Fishroom / Bedroom Makeover

My fishroom is also my bedroom and starting back around April this year I wanted to create a bedroom influenced more by my fishy friends. I didn't want an overly theme'ish room I just wanted something a bit more classy, modern, aquatic, feminine, and zen. As I continue to make adjustments to my room (because Rome wasn't built in a day.. I would know since I just came back from there) I will continue to update this blog post in the future.

Click to Enlarge Image

Bed, Bath and Beyond - Venice Grommet Panel Curtains "84 in White
Currently I don't see these in white or the length I bought these online but they're in store for $39.99ea. I bought 4 of these for both of my windows and with several old 20% off coupons I saved $8 per panel. I liked these because they have a vertical creased wave pattern with tiny dots that are like bubbles, and they're a smidge sheer with horizontal lines which gives a zen bamboo grass type of feel when the sun is out.

Walmart - Luck Adjustable Satin Nickel Curtain Rod
Originally I was going to go with a glass orb finials rod but when I saw this ginkgo rod I HAD to get it and these are actually pretty nice (although I ordered these off the WalMart site they're actually from Overstock.com). These worked well with the grommet curtains I got because they can be lengthened forward, which is important since grommet panels have wide folds that would otherwise get smooshed against the wall/window.

Target - Nautical Decor
I got these nautical pots ($1.78ea on clearance) and a Nate Berkus urchin awhile back. I also picked up a quilted scale looking throw pillow for my bed which was on clearance (it's cheaper than the scale looking pillows I totally loved by Caitlin Wilson.. but I may just cave and order 'em anyway, haha).

Green Front Furniture - Coral Lamp
My parents decided to surprise me with a gift/lamp from this local furniture store and it turned out to be much larger than they had anticipated (and it wasn't something they could return either). The lampshade itself was so big that I ended up finding a different shade at TJ Maxx. My mom had originally thought this was the lamp I wanted from Wolfe Furniture but that lamp actually had a goldfish on it rather than being made of coral (erk, memory fail).

TJ Maxx - Fish Decor and Lampshade
I picked up several decorative fish from here within the past few months, some of which were even on clearance ranging from $2.99 and up. I also saw a really cute seahorse I was going to get but I was too impatient to wait in line that day (if it was meant to be than it will still be around later). I ended up buying another lamp ($30 at TJMaxx) just so I could put a much smaller lampshade on it (because a 2ft x 1ft lampshade was just too enormous for my room.. or our house honestly), by getting this lamp it was actually cheaper than just buying a single lampshade.. but I'm not sure what we'll do with the extra lamp base because it's pretty retro (and not in a good way, lol).

Fish World News

Lately I've seen lots of cool and interesting things in this big fish world of ours and decided to share it on here for those that may not know. If you have any cool 'fish world news' you'd like to share then drop me a comment below.

-New Batumi aquarium to be built in Georgia. I would love to go to the grand opening in 2015!

-Axolotls are living gremlins that are not only capable of regenerating body parts...

-Some amazingly large and old fish, I had no idea fish could live so long!

-What is harming starfish in this Starfish Horror Story video?

-Can you believe that a shrimp has the worlds fastest punch?

-Which is the stronger competitor.. a shark or an octopus? I got the answer.

-Although this wheeled prototype appears to stress-out fish I think it's an interesting concept.

Ranchu Artwork

My awesome new artsy friend Chris made me this cool drawing of Bumblez (my new sakura ranchu) the other day and I totally love this so, I just had to take a moment to share it with everyone on here!

"BLUH?"

If you want to checkout more of his work, etc you can find him at www.ChrisSpade.com.

East Coast Ranchu - Review

For a really long time now I had been wanting a ranchu and looking all over my local pet stores in hopes of coming across any. I really didn't have much luck and I did actually see what I believed to have been ranchu at a Walmart one night but... it was bad timing, I was worried about the quality of the fish, and so... I missed my chance. I even sent out e-mails to fish stores within a state or so of me since I burnt out all my options locally in the DC area, and either I didn't get any response or I got weird rude replies back.

