Betta in a vase

First topic message reminder :

Is this ever a good idea?
I will fully admit that I know NOTHING about bettas.
My mom wants to do a nice sized vase with a plant growing in it and a betta in there too with the roots growing down in the bettas territory. She wants it for her desk. She's at work 7 days a week for something (she's the superintendent of a juvenile facility - work is always calling) so she'd be able to change water as many times as necessary. Fish are supposed to be calming and her job is high stress.
Is there a good way to get her the set up she wants? If there is, what is the ideal way to do the vase+plant+betta set up? Obviously I don't want to do anything that's going to be dangerous for the fish or give it a miserable life so if there isn't a good way to do it then I'll figure out another set up for her (I think I still have a 2 gallon tank here somewhere, but she really really really likes the plant set up)

Fern wrote:

5-10g one male betta and some plants. If you get a snail make sure it is one that wont breed in freshwater or the tank will soon have many of them!

Remember bettas are jumpers so a lid is a must.

See if she likes kuhili loaches, if she does 2 of them in there if the bottom is done in sand would work.

Get a dorky little hang on filter. Just make sure you get a sponge to go over the intake.

eek I did NOT know they were jumpers! I had a few mollies jump ship and one angel when I was..maybe 10? We had a lid but they jumped where the filter/heater holes were because the water was too high. It was like fish jerky! I refused to touch them lol it totally icked me out!

i have seen them live for a long time in a peace lily vase....

you can always add a few neons, they stay small enough, their not hard on the bio load and will get long fine with your Betta.

or some shrimp, or snails. there are many creatures you can add and still keep it simple.

oh she's NOT getting shrimp, I'm setting up my shrimp tank before she ever gets one of my cool dudes!!! shrimps and snails are my favorite inverts - kinda like them as much as my guppies (who I adore)
Bettas get along with neons? I seriously know very little about bettas so I want to make sure I get her a nice set up that will be easy to maintain (since I'll only be in her office once a week or so for water changes and anything else that may need to be done.
I just really want her to have that calming force that a small desk tank can bring

I love shrimp as well. I've been thinking of setting up a small salt water tank again with some shrimp or some Sally Lightfoot crabs....I love to watch them.

The best thing is you're learning and reading before you leap, that will make successful. Good luck with it. Let us know how it goes.

The key this is a plastic container like u would use for a flower pot. Use gravel to hold plant in place. Holrs in plastic for roots. Leave gap between plastic and top of water level. You will still need to feed betta. This was VERY popular about 6 years ago. Betta sales went thur the roof then. Was selling 4000 bettas a week. Before this craze selling about 800 a week. Yes you can do a vase. Experince you can almost freeze a betta and it will live. Heat a betta and death. Hopefully this will help. If you would like more info PM and I will give you my 800 number and I can answer your questions.

It was around that time frame that I put together my husband's desk-betta. You were right - it was a rather big craze! Forgot about the plastic container I used to set the spider plant in. Thanks for reminding me.

Remember, average life span of a betta after purchase is 2 years. The large vase couldn't have been terribly unhealthy or my husband's betta wouldn't have lived to the old age of three.

Regular water changes, average 68-72F room temperatures and quality food - those are the three most important things for a healthy betta.

They like temps between 75-80. A well taken care of Betta can live 4-5 years. That's with pristine water conditions of 100% water changes 2-3 times a week. Bettas do not need to have cycled tanks that is why 100% water changes can be done. I do 100% water changes on all my Bettas twice a week.

well....I think we have progress! I am at our other house and I found lots of stuff I left here from past tanks including 2 air pumps and tons of new tubing and filter cartrigeds to a penn plex smallworld filter that I don't recall ever owning! I also found some nice big pieces (and some nice smaller ones!) of drift wood and tons of decor.
We have a pretty large fish bowl (can't find my little hex tank! boo!!), I've got some pretty clear decorative glass rounds in the bottom of it, a piece of driftwood to attach a leafy plant to, ordered a cfl daylight bulb to put in a lamp above the tank and ordered the small world filter. I'm going to have the smaller quieter airpump hooked up to the filter -it has a lesser output but from what i read the bettas like that and aren't fond of lots of disruptions in their world. The bowl is pretty big - I haven't seen a bowl this big set up before, its probably 2 gallons seriously. Very heavy and thick glass too. I think its something that we've had around a while because its way sturdier than today's standards lol

So we will get this nice little bowl set up with a little filter that is nice and quiet and calming. Then when we get the plant nice and happy we will get a beautiful fish that will probably be horrid quality but that's not a given because I DID find some localy owned fish stores that may have nicely treated bettas - if not, at least it will be rescued from a horrible life, right?

Does that sound ok for a betta? Do they prefer a certain food? My guppies are totally not picky and will eat anything and everything, including your hand if you try to fix something in their tank. The office stays nice and warm so I think temp will be fine, the lamp will help with that some too. Bettas aren't jumpers, right? I'm sure I can rig up something that looks nice if they are.

My mom was so happy when I told her my plans to get her set up, she said "This may keep me calm enough to not kill people!" (her boss is..ugh lets just say she got over 400 emails in less than 3 months from her boss) She was talking about all the pretty colors and what she might like! She even talked about how she would do the water changes and keep a gallon bottle of water in her office so there would be the right water waiting when it was time to change it <3 she's so cute!
I'm going to read up on betta types more so I don't sound ridiculous when I call these shops and ask them about their betta selection.

Yes bettas are jumpers big time. A piece of plexiglass will work great.

Snook that sound great! Yes Bettas are jumpers and famous for it so if you can some how put a cover on that will help. Also if you mom wants to keep water on hand in her office she can buy at the grocery store the little 2.5g jugs of Natural Spring Water and that doesn't have to be treated. Just buy and pour. Good luck.

fantastic, I will get a little circle of plexi cut for it with a notch for the air tube then! Although I don't recall the reasoning, years ago I was told on a fish forum that spring water was just horrible for fish and was like instant fish death or something. Maybe its not ideal for most fish but good for bettas? Or maybe someone was just talking nonsense? Not sure.

I would vote for nonsense. Before we got our R/O sysem I used it all the time for wc for my Bettas. Oh also Atison's Betta Pro is the highest quality food there is on the market for Bettas. You can however use what you buy at the pet stores.