Fish Lovers 3.0 [new poll]

[PeachFuzz]

how many gallons minimum should be provided for a giant/king betta?

Are you referring to the bettas they call "kings" at Petco? I'd say 5 gallons as a minimum.

Not at petco, no. But isn't 5 gals what's required for a regular betta?

Are you wanting a king/half-giant or a giant?
There's a lot of debate about minimum tank sizes. For beginners I recommend 5 gallon for regular betta splendens, 10 being even better, simply because larger tanks are easier to maintain. For more experienced fish keepers it comes down to the individual betta's needs and how much time the keeper is willing to put in for maintenance. I say 5 gallons for half-giants because they are bigger which means they produce more waste and since they don't have heavy/long fins weighing them down they tend to be strong swimmers and benefit from a good amount of swimming space.

[rose;]

I'm not a beginner keeper, I've been keeping bettas for about two years now. I had always thought for a regular betta splenden recommended tank size was 5 gal, even for ones with long, heavy fins that didn't swim much. The ones I found for sale were labeled giant (this is from a reputable betta breeder). I thought kings and giants were the same, so that's my fault

[PeachFuzz]

I'm not a beginner keeper, I've been keeping bettas for about two years now. I had always thought for a regular betta splenden recommended tank size was 5 gal, even for ones with long, heavy fins that didn't swim much. The ones I found for sale were labeled giant (this is from a reputable betta breeder). I thought kings and giants were the same, so that's my fault

I know, I wasn't saying you are! Like I said, there's a lot of debate. There are lots of people who recommend 5 gallons as the minimum, others who recommend 2.5, others who recommend 10, etc. I have yet to find a reasonable basis for the 5 gallon recommendation for experienced keepers so I don't use it. Different bettas have different tank needs for all sorts of reasons — finnage, disabilities, age, etc.
I don't have any experience with true giants so unfortunately I can't give you a recommendation.

[rose;]

Ah, ok. I guess I've used 2.5 gallons so far because I've had very slow moving, long finned bettas so far, but I have a 10 g I'm planning to split and plant this sumber so I can have fish in the house again. Ill have to ask to get a better size ref in a pic or something to see, the giants looks considerably bigger but I can't tell quite just how much bigger in the pics I'm looking at

[Naeco]

FINALLY, was able to get pictures of my pleco. I have no clue what kind he is and wanted to know to make sure he is doing okay.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPFkdnEBPQd ... .dog&hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPFkZTvhvC7 ... .dog&hl=en

[jayus]

Ah, ok. I guess I've used 2.5 gallons so far because I've had very slow moving, long finned bettas so far, but I have a 10 g I'm planning to split and plant this sumber so I can have fish in the house again. Ill have to ask to get a better size ref in a pic or something to see, the giants looks considerably bigger but I can't tell quite just how much bigger in the pics I'm looking at

Normal female next to a giant.
Normal female next to another giant.

[Autumnlp99]

guys I'm going to cry omg
My iguana got out of his room and decided to take a dump in one of my fish tanks, if you know iguanas you'll know that their poop as a whole is nowhere near solid besides the poop itself, bundles of mucus and white stuff come out white stuff come out with it, best way I could describe it is bird poop just ten times bigger
He apparently unplugged the filter in the tank too, and I've taken the betta and guppies out of it and drained it and refilled it already, but I'm pretty sure all the good bacteria is dead bc the filter was unplugged for a few hours, aaa frackin giant poopy lizard messin things up again omg
I don't know what I'm going to do, maybe buy some of that instant like cycle bacteria or something

[PeachFuzz]

guys I'm going to cry omg
My iguana got out of his room and decided to take a dump in one of my fish tanks, if you know iguanas you'll know that their poop as a whole is nowhere near solid besides the poop itself, bundles of mucus and white stuff come out white stuff come out with it, best way I could describe it is bird poop just ten times bigger
He apparently unplugged the filter in the tank too, and I've taken the betta and guppies out of it and drained it and refilled it already, but I'm pretty sure all the good bacteria is dead bc the filter was unplugged for a few hours, aaa frackin giant poopy lizard messin things up again omg
I don't know what I'm going to do, maybe buy some of that instant like cycle bacteria or something

If you have another healthy, cycled tank you could move some filter media over from there. That would create an instant cycle.

[adelphi prime.]

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. :c Unfortunately, if he's starting to pinecone (scales sticking out) there's very likely nothing you can do. I've personally never seen a fish get better after getting to that point. Dropsy is a build-up of fluid in the organs usually caused by an internal bacterial infection. Once the scales begin to pinecone the fish is usually experiencing organ failure. Since we can't give a fish an organ transplant like we would with a person, there's nothing that can be done for organ failure.

No one can make the decision for you but when a fish reaches that point I personally believe the kindest thing is to put them down. The chances of recovery are so slim that I don't think it's worth the suffering.

I put him down. He was just in too much pain and it looked like blood was welling up from beneath his scales. I'm honestly surprised he lasted as long as he did saying as he was from a home who had kept him in the 29 gallon tank but with 9 other goldfish and an owner who didn't know the first thing about how to care for them. He had a good life for what it's worth, even if it was only for 1 1/5 years to 2 years (not sure how long the former owner had had them, but I adopted him from them on March 31st, 2016). I'm a bad owner in that I pick favorites among my fish... and he was my favorite. I'll miss him so much.

[Kat]

Hey guys. So, I've always wanted a snail for my betta tank, but I've never really gotten around to it. Well, today I ended up with a Bladder snail (I think). I know that these are considered "pest" snails, but I'm wondering if they are really as bad as people have made them out to be. Since it's just one snail, would it really be harmful to keep and will there be any benefits at all?

Should I quarantine him, and how long?

He would most likely be living in a heated and filtered 10 gallon with my female crowntail, if I were to keep him. This is the tank to be specific. I've also taken some pictures of the snail, but I haven't yet uploaded them.