Filtration

[Craydaddy]

Hi guys, I rescued a couple bettas yesterday and I know nothing about them to be honest. They are in a ten gallon with two bleeding hearts and two black fins. The tetras have nipped most of their fins right off.
I am trying to get rid of the tetras ASAP and recuperate the bettas for resale. My question is, can bettas even be in an aquarium with filtration? I read somewhere that fighting the current tires them out and makes them fragile, is there any truth to this?

[RichardB]

Hi guys, I rescued a couple bettas yesterday and I know nothing about them to be honest. They are in a ten gallon with two bleeding hearts and two black fins. The tetras have nipped most of their fins right off.
I am trying to get rid of the tetras ASAP and recuperate the bettas for resale. My question is, can bettas even be in an aquarium with filtration? I read somewhere that fighting the current tires them out and makes them fragile, is there any truth to this?
That is somewhat true, bettas come from rice paddies where there is little to almost no flow.
With their fancy fins and need to breathe air, its better to not have too much current in the tank.

[kimert3]

All of mine are in filtered tanks. I just block the flow a little with an aquarium sponge or most of mine have adjustable flows. Are they in the tank together? They are probably just trying to kill each other which is causing the fin loss.

[greeneyed]

Unless it is 2 females, bettas shouldn't be housed together.

You can use a sponge filter.

Lots of fake plats will help.
Sometimes they will just lounge on the plants making you think they are dead.

[Craydaddy]

oh ok, there is one male and one female. Bad mix?

[kimert3]

Unless you want hundreds of betta fry I wouldn't advise it. They will most likely kill each other in a 10 gallon anyway. They can sometimes coexist in large tanks with lots of plants and hiding places but it would just be best to separate them.

[Coppermoon]

I agree with Kimert3....the male will probably kill the female (I have purchased male PLAKATs from Walmart that were marked as female).

I seriously doubt you will have to worry about babies in a tank with filtration. My Show Betta will NOT breed if I have even sponge filters running. The tank has to be perfectly still for mine to breed.

Betta really don't need filters, but the do need water changes with out filtration. You can divide the 10g and add live plants to the tank. The plants help with the water. Change the water 1/2 weekly. Also add aquarium/rock salt to the tank (1 tbsp per 5g)...they need to be acclimated to the "salted" water...

I have successfully kept 1 male in my sorority tank, but that was a 55g planted tank.

Good luck with the Betta!!!

Lori
Lone Star Bettas (Find us on FaceBook)