It wasn't until I went searching again on eBay that I looked into eSeller eastcoastranchu. Turned out these 'side-view' ranchu are bred in New Jersey by a very kind and patient lady named Cynthia of East Coast Ranchu. I also found that East Coast Ranchu donates 10% of their earnings to GoldfishKeepers, and if you buy 5 or more ranchu's you can get 10% off. As you may have seen from a previous post I did on here she made a video of several ranchu for me after I told her the type of ranchu characteristics I was looking for. I ended up picking the one that stood out from the lot and got the cute red-capped sakura ranchu whom is even cuter in person. I did get the 2-day shipping and my poor fish ended up spending so much unnecessary time in its box going from NJ to lower VA, and VA to MD, and then they spent a good 9-hours of delivery time when I was only an hour away from the UPS location. Then my package finally arrived right before I had to leave for work that night (watch my video below to find out what happened next!).

Here's my adorable new pet ranchu's Bumblez and Oakki after a week of them settling into their new home!

Bumblez

Oakki

I will be doing another post in the near future on how I care for my new pet ranchu's.

Mollies Arrive *Updated*

I recently received my mollies from my aquarium friend and I actually found these ones to be much prettier than I was originally expecting.

Male (left) and Female (right)

At first I was not really enjoying having these two pairs of mollies, the smallest female actually died within a few days (due to stress I believe). I had a molly jump out of my quarantine bucket I had setup several times upon being spooked. That being said I made some modifications to my aquarium lid to cover over any open areas.

Male Molly

The next issue I'm having is that these fish are much bigger than I was expecting, the biggest one is around 4 inches in length and I'm already feeling like these 3 fish need a bigger environment than my 10gal tank since I read that they can get up to 6.5 inches in length. Having only 3 of these fish they seem a bit stressed, perhaps because they are community fish and need to be kept with more mollies than this.

The behavior of these fish when I first got them I would compare to adult gold barbs. When these fish see me they dart off and hide, very shy, they'd push themselves down against the gravel even. Their is a good amount of plant area for them to hide, but I am doubtful their behavior is going to change much in these conditions. If these fish are too stressed I am worried that they may not even breed or may decide to abort which defeats the purpose of me even having them.

------ Updates Below ------

Now that I've had these mollies for several weeks they have gotten a little less frightened of me, mainly because I've been trying to associate me being around them means getting fed, this method has actually been working a bit although they are still a bit timid. I have been trying to feed them twice a day, these fish love to eat although they aren't fans of cucumber it seems but they are enjoying the Petco Color Enhancing Tropical Flakes, they'll even eat some TetraVeggie Algae Wafers. 

South Korea's Coex Aquarium

I have been traveling all around South Korea for the past two weeks and the only aquarium I found here through the internet was the Coex Aquarium. If you're interested in going it's $10 to park in the parking garage (although you can probably take a bus here for less money) and $25 for an adult ticket (the prices showing online weren't accurate) into the aquarium. I however didn't feel like spending $25 for the 40 minute tour around this aquarium, and you can see a little bit of the aquarium for free on the outside of it. So, here are a few quick photo's of the entrance to the Coex Aquarium, and in case you're wondering the inside of this aquarium is setup in rain-forest theme (my camera battery died before I could snap any photo's of it).

Aquarium Photography Tips

I have done a post on aquarium photography before, but now that I have a better camera (the Canon Rebel T3i, DSLR) I wanted to share my own personal aquarium photography experience with everyone. The photo's you're about to see (you can click on the images to enlarge them) were taken at San Diego's Living Coast Discovery Center. For the most part I just used an AF setting and flash (with the exception of the jellyfish image).

Clownfish

Defeating outside lighting glare.

When at an indoor aquarium with natural daylight or indoor lighting reflecting off the tanks you're going to do the last thing that probably comes to mind... use a flash. Using a flash seems to alter the outside glare by changing the light glare to where the glare vanishes in most cases, which then leads me to answer a more popular question...

Jellyfish

How to get rid of flash glare while using a flash.

The point of using a flash is to eliminate outer light glare however, this creates a flash glare instead. The point now is to not photograph the flash glare in the process. First you're going to want to avoid taking photos straight on, instead tilt your camera at a slight angle (just don't tilt your camera too much as to avoid distorting your photo). Doing this redirects the flash glare and helps keep it out of photos.

Steelhead Trout

Can I use a flash diffuser?

