Ever owned a betta?

[Coruscate]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siamese_fighting_fish

^_^

I love bettas, and have had them since my first aquarium that I had around 10. I try to keep them in at least a gallon of water, the bigger the better. I don't think it's human to expect bettas to live in those tiny cup tanks that are sold all over the place. And even though bettas can survive with minimum to no filtration, I always keep my tanks filtered. If for no other reason, it keeps the smell down to non existant.

I've owned... oh... about 8-10 of them so far in my roughly 20 years of being a fish keeper.

My new one is a dark blue, lavendar spotted male with curling fins, which are pretty neat. I have him in a Whisper 2.5 gallon aquarium by himself with a plant bulb at the moment. I may add a neon tetra or guppy or two just so his mind will be kept a bit busy.

[Mitera Nikkou]

Coincidentally, the family that used to live here had one and I ended up taking care of it. When I found it in its fishbowl (class variety and size) in the bathroom, other than wondering why it was there of all places, I wondered if it was okay without filtration.

It was alright. If nothing it was alright in that it didn't die when I had those kind of days on the toilet. XD;;

[Stellar]

I have a beta, his name is Tetsu, for beautiful, I think >.>

He's in a 10 gallon tank with a filter a light, a little 'no fishing' sign, a fake plant, and some.. little.. ledge thingy that sticks to the side of the fishtank.

There use to be 4 other little fishies in there with him... But... He ate them >.>

[Coruscate]

Were they long tailed fish or fish his size? That will make a betta more aggressive. Some get used to other fish, and others just never let off of the aggression. I had a super aggressive femal betta (they're supposed to be calmer) that just thrashed everything in the tank.

If you want some activity on the cheap, consider getting some feeder guppies.

You could also try some small neon tetras, which isn't cheap but they're school fish so they will dart with each other.

[Mistress Guendolen]

I personally didn't have one, but one of my college roommates did, so I shared living quarters with one for several months. His name was Quatre, after the Gundam Wing character.

[ProphetKing]

I had one at some point, but I really can't remember what happened to him. *glances at the empty fishbowl beside the desk* Hehe . . .yeah. I have two angels now, though.

[Mitera Nikkou]

Which reminds me... There was a snail or something with the betta. And the betta eventually killed it. ^_^;

[Anamnesis]

I had a goldfish once....and it died in like, tewo hours><
I'm not very responsible XD

[Stellar]

Were they long tailed fish or fish his size? That will make a betta more aggressive. Some get used to other fish, and others just never let off of the aggression. I had a super aggressive femal betta (they're supposed to be calmer) that just thrashed everything in the tank.

If you want some activity on the cheap, consider getting some feeder guppies.

You could also try some small neon tetras, which isn't cheap but they're school fish so they will dart with each other.

Yea, they were tetras, at first he was okay with them, he just chased them now and then, then one day I came home and one was dead... then the next day another... and so on... till all 4 were gone.

So, once Tetsu goes the way of the dinosaurs (he's 18 months old XD), I'm gonna set up the tank with the tetras first, then once they settle in after a few days I'll try adding another beta.

I figure, maybe Tetsu is just use to being alone since I tried adding tetras several months after I got him.

[Coruscate]

SH: They may have died of natural causes. Did you change too much water at once? Some fish are super sensitive to water changes. I killed two bala sharks I had by changing 30% of the water one day.

PK: He might have jumped out, bettas will do that which (as many other fish) is why you always want a cover of some kind on the lid. They sometimes find mates by hopping-flopping from one mud puddle to another.

OWS: Two hours? Sounds like the fish was sick to begin with. Goldfish are five times dirtier than a normal fish though. For a normal fish, you want about one inch of fish per gallon of water. So if you have five gallons, four 1 1/4 fish is fine. But for a goldfish, you want about five gallons for fish. I seriously doubt you did it though unless you totally forgot to dechlorinate the water you put it into, or you added it to the tank too quickly. You know to float a new fish in the bag in the water for at least fifteen minutes before you let it loose? Unless you forgot or didn't know those last two things, I doubt you killed it.

[Stellar]

No, I know Tetsu ate them cause their fins, eyes and.. guts .. were gone >.<

[Coruscate]

He might have just helped himself after they were dead. Fish frequenly eat fish carcasses. If you didn't observe aggressive behavior before they died, that might be the case. He may have just snacked on the carcas of one and decided to kill the other though, it is possible.