Fish Lovers 2.0

[King of Crows]

For experienced betta keepers...would you agree with me that a betta, despite being able to survive conditions involving no filter, heater, or room, are more happy and more healthy in a 2.5+ gallon tank with filtered water and a heater, if needed?

I keep having people try to tell me that their fish are happy in a super small space, and I just have trouble believing it. I kept my first betta, Bonsai, in a 1 gallon for most of his life, and even though it was filtered he kept getting horribly sick until I moved him into a 3 gallon, where he spent the last 3 years of his 6 year life.

I also keep running into people who think that, for example, a couple of weeks, is a long time for a betta to live. I've had all of my bettas live to be between 5 and 10 years, our oldest one being a blue veil tail that lived in a 30 gallon community tank and only died because we accidentally introduced TB to the tank, at 10 years old.

[vaska]

Username:SᴜɢᴀʀDᴜsᴛ;
How many tanks do you have: three, but ones a pond ouo
Type of fish that you have:Koi, gold fish, betta, Angel fish.
Your fish's names:Koi:Gajeel, Scarlet, Peter Parker, Ghost. Betta: Ferkle. Other fish, unnamed ;w;
How long have you had fish:As long as I can remember ouo
Also if you have pictures of you fish we would love to put a link to them next to your name! If you have a tank with a lot of fish you are welcome to just put a picture of your tank. Please do not post the pictures on the actual forum since they do take up space; just the link will do!
I'll try to take some ^-^

[clover.]

Perocore;; Definitely. ^^ My betta used to live in about a 2 gallon tank. And although that's not ridiculously small I suppose, I moved him into a 10 gallon and I can see a very big difference. He's much more active and overall happy.
And oh gosh, a couple of weeks? x.x I've had a total of six bettas in the past and they all lived to be around 4 years old. One lived just a little past 5. And considering they were all from my local walmart that treat their fish like crap, that's really good. Though, i'm sure they would've lived much longer lives if I was more educated about fish back then. xc

[Blood Storm]

For experienced betta keepers...would you agree with me that a betta, despite being able to survive conditions involving no filter, heater, or room, are more happy and more healthy in a 2.5+ gallon tank with filtered water and a heater, if needed?

I keep having people try to tell me that their fish are happy in a super small space, and I just have trouble believing it. I kept my first betta, Bonsai, in a 1 gallon for most of his life, and even though it was filtered he kept getting horribly sick until I moved him into a 3 gallon, where he spent the last 3 years of his 6 year life.

I also keep running into people who think that, for example, a couple of weeks, is a long time for a betta to live. I've had all of my bettas live to be between 5 and 10 years, our oldest one being a blue veil tail that lived in a 30 gallon community tank and only died because we accidentally introduced TB to the tank, at 10 years old.

This is true for most of them. I had a betta that would stop eating and chew his tail off if I moved him into anything bigger than his vase. He lived to be 5 years old and died of old age. Just like people every fish is different.

[Dappled Sapphire]

My dumbo HM is in a 8g tank
With a small sponge filter and a heater
Generally bettas live for 3 years
Before I had my current betta I had a veil tail in a bowl (I know horrible, my dad told me they only lived in puddles so he didn't need anything bigger and me being 12 belived him) he lived for about 12 months after I got him poor guy
My current betta I have had for about a year and a half now and he's much happier then the one I had when I was younger

[Nyxeva]

I have my betta guy in a heated and filtered ten gallon with two petricola cat fish, and all three of them are thriving! I couldn't imagine giving Sokolov anything smaller. He uses every inch of his current tank, I don't think he'd be happy in a smaller one.

[Gryffindor's Sword]

Agreed and every betta I've kept in a -2 gallon has gotten fun rot and its never been bad just annoying!

[.muse.]

I agree and disagree at the same time with the whole keeping bettas in a 2.5 or bigger.

I've had a couple of bettas that got stressed out when I moved them into a bigger space. Masuka stopped eating and started hiding when I moved him from a 1 gallon to a 2.5 that was filtered and heated. But when he was in his 1 gallon he was active and healthy.
When I was in middle school I had one that had the same issues, started in a small bowl and was completely fine, freaked out and started fin nipping in the 5 gallon we moved him to.

But then other bettas I've had did much better in a bigger space. One of my recently passed bettas used to go back and forth between his 2.5 gallon to my 55 gallon. He lived in the 2.5 but on water change days he'd go play in the 55 back when it was a tropical tank. I'd have just left him in the 55 but I was trying to raise up sword tail babies and he liked to terrorize the fry. He'd leave the juvies and adults alone, but the fry were too tempting a treat.

So it all depends on the fish really. But generally I'd agree that at the smallest a 2.5 with a filter and heater is the best route to go.

[zoocyte]

A typhoon hit my country a few days ago, we had no electricity and more than 5 black ghost knives died ;v; I mean, ALL of them because of the lack of oxygen
Fortunately the rest of our fish pulled through..

[meredithida]

A typhoon hit my country a few days ago, we had no electricity and more than 5 black ghost knives died ;v; I mean, ALL of them because of the lack of oxygen
Fortunately the rest of our fish pulled through..

That's so sad! I've had three ghost knives in the past and I just love them! I'm so sorry you lost your fish!