If you try to use something to diffuse the flash glare you may find that yourself and the aquarium will both end up in the image.

What if there is no outside glare but the aquarium is lighted inside?

This is usually when you can turn off the flash on your camera.

Eel

Other helpful advice.

Always ask the front desk what their photo policy is at an aquarium (Is flash photography allowed? Is there anything you can't photograph? Can you use a tripod? etc.). I can't stress this enough because the last thing you want to do is harm or stress a living creature or get in trouble for photographing something you don't have legal rights to (this was allowed at the Living Coast Discovery Center from what the front desk told me).

Bass

Helpful items you may want to bring when photographing at an aquarium.

Towels/rags, comes in handy if you need to wipe off the aquarium for a clear photograph, or in case water accidentally gets on your camera.

A flashlight or other portable light source, this may come in handy for tanks you can't visibly see into that well.

A protective lens filter/cover in case you decide to put your camera lens right against the glass to try and take pictures.

Fish Photo Post

I mentioned in my last post that I'd get up some new pictures of my fish that you've probably read so much about on this blog. I'm still trying to get the hang of my new camera so hopefully my photos start getting better overtime but, I can definitely say these pics are a major improvement over older ones you may have seen on here prior to this post. Let me know what you think or anything else you'd like to see a photo of in the future.

Male tuxedo guppy "Peppermint" and some of his fry

Closeup of Peppermint

Female tuxedo guppies: Freckles and Rudder

Male Betta: Ebo

P.S. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Substrate

A recent question I came across online is "how much substrate do you need in an aquarium and what type is best?".

Lets be honest, most of the time you probably don't even need to have a substrate at all however, it's said to reduce fish stress, hold beneficial bacteria, looks more aesthetically pleasing, etc (if you're asking this question than you probably already know that you yourself want to add a substrate to your aquarium).

First off their are many different variables in trying to answer this question such as... what's your substrate material (sand, stone, gravel, dirt, combination, etc)?; is there an under-gravel filter?; how many gallons is the aquarium?; what are the dimensions of the aquarium?; will you have live or fake plants?; etc. Also keep in mind that the more pounds of substrate you put into your aquarium, the less amount of water that will be going into your aquarium since your substrate is more dense than water. The less amount of water your tank has, the less fish you'll probably be able to keep.

In actuality there is no set amount of how much substrate you should have in your aquarium so, this question is really just personal preference and what you feel works best for you. A lot of people will tell you that it's 2lb of gravel per 1 gallon of water, or even 1lb of gravel per 1 gallon of  water. Well that really isn't a good method to teach people because tanks have different dimensions and shapes.

So when faced with a method as to how much substrate to add to your aquarium, I'd recommend using how many inches, centimeters, etc of substrate you want. Maybe you like a 2 inch dense amount of substrate, or maybe even 1 cm, or maybe you want some areas in your aquarium to have more or less substrate. For those who are Takashi Amano enthusiasts/fans like myself I'd say it's anything from a thin layer of substrate that completely covers the base up to 2 inches although most of his tanks appear to be around an inch. I'd say for most aquariums you probably don't need anything more than 3 inches but it may also depend on the density of the substrate material you're using (like rocks, stones, etc).

As for what type of substrate is best that depends on what you're hoping to achieve in your aquarium. Most beginners usually use the popular 'pea gravel' which is just your basic gravel rocks that are about the size of a pea and you can find this in all types of colors from pink, black, red, white, blue, neon, etc. The downfall to bigger substrate materials is that it creates lots of pockets between the gaps of the substrate which allows for toxic gases and such to form under the substrate, and some types of fish could possibly get the 'pea gravel' lodged into their throat. Most people seem to think 'sand gravel' is more likely to get consumed by fish and harm them but this is not true, as fish in the wild generally live in soil substrates. Also, since the 'sand gravel' is much finer than 'pea gravel' it allows less pockets for toxic gases and such to form. 'Sand gravel' is also not as hard to vacuum as you may imagine, I find it about the same as 'pea gravel' except the 'sand gravel' doesn't get lodged into the mouth of the vacuum.

