You Betta believe I need help

[Fishkeeper]

You should definitely look around on plantedtank.net or a similar site for info. Don't trust pet store advice, it's either misguided or intended to get you to buy things.

Your bettas are probably "mutts". Someone bred them without any color or design in mind.

You NEED a heater, unless you keep your house at 80 degrees. Bettas are extremely vulnerable to disease if not kept at proper temperatures. Aquarium thermometers are meant to be put in the tank with the heater, and will tell you what temperature the water is.

You need to get a water test kit and test the water. If there's any ammonia or nitrites, the tank isn't cycled. Look up "aquarium cycling" to see what I mean, and read about how to safely cycle a tank with fish in it.

Also, you need to be adding dechlorinator to your tap water, it's sold as "water conditioner".

Sand is good as a substrate, if you remove all the gravel. The gunk will settle on top of the sand and you can more easily vacuum it out.

The cloudiness in the water means you have a bacterial bloom, likely due to too many nutrients in the water. The bacteria are harmless but may indicate bad water conditions.

Also, you CANNOT keep bettas together. Domestic bettas were bred to fight before being bred for color. Females are less aggressive but will still stress and eventually fight each other. They are NOT community fish, they do NOT need or want friends, they need their own tanks. Betta "sororities" are extremely unstable and stressful for the fish involved, and will eventually break down and result in violence.

Each betta needs a tank of 5 gallons or more, they need room to swim. You must have a heater, you must have a thermometer to make sure the water stays at 78-80 degrees, and you must have a water test kit.

If you want other fish, you need a tank of at least 10 gallons. And, again, only one betta per tank.

My suggestion right now is to buy a 10 gallon tank and a heater, put a divider in it, and put one betta on each side of the divider.

Bettas can survive in a tank with low oxygen, but that doesn't mean you can keep them in a tiny tank with no room to swim. They are smart fish, they need to move, and they shouldn't have to spend all their time at the surface. They do need to gulp air from the surface now and then, though, be sure the water's surface isn't blocked.

Be sure there are no gaps in the lid, bettas jump.

Yes, bettas stay in one place at night. They sleep.

 

[centrarchid]

I had no idea the fish related was going on here. What is the OP's current status on this? Are we going to try to do a little breeding?

 

[Fishkeeper]

I don't think two female bettas in a small, un-cycled tank is going to result in any more bettas than 2.

 

[centrarchid]

It is a start. Looks like a conditioning tank. I would do a massive water change sourcing water from a cycled tank.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Water from a cycled tank doesn't have any of the useful bacteria. However, if OP has access to a cycled tank, filter media and/or gravel from that tank would be GREAT.

Also, live aquatic plants that have been grown in water, not grown on land. Any and all plants your pet shop carries and keeps in an aquarium will have the useful bacteria that you're trying to get.

Some shops sell bottled nitrifying bacteria, as well. Those are often expired if not fresh, but are worth a shot.

Absolute first priority here is a heater, since it's winter. Second priority, but still very high, is cycling the tank.

I'd also highly suggest trying to divide the tank in half. It's a shame to restrict their space even more, but probably less stressful for them than letting them get at each other.

 

[centrarchid]

Fish do not appear to be causing each other harm. More structure might be a way to enable lower ranking fish to avoid dominant.

 

[centrarchid]

I do not like using heaters on small tanks where room temperature fluctuates a lot. Either stabilize room temperature or use a larger tank with correspondingly sized heater.

 

[Fishkeeper]

The tank is a start. It's better than a bowl or those half-gallon monstrosities. It needs to be upgraded as soon as possible, though. OP, you can get rubbermaid tubs, or those clear plastic critter-keepers, as long as whatever you put them in is 5 gallons each. Petco has dollar-per-gallon sales fairly often.

I'd agree with a larger tank being easier to heat, however bettas need warm water, and I've never met someone who's inclined to heat their whole house to 80 degrees.

Domestic bettas are fighting fish. They are extremely territorial, and are aggressive. In a small space, they reach a standoff where they by and large leave each other alone. It's possible they're also young enough to not be territorial yet. However, if it's their age, that will change, and if it's a standoff, it causes both of them major stress. Domesticated bettas do not work in groups, and pairs are worse, since there are no other members to divert the dominant member's attention from the other one. They need to be separated as soon as possible before they do serious damage to each other, preferably into separate tanks, as the stress of being in a small space with each other will soon, if it's not already, start to impact their immune systems.


Symptoms of stress in bettas are listed below. Stress can be due to aggression, unsuitable temperatures, unsuitable water conditions, disease, or a mixture.
Dulled colors
Horizontal or vertical striping that wasn't present before
Clamped fins
Swimming with head lowered, especially on seeing another betta (note that lowering head and swimming around an object with fins raised is curiosity, not stress, but such behavior towards another fish is often aggressive)
Timid behavior (hiding a lot, slinking around)
Lack of activity (females in particular should be active, constantly exploring and watching their surroundings, from the day after being added to the tank)
Lack of interest in food
Frequent and repeated attempts to jump (once every now and then is fine, multiple times with nothing outside the tank that they're trying to get, like bugs, is a very bad sign)
Lack of curiosity (bettas are intelligent and observant, and should approach, inspect, and consider any new object inside or outside the tank)

 

[centrarchid]

I have kept and bred several species within the family. I had to suck it up and place tanks in a warm nook that as kept warmer than rest of house. My man room that doubles as both a fish room and incubator has a heat lamp just to heat room a little when running tropicals. At moment going other way with natives so the single group of tropicals in a smaller tank that is in larger tank with a light shining into it 24/7. Not good for viewing, but easier to keep temperature stable.

 

[Chickassan]

What are you feeding the ladies?