I bought a beta last night..
I have a 3 gallon tank, it has light and a air tube.

My questions are these, do i need light or air for my beta to live? do i need to get something like a rock or anything for him to play in or hide behind or is a open tank with gravel and a fake plant ok. is sinking pellets or floating flakes a better choice of food. what are the best companions for betas and how many fish is too many for a 3 gallon tank.

i have had problems before with a beta, im just trying to do it right this time.

Thanks for any help,
Andrew

Hi there.

FYI, Betta doesn't need light or air tube to live i.e splenden, imbellis, pugnax - all the common species. It's good to have some dried leaves inside the tank to resemble it's natural environment. For pellets I think it's better to have floating type because you can scoop it out when it's not eaten so that it will not foul the water. It's not betta is a choosy eater. Another thing betta is not actually a shoaling fish i.e. the males don't group together and rather extremely hostile against other males and sometimes females can bully the smaller females to death. So keep you male betta in solitary. They are natural that way. You can keep alot of females together but make sure it's not too crowded and have plenty leaves for them to hide.

Betta i.e. splenden, imbellis and pugnax are rather low maintenance fish depending on which region you are in making it easy for beginners to keep. Just make sure the betta you bought is healthy and feed properly, it'll do just fine. Don't overfeed because the leftovers will foul the water and breed bacterias in it that cause sickness to your betta. Other than that, you should do just fine.

galactuz,
I would like to correct a bit with what you said. Splenden, imbellis and pugnax consider as wild betta. Although they are surviving in small stream or just a swamp which with rich oxygen. But do provide the air is good. But prefer to have the small or slow air bubble. Hang on back filter or internal filter is the best choice. My pugnax was bred several time in extra air bubble provided.
Unless you are keeping the Half Moon or Crown Tail which bred by the home/farm breeder which they nvr use air bubble.

Beside that, the dried leaves you said... Not all the tree/plant leaf can be used for fishes. Some poisoning dried leaves might kill your fishes. Or some plants was sprayed by some fertilizer or insects killer liquid. Those are poisoning to your fishes too.
The most useful and cheap tree leaf is the Ketapang tree which we called it as Indian Almond tree. Get the totally dried leaf. Wash it and place it inside the tank. You can cut it into smaller piece or dump the whole piece. it is depends on your tank side. And this magic leaf will create the nature black water for your fishes.

Haha Dom,

Lazy to write as much now........

Normally I just sweep the dried leaves from my garden and pick a couple of broader ones to put into the half cut Coke bottle which are housing the Dragon males got from Kev. Been trying to DIY some tanks with acrylic but holiday season always got some distraction. They seems to be hungry all the time, always greeting me whenever I pass over them.

Huh Pugnax so delicate meh? I remember catching them in lotus swamps, stagnated ponds without flowing waters.

BTW Isn't our PK variation is from pure Splenden, mixed betwen Splenden and Imbellis and mixed with the Cambodian Red (forgot the scientific name)?

Sorry bro BIG10DEW. No harm intended. I guess people should be at least aware/think logically when putting anything into their tanks. I always assume too much. What to do, my job is so technical. Everyday calculating something and put all the assumptions in. Most of our science variables are assumptions what......

Dom,
Know where i can catch pugnax at Klang Valley area??
Thanks

drainman, i already gave you the tip in other thread. go n check.

Big10Drew -

I've found that my betta likes a cloth plant I put in there. He will go and sit on it with just his tail hanging out for hours and absolutely loves it. I have personally never heard of the leaf that Dom was talking about, and I suppose it's because I am in the US, so, as long as you keep it clean, I imagine that the artificial plants would do just fine. Bettas do like to be entertained in their tanks.
Before getting some (if any) tankmates for your (I assume) male betta, observe it and make sure it is eating properly and enjoying its time in your tank. The reason I said this is because I have a betta that thrashes around violently any time you put something (or someone) near his bowl. He prefers the solitary life, as opposed to another male I have who is docile and never displays. Just try to get a grasp on your little one's personality. And be mindful of what types of fish go well with bettas. Definitely do *not* put fancy guppies in there, or anything with a flashy or flowy tail, as bettas get "tail envy", and will attack it. Anything that likes to nibble, also, shouldn't be put with the betta, or you will end up with one very poor-looking tail on your new pet.

I guess that's all I have to say! ^_^ Good luck with him!

Those indian almond leaf selling like USD3 per leaf if i am not mistaken. You can try to search on ebay or yahoo. But in Asia...this type of tree can be found almost every where at the road side.