Aquarium Photography

Upon trying to master my fish photographing skills and being a bit unsuccessful at it I decided to do a bit of research on the subject of aquarium photography. Below you'll find the list I put together with the credited sites listed below so, feel free to leave any other helpful tips you may have on this subject, and hopefully we all can start taking awesome aquarium photographs together.

1. Avoid using a flash or use a flash that can be moved above the image you are trying to photograph (keep in mind a flash can stress animals, cause a glare off the aquarium, and may not be permitted). Using a lens hood can also help reduce glare from the glass of an aquarium. If there is too much natural or outside light this can also cause a lot of unwanted aquarium glare, a dark room with the aquarium light alone can often be more ideal.

2. A fast lens with a big aperture, preferably an f/2.8 or faster (the lower the f number the faster the lens, and a big aperture will allow for more light if you can't use an adjustable flash).

3. A fast Shutter speed (to avoid blurry images of moving fish) and an of ISO of 800 up to 1600 because a fast shutter speed will cut down on more of the light you need so it's important to crank up your ISO to balance this out.

4. If you can later edit your processed images using noise reduction this will also help to create a clearer final image (using a circular polarizer lens cover may also help cut down on noise) . Also editing your images later on can create more vibrant images (as often times a lot of color can get lost through aquarium glass).

5. Keep your camera stable (tripods may be restricted inside the aquarium). Pressing the camera lens against the aquarium can help stable the camera against the glass (use a UV filter to avoid debris or scratching the lens). Try to keep the camera perpendicular to the glass in order to avoid distorted images of your subject.

6. Avoid using an Automatic Focus (AF). Use a Manual Focus (MF) with a short depth of field as your object is constantly moving and using the AF will focus too soon before you'll be able to get a clear shot at the moving subject (doing this will help reduce blurry images). Be sure you get the correct White Balance set on your camera, you may even find using a Fluorescent setting on your camera can help in photographing your subject matter (it may help reduce blue tint). Also try using the Fast Action mode on your camera if available. Also if your camera has a Macro function this can also help photographing your subject at close range).

7. Have Patience. Take many photos. Photograph at different distances. Don't just photograph fish but also their habitats which can be very beautiful as well. Carry spare batteries and memory cards.

8. Using a DSLR camera should be more beneficial in low lighted conditions than other cameras.

9. Try to wipe off the area of glass you're photographing at, if it's dirty your camera will probably end up photographing that into your image. When the aquarium water is as clear as possible it will also allow for better looking photos.

Credited Sites
Photopoly
Shutterbug
Pufferlist
OneSlidePhotography

River Monsters

If there is one fish show on TV that I actually really do enjoy watching it is River Monsters on Animal Planet. This is not your everyday boring channel catfish or bass catching show... this is more about fish that are that of legends and myth, and discovering what really lives under the waters surface.

River Monsters (Goliath tigerfish)

I'm personally hooked on the show, and find it amazing at how powerful and unique a lot of fish truly are (and scary!).

Night of the Guppy

As I was randomly surfing the web on guppies tonight I came across this unique fictional vampire guppy story called "Night of the Guppy". It's pretty funny at times and only 3 chapters long, but it's a free read so check it out if you got some free time, made me smile!

Click Here to Read!

Fish Vs. Filter Intake

For whatever reason Mr. Moto (my blue veil-tail Betta) likes curling his tail around the filter intake and having his tail sucked up into the tube. He always does this intentionally, it's not like he doesn't realize it isn't happening, he even falls asleep and is perfectly content. However, in him doing this odd ritual his fins seem to be looking a bit rugged to say the least. Here's my quick fix to keep this from happening...

Cut the toe off a nylon pantyhose (you can usually get these for free at lady shoe stores), make sure it's clean of course. You'll want the piece to be long enough just to cover the intake on the filter tube. Once covered, keep in place with a rubber-band and problem solved.

Click to Enlarge

This method is also good if you have small fry that you don't want to get sucked up into your filtration. The downside is that this doesn't allow big pieces of debris to get filtered out.

Questions and Answers

You've asked Guppy-Guide your questions, so here are your answers!

Q: How much do I feed my goldfish?
It is about 2cm high 3 1/2cm long (not including tail), I have been giving it a 'large pinch' of the food every night & I've had it since like halfway through last year (so I know i'm not starving it), but the thing is.. I was reading the back of the food thing last night and it said "just enough for your fish to consume in 5 minutes" & my fish eats all the food i give him in like 1minute.

