Fancy betta and driftwood

[FriendsNotFood]

Am I asking for trouble putting a fancy betta in this tank? Is he going to impale his fins on the braches? I wish I had watched videos of fancy bettas on Aquabid before setting up this tank because I would have done it a lot differently. Doesn't seem like they can swim very well with all those fins.

There's more plants now but the hardscape is the same

[slavecorps]

A betta will be fine in there as long as there are no aggressive or fast moving fish to bother it.

[FriendsNotFood]

He'll most likely be the only fish in there (: Just to give an idea of the tank size, that's a 6 gallon 9" tall tank, so the spaces between those branches aren't actually that large. I'm ok with redoing the tank if needs be, just want the guy to be happy.

[slavecorps]

I really think he will be fine as long as he isn't blind.

[LB79]

Even if he was blind, he'd have his lateral line. It helps them navigate by acting as a radar. That's why they don't bump into the glass.

[FriendsNotFood]

So bettas with super long fins are still aware of their fins and don't get them caught on stuff? I'm talking fins as long as this guy for example:

http://www.flixya.com/files-photo/B/...tta-447317.jpg

[Chrisinator]

I would be careful with the little pegs. See if you can round them up so they don't have any significant pointyness if you're really worried.

[slavecorps]

I still think the betta will be just fine. Just like any living creature, bettas still have proprioceptors in their bodies and appendages that allow them to know where their bodies and appendages are in space.

[FriendsNotFood]

Thanks guys, I'm gonna take out that tall branch with the little pegs on the left just to be safe and leave the others in. This is gonna be my first high-maintenance pet so I want to be on the safe side.

[Myrr]

Just wanted to let you know (considering I have the same tank and filter), that the filter might be your biggest worry- you'd have to have that sucker on the very lowest setting so it wont knock the fish around due to its ultra heavy fins as well as "blow out" the fin (ripping it), and you need to be careful of the intake, which can easily suck in the fins and ruin them. They grow back, of course- but arent so pretty most of the time.

(Well, that and you wouldnt want the poor bugger hurt!)

Not to deter you, or anything! I've had lots of heavy-finned bettas before, and more often than not the end up with damage. The more there is, the easier it is to get messed up.

[epiphany]

Originally Posted by Myrr

Just wanted to let you know (considering I have the same tank and filter), that the filter might be your biggest worry- you'd have to have that sucker on the very lowest setting so it wont knock the fish around due to its ultra heavy fins as well as "blow out" the fin (ripping it), and you need to be careful of the intake, which can easily suck in the fins and ruin them. They grow back, of course- but arent so pretty most of the time.

(Well, that and you wouldnt want the poor bugger hurt!)

Not to deter you, or anything! I've had lots of heavy-finned bettas before, and more often than not the end up with damage. The more there is, the easier it is to get messed up.

Would putting a prefilter sponge over the intake prevent this?

[FriendsNotFood]

Oooh thanks, I need all the tips I can get with this guy, I just ordered him and I'm already worrying about how high maintenance he's gonna be.

I actually have an Azoo Palm on order... it's rated up to 5 gallons and makes barely any flow, not to mention it looks way better, so I'm probably going to use that. With clear fishing line wrapped around the intake many times for good measure. I do that on all my Azoos, it keeps shrimp out pretty well and you can't tell it's there.

I also ordered a bunch of fissidens so I'm gonna moss the driftwood up to make it even softer for the guy to rest on. He's not the greatest swimmer from the video I saw.

[vincenz]

Nice job on the scale of the tank, fooled me into believing it was a 55g.

[FriendsNotFood]

Sweet, that was the idea (: Sadly I'll have to compromise the scape a bit for the sake of the betta, and of course once he's in there any sense of scale will go out the window unless people thought I had a 10" betta :P