other suggestions that you might have for a newbi!

1. It depends on the setup. If you do do a setup, I recommend a Fluval Spec V or Fluval Edge. Also make sure you look up the maximum tank size you can have in your dorm.

2. It depends on the chain. Typically I avoid purchasing fish there because they seem to have more health issues related to inbreeding even at locations where the fish are kept well. I do like to buy the tube plants at PetSmart and Petco though because they are guaranteed snail free and I’ve had lots of success with them.

3. The car ride will be fine! I take my two tanks with me to and from home on a 3.5hr drive. I put the fish into cups (smoothy cups work well for this because you can put the fish in a cup holder), drain the water into a 5 gallon bucket, pad around decor with paper towels to keep it in the same spot, and cover plants with damp paper towels to keep them moist.






These are the two tanks I move frequently. The top one has more delicate plants and nano fish and everything is fine with the move.

 

As a full time college student, I get the budget factor! I would get a 3 gallon minimum for a betta. Petsmart has a 3 gallon tank that I really like: Top Fin® Indulge™ 3 Gallon Aquarium | fish Aquariums. Also could do this 5.5g: Top Fin® Essentials Aquarium Starter Kit | fish Starter Kits. Both come with pretty much the same thing, except the 5.5g has a thermometer too. I have experience with both these tanks and I have no complaints. All you would need is a heater, gravel, and a couple decorations. At petsmart you can price match at chewy, petco does not price match with them. I got a 30$ heater for 13$ thanks to the price match . Along with that water conditioner and food of course. You will need to do a 30% water change weekly for the 3 gallon and 20% weekly for the 5.5g. The car ride will be fine, lower the water level to less than half and make sure the car is not too cold. Mid 70s if you can handle that. Hope this helped you!

 

Sien I was shocked that living in the U.S. is really expensive for us living far away. I was thinking how on earth you fish keepers out there sustain and afford pricey equipment? Take note you also said you're a full time college student right now.
DemonicZeroYT where I live I think it's cheaper to buy it as a set but me I bought my tank and equipment one at a time ( I mean tank+filter then later I'll bought substrate+decoration then hoarding lots of decorations now for me to change the setup every time I do WC). I think that's cheaper if you start building it than buying it as a whole package since you can freely customize the tank as budget wise.
The_fishy Beautiful setup I love it!
Wesjohn1023
1. It really depends on your budget, space and what kind of fish you'll put in it, but if you can, don't thrift your self into buying small tank at least 3 to 5G if you can, but 2.5G for betta can also be an option if you really are on a tight budget.
2. If you feel that it's not worth to buy on there then look for another LFS.
3. As long as the container doesn't move so much and that the temperature isn't fluctuating rapidly then I think it's fine.