I'm A New Betta Fish Owner . . .

[Andromeda Marina Jackson]

Hi, I'm Andromeda, and I'm a new Betta Fish owner.

I got my Betta Fish on Christmas 2015, and was very excited when I brought him home (His name is Poseidon). When I did, I put him in a five gallon tank with a heater, light, real and fake plants, and a little cave for him to hide in every now and then. I feed him his tropical fish flakes (small portions) twice a day, and Shrimp Brine once a week (Or should I feed him more?). So, yes, he has plenty of places to hide if he feels the need to.

But, I was wondering if I could put another fish in? Or was I already doing something wrong?

 

[xraycer]

Welcome to MFK, Raquelle!

It sounds like you're off to a great start. I hope the fish store recommended water conditioner to neutralize the chlorine found in city water. Chlorine is harmful to fish. If your water comes from a well, then no need for conditioner.

Like us, fish produce waste, but unfortunately fish can't simply flush their waste down the toilet like we can. The real plants will help with some of the harmful waste that will be building up in the water soon. However, you can provide healthy water for your fish by doing water changes. Water changes is simply removing a portion of the tank water and replacing it with fresh water from the tap. I recommend you do at least 1 water change per week, and remove/replace half the tank water every time you do this. Remember to use the water conditioner on the new water. Also, you want the new water to be fairly close in temperature to the tank water. You can do this by filling a bucket using a mixture of hot and cold water from the tap, then add the conditioner, then its ready to be added to the tank. Tank water should be set around 78 degrees.

In regards to adding more fish, I would advise you to keep just the single betta for now. Don't worry, he won't be lonely. Bettas prefer to be by themselves

I hope this help and just ask if you need more advices.

 

[Username.]

Agreed with above. Also it's coincidental that my bettas name is Neptune haha.

 

[overdrive]

You could probably add a mystery snail or two, or maybe a shrimp. These guys don't necessarily need company, but some of them can get bored and do better when there's a bit of movement in the tank.

 

[Warborg]

If you really want to add other fish it's ok but research really well what kind of fish to go with them. Stay away from any fin nipping fish and any fish that would outgrown a 5 gallon. It's also best to stay away from 'busy' fish...by this I mean fish that are always swimming such as danios and most barbs.