Advice for a converted betta owner.
 

I've had my betta for almost 1 1/2 years now, keeping him in a 1-2 gallon tank, with no heating or filter other than quite regular changes. I know it's terrible, but the cold winter months are beckoning and made me realise I have to change my ways.

Basically, I would like people to recommend a decent set up for my betta. Bear in mind, I don't want to spend a much money on the setup. I was thinking about the £20 mark, if that is a realistic aim. I'm in the UK btw, so links to good online shops, or other places where I can find cheap equipment would be great.

Thanks in advance!

Howdy UK! Is it cold & rainy there yet? :-)
Your betta will appreciate the change that's for sure. What I'd do is get a USED 10 gallon (~45 liters) fish tank with live plants that cover a good 1/3 to 2/3 of the tank and add a little in tank pump to it.

Check you local papers for used tank sales. Unfortunately I can't be of any help with UK links, been too long since I was living there.

Thanks to Googel, try look if there's anything in your area here
Tanks & Equipment : Aquarist Classifieds Tanks & Equipment

Thanks for the swift reply! I'll be sure to check them links out now. What kind of wattage should a heater have for that size of tank?

It's freeeezing up here in the north of england, couldn't see anything yesterday because of a really thick fog. I love this weather, but i'm guessing tropical fish don't. haha

Craigslist is an awesome place to start. Another option is to find some British aquarium forums-- they will have classifieds for areas all over Britain. A good one is fishforums dot net. A British forum will also become a good resource as far as recommendations for medications, equipment, etc.

You will need something at least 2 USG or larger. As far as heating goes, you are looking at 5 watts per every US gallon, so a 5g tank would need a 25w heater, a 10g would need a 50w heater and so forth.

To decide on tank size, you will need to think about how often you want to be cleaning it. This will depend on whether you choose to 'cycle' your tank, ie establish a nitrogen cycle to detoxify waste products. Here is a rough rundown:


CYCLED

1.5g: 25% 3 times weekly
2g: 25% twice weekly
5g: 25% once a week
10g: 10% once a week or 25% once every 2 weeks.

UNCYCLED
1.5g: 100% 3 times weekly
2g: 100% twice a week
5g: 100% once a week
10g: 100% every 10 days.

The trend you will notice is that the bigger the tank, the less you need to clean it. Also, water parameters such as temperature, pH, etc will remain more stable in largr volumes of water. It is up to you to find the balance between how much space you want the tank to take up and how often you are prepared to clean it.

Good Luck!
-Kelly

Its true to say the larger the tank the easier, but a great deal of WHAT makes it easier for you will be live plants and havin been able to keep this thiny tank up & running for over 1 yrs now, any other tank will appear simple to you :-)
Just a low wattage heater will do just fine. I know England can get pretty cold, but I'm safly assuming your fish is in the house and I doubt your house inside drops to freezing temp's does it? So if you can keep the tank around 65-70F (~25C) then you're fine.

To be honest, bettas are classified as tropical fish and are best kept at temperatures of 78-82, as stated by many reputable resources. Anything much lower than that is inviting ich, a shortened lifespan and other conditions arising from a weakened immune system and lower metabolism. So unless you live in a greenhouse, it would be optimal to simply buy a heater. For best results, shoot for 80.


Plants will help, but unless you are running some intensive lighting and CO2, they shouldn't be relied on per se to reduce waste.

Sorry if it was misunderstood, I didn't advise to keep the fish with NO heat but the room temp, my bet if I worded it poorly.
You can find all betta here, so just read up on the one you have Knowledge Base - Seriously Fish

I have to disagree on the "running some intensive lighting and CO2", You'll find plenty of my tank pictures here and NON of them ran neither hardcore lights and definitly no CO2 and they were thriving great.

65 is room temp in my house lol! But for betta splendens, which is most likely what Moxon has managed to keep in a 1-2 gallon tank for so long, Seriously Fish states a minimum of 75.



But to make any dent in the nitrates you are looking at an intensive growth setup.

65....that is kinda cool ain't it!? :-)

Sorry I don't get what you're trying too say (maybe I need more coffee I donno)