fish suggestions for bowl

[quenton]

Originally Posted by test4echo

Then what are betta bowls for if you can't even put one in them?!!!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!???!!?!!!?!?!

A guess at where they came from? The LFS's have a problem displaying multiple betta's since they cannot put more than one male in one tank. So rather than have 20 or 30 5g tanks as they should (which would be somewhat impractical), they keep them in little thingies. Then of course someone sees them, wonders why they don't die and gets told that they breath air from surface so they don't need a lot of water. Said buyer then wants to buy one of those little bowls.

I can ALMOST get the LFS keeping them that way for a very short period of time, ALMOST but I cannot quite accept it. But they should not get sold to customers.

[Daveedka]

I can ALMOST get the LFS keeping them that way for a very short period of time, ALMOST but I cannot quite accept it. But they should not get sold to customers.

My favorite LFS here in columbus keeps theirs in rectangular tanks, I'm going to guess less than a gollan but far better than a little bowl. IMVHO it wouldn't cost much to house them a little better in the fish stores. I truly believe that most LFS employees really don't know the difference.

dave

[Gena575]

Going a little further off on a tangent here, but what are the thoughts on those little hang on the side betta keepers? I'd like them better if they were double the depth from front to back, but are they better or worse than the cups?

Edit: I'm not talking about for home aquaria, but for LFS display.

[Daveedka]

Going a little further off on a tangent here, but what are the thoughts on those little hang on the side betta keepers? I'd like them better if they were double the depth from front to back, but are they better or worse than the cups?

I think they are a much better idea than most for keeping beatta's.. They have vents that allow water exchange and more importantly ammonia exchange. Ammonia dissipates very rapidly in water, and does not need water movement to do so. with that in mind the Hang in tank idea is much safer for the fish. There is still the issue of cramped space, but at least the beatta is in decent water.

[Emg]

Originally Posted by Blinky

Here's a (side) picture of my 1g pico just to give you an idea, it was up and running for about a year before I gave it away. I fertilized the plants twice a week and used a 13W PC desk lamp, it was very easy to care for.

Nice little tank Blinky !! I would toss a few ghost shrimp in that tank for even more interest ! Fascinating little things they are....but, they do have the habit of jumping out of tanks when startled...so a lid would be a good idea for small tanks with ghost shrimp.



I know those little spheres your talking about Test....I really see no use for them at all except to maybe put a floating rose blossom in it. They're so incredibly small I have no idea what the person who designed it was thinking. As far as water changes in small tanks are concerned....not a big deal at all. Nothing like water changes in larger tanks.

I have quite a few smallish sized tanks with bettas in them...one gallon is the smallest I have...They are very easy to maintain and the fish do just fine in them as long as you are really good about keeping them clean. I keep the smaller tanks because I have quite a collection of bettas and no room for a bunch of larger tanks to keep them in.

If you need a smaller size tank for space reasons....I'd say nothing smaller than a one gallon, but the AllGlass 2 1/2 tanks are a better option if you have room for one of those. Walmart has a small heater that will work fine in one of those as well.

Here's a pic of one of my 2 1/2 tanks. That's the walmart heater I mentioned, it works fantastic...much better than the other jr heater they sell. Keeps the temp right at 78 all the time.


Also, one of my planted one gallons, just to give you an idea of what you can do with a little more space than one of those little spheres:


and another one gallon with silk plants:



If you have room and can afford at least a 2 1/2, it's really a much better option. There's so much more you can do and the bettas are much more interesting when they have a bit of room to move around...makes for a more enjoyable tank...for you...AND the betta !

[Dirk]

Originally Posted by test4echo

Then what are betta bowls for if you can't even put one in them?!!!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!???!!?!!!?!?!

It's even worse to try to keep a goldfish in a goldfish bowl.