A: Most fish food states however much your fish can consume in 2-3 minutes. Overfeeding a fish can shorten its lifespan overtime. If your fish has been surviving for this long then it is probably getting enough food. Sometimes fish have eyes bigger than their bellies, so if you find your tank water getting dirty rapidly or food particles sinking to the bottom then it is probably too much food (also look and see if you have food stuck in your filtration system). You could try giving it 2 small pinches throughout the day rather than 1 large one once a day to insure all its food does get consumed and it isn't going to starve to death.
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Q: Is the Top-Fin 10 good for my 10 gallon tank?

A: According to PetSmart.com these have a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars. Here's a list of things you may want to check for to insure it is a good enough filtration system for your tank...

-Is your tank 10gal or smaller?
-Is your tank overstocked with fish?
-How is the water quality with the filtration system?
-Does the filter catch a significant amount of tank debry?
-Do you find the filter to be loud and disturb you?

Me personally I currently like the Aqueon Aquarium Power Filters.
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Q: My fish is dying, please help?
I've had him for a while now along with 4 others, hes a small oranda and all the others are tiny goldfish. They are in an 80l tank. However he got like red streaks in his tail one day so imedielty took him out and put him in a tempary tank of about 20l with a small filter. I got some fin rot medication and they said it should clear in 5 days, however its getting WORSE its been a week now and his tails horribly all white and stringly and its going onto his body now he is like giving up every so often he stops swimming then floats to the top and goes upside down after a couple of seconds he swims back down to the bottom again. is it the end? or is there something i can do? btw how do you check ph levels?

A: I recently purchased an oranda with fin rot, yours sounds like a similar fungal infection. Unfortunately nothing worked, including Melafix, PimaFix, Aquarium Salt, Clear Water, Water Changes all were among the most recommended remedies I found online (check my blog here if you want to read the story of Maguro).

You can check pH levels using something like Jungle Quick Dip Aquarium Test Strips (I prefer these over the API test strips) from Petco. However, there are many different methods for testing the water which you can probably find at your local petstore.
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Q: Help I need a betta expert!
One of my bettas has pop eye, I have put API aquarium salt to help with treatment(not marine salt) and I am currently using Melafix 1. Is pop eye bacterial or fungal? I need to know how long it should be before I see improvement and if I don't see improvement by then what should I do? I have the API fungal treatment if that helps, I can use that later or I can buy the bacterial treatment in the next day or so. The tank is a 5 gal tank with heater and small 5 gal filter, the tank is shared by 2 bettas separated by a divider, please don't say its too small just tell me what to do, should I take out my other betta if I start fungal/bacterial treatment? thanks.

A: Here's a good link on the subject, hope it helps!

Source(s):
http://www.aquariumlife.net/articles/fish-diseases/pop-eye-fish-disease/165.asp

Questioners Comment: Thanks that helped a whole lot, I think my fish is getting better after about 3 days by the maracyn stuff, its a new tank so there really isnt much good bacteria yet, thanks so much hopefully my fish will get well.
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Q: Is my guppy going to give birth soon?
Ok, i brought my Guppy 2weeks ago at the pet store. week later i kepted checking up on her, and she was heavly pregnant, and the males where chaseing her day in and day out, then i buyed a Fry keeper (protects fry from getting eat) and put her in there and now ive kepted close eye on her for 1week now, And she moves very slowly, and stops in the cornr of tank, breathing heavly and then goes to planted area and back out and continues doing same thing, she isnt eating she only pokes the flake food and stops, her gravid spot is black, and goes abit pinky, i can also see all the fry inside her it looks very impacked.

Today, she pooped out a seethrew long thing what is this?
Also heres somepictures of my guppie.

http://i55.tinypic.com/arztt.jpg
http://i53.tinypic.com/5md8qw.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/2cz8yv6.jpg

I KNOW THEY EAT THERE BABIES!

