Betta fish questions

[yakitori]

I am planning on asking my science teacher

I would also sign up on a fish keeping community and double check what you science teacher tells you

 

[black_cat]

I would also sign up on a fish keeping community and double check what you science teacher tells you

I am planning on listening to what she tells me, then getting a water test kit, testing the water, and posting the results on fish forum. I can ask how it should be changed for a betta.

 

[yakitori]

I am planning on listening to what she tells me, then getting a water test kit, testing the water, and posting the results on fish forum. I can ask how it should be changed for a betta.

Hopefully your water isn’t too hard. Unless it’s insanely hard water, I personally wouldn’t mess with it. While I’ve had fish keeping associates with a breeding program who did this for wild bettas, fish caught from the wild and shrimp, I’ve personally never heard of this being done for betta splendens, they are extremely hardy fish. But on the other hand, I guess it’s a good learning experience, and who knows, maybe you’ll fall into the rabbit hole of fish keeping!

 

[chickenn00b11]

I am planning on asking my science teacher, who has several large fish tanks, about the water that we have (school and my house have same water source) and how she changes up the ph, kh, and gh.

PH is not a big concern with betta fish, but wild bettas were found in lower ph. As for kh and gh, as long as it isn't absurdly high, it should be fine.

 

[chickenn00b11]

@black_cat check out this site. It's an aquarium forum that is just super helpful. On there, I'm AcornTheBetta. https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/

 

[yakitori]

If you want to go into playing with water conditions, I think one of the wild betta species in a black water tank could be an interesting way to go. I never got into wild bettas myself, but did experiment with blackwater tanks for a bit.

Maybe one of these...?
https://www.aquariadise.com/wild-betta-fish-9/

 

[SegiDream]

Umm, I never said you could ignore the ph. I said it was not the most important thing, meaning that you should get the hardness right before you start looking at ph. I don't know why you're getting so upset.

I'm not upset but you were quoting me to perpetuate contrary advice. I'd just rather OP is at least aware of the risk of adjusting it, and that it is fine not to make any adjustments at all if their parameters are acceptable. I've seen far too many beginners mess with ph/hardness and kill their fish pretty quickly. If the parameters are ph between 6.0-8.0 and gh below 268ppm, keep it simple, focus on keeping that steady instead of focusing on chasing a number and you'll have a happy healthy betta fish.

BTW adjusting water hardness can have an affect on pH. So if you're intentionally adjusting water hardness, you could potentially cause swings in pH which can be fatal. You can't ignore pH in favor of gh and just expect things to go well. You would need to know gh kh and ph to be fully aware of what you are doing when you intentionally try to change one or the other.

 

[black_cat]

If you want to go into playing with water conditions, I think one of the wild betta species in a black water tank could be an interesting way to go. I never got into wild bettas myself, but did experiment with blackwater tanks for a bit.

Maybe one of these...?
https://www.aquariadise.com/wild-betta-fish-9/

That looks interesting and I"ll give it a read, but I think I'll keep it simple for a first try

 

[black_cat]

So if you're intentionally adjusting water hardness, you could potentially cause swings in pH which can be fatal.

This tank would be set up long before the fish arrived. I don't think that I can kill a fish that isn't in the tank with a pH swing. Fish would not come until tank is cycled, plants are set up, and all water properties are at the proper levels. I understand that they relate to each other, but I also want to make clear that I don't need to worry about killing a fish as I will not be adding one until everything is set up. I would rather spend time messing around with the adjustments to make sure that everything is the right level than not messing with them at all when they are improper.

 

[chickenn00b11]

@black_cat I would suggest you get a Halfmoon Plakat (HMPK) betta since they don't have the fin problems that the longfin ones have. They are less prone to fin rot and can swim properly. Plus, they come in very cool colors such as Koi HMPK.