"Steve" wrote in message
. ..

Thanks, that's informative. As mentioned to another poster, I haven't had
great success with bettas. The single male bettas I kept in approx 15 gal
community aquariums with other small fish each lasted about 9mo to 1 year.
The one I recently kept by itself in a heated, planted, unfiltered 2
gallon aquarium lasted about 1.5 years. This raises a couple of questions:

Are bettas relatively old when shipped, and expected to live only another
year?

## Some dishonest breeders do sell off their old stock rather than uthanize
the unwanted fish. So yes, you can get an OLD fish if you are not careful.
Buy only smaller YOUNG males and females. You will learn to tell the
difference if you examine them closely. Young fish are smaller and their
fins shorter although their color should still be bright and clear.

Are bettas healthier and happier when kept by themselves?

## In my experience they are! There is no competition for food, and no
nipped fins among other things. Some are too aggressive to live in
community tanks. Some community tanks have too much current for bettas who
prefers calm water. Smaller faster fish may get most of the food and the
current wears down the betta, shortening it's life. Those that live the
longest of me have been in 1 quart to 2 gallon UNHEATED tanks. I believe
heating them to 80 F speeds their life processes and shortens their lives.
I can't prove this - it's just been my experience with the bettas I've had
over the years. I only heated the breeding tanks and young fry.

Might a male betta make a wise addition to my planted 90 gallon aquarium?

## You can add one but I would never put a valued betta in a community tank.
Others will disagree. Try it and see if it works for you. You can always
remove him if there's a problem. Not only can bettas be aggressive to
others but other fish sometimes nip at their long fins ruining their looks
and possibly causing a fungus or bacterial infection. I keep mine alone
but where they can see each other and see what's going on in this part of
the house. Mine are in everything from 1 qt bowls to a filtered, planted 2
gallon display tank. All have gravel and a few small water lettuce in their
homes. Someone e-mailed me that Dollar General sells clear glass cookie
jars that hold 1 gallon of water, with a plastic lid (can punch air holes)
for $1.50 each. I plan to check these out next week. If I can get them for
around that price where I live I'll move them all to the gallon cookie jars.
:-)

I suspect not, because it has two male blue gourami (possible
fighting?) and some fast swimmers such as zebra danios, dwarf neon
rainbowfish and one large "miscellaneous" rainbowfish that came in with
the dwarfs.

## Speaking for myself - I would rather keep valued bettas alone.

Steve
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://bellsouthpwp.net/s/h/shastadaisy
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