A: You might be better off putting her in a separate tank with decor for fry to hide in once born, at least 5 gallons with a filtration system that won't suck up any fry being born. She is stressed because for one thing you have isolated her (they are community fish after all) and she is in a small area with little swimming room, hence the white poop. Instead of giving her flake food you should try some freeze-dried brine shrimp (like the Hikari brand) as brine are good to give guppies to induce mating and such. Also a guppy that is near giving birth usually will start isolating herself from other fish and will hang around the bottom of the tank, all you can do is wait at this point. Once she gives birth, you can then remove her from the 5gal tank and the fry will be able to grow adequately without being eaten. I wouldn't worry too much if she does eat any fry because before you know it you will have more guppies then you know what to do with and with adequate fry hiding places she more than likely won't eat them all if any.

PETCO Acclimation Tips/Guarantee

I just purchased a new fish yesterday from PETCO and decided that for those of you that have PETCO stores in your area and wanted to know what their aquatic life policy states upon purchase then here is their acclimation tips/guarantee written word for word...

-Before adding new aquatic life to the aquarium, float the bag on top of the water for a minimum of 15 minutes, no longer than an hour to allow the aquatic life to adjust to the new water temperature. The water temperature in the bag should be the same as that of the tank prior to placing the fish into the tank.

-Aquatic life, introduced into an established tank, can carry disease and/or may become aggressive or be attacked upon its release. Change or move the decor to alter the established territories. Feeding established fish prior to introducing the new fish may help alleviate potential aggression in the established fish. PETCO will not refund or replace established aquatic life that have been injured or become ill as a result of introducing new fish.

-In a properly established habitat, we guarantee our freshwater fish for 15 days from the date of purchase. A receipt and water sample is required for all refunds or exchanges (please see store for details).

-There is no guarantee for saltwater fish or other marine life. These animals have unique requirements, and are very delicate. They are not recommended for the beginner aquarist.

-PETCO provides a care sheet for all our Aquatic Life Care sheets are available from any associate in the store or at www.petco.com

I can't say I totally agree with what they have written here, how would they really know if it was "established aquatic life" unless you told them? Also, what good does a water sample do when you could have changed the water the fish was in prior to returning it? I am also not totally sure that within 15 minutes the water in your fish's bag could have adjusted to the exact temperature in your tank. PETCO should have healthy aquatic life to sell to people so I do not understand why it says: "can carry disease" who would really want to buy fish from a store like that after reading this? Luckily I have 15 days to return my freshwater fish if need be.

Death by Moss Ball and Review

Sadly with all the different methods of water testing, chemicals and new products that come on the market it can also result in tank fatalities. In under 24 hours I placed an Exo Terra Moss Ball into my tank and lost all of my fish (I did post my review on the product on the stores site as a warning), I had found two fish barely holding on, but they were too far gone to make a recovery.

On the upside, I will get my $5 back for returning the moss ball which I can use toward purchasing new fish. Ironically the same day all my fish had died I got an e-mail from Petco reminding me that it was also my guppies birthday and I can get a 10% discount.
I am still debating loading the video of the night I added the moss ball into my tank so that you can see how spooked my fish were... wish I had realized why they were so scared at the time.

Click image to enlarge

Above are a few images which are inspiring me to create a new aquascape, I especially like the 3rd photo the best.

Fun Tank Decorating Idea's

I find that one of the funnest parts of creating a fish tank is decorating one! Here are a few little creative idea's I came up with to be more fish tank trendy, enjoy!

At most fish stores you'll find the usual natural looking backgrounds for your fish tank. If you want something more unique and different you could use a little tape and adhere nearly anthing to the backside of your fish tank...posters, pictures, drawings, wrapping paper or even these designs I created in MS_Paint and printed out (it does help if it's waterproof if you're concerned about possible water damage).

Decorating inside your tank? You don't need to use plants, you can use everyday items (as long as they're waterproof and fish friendly). You could use household items like dishes, pottery, action figures or even a tasty looking plastic hamster home as shown here.

Tired of looking at tacky fish food containers? I like to use a small spice rack to create a colorful display peice by my fish tanks but you could also use any other type of storage containers or jars.

Have any creative tips of your own that you'd like to share? Drop a comment or two, I'd love to see your creativity!

Guppy-Guide Comic Ep2

Guppy-Guide Comic Ep 1

The first series of my guppy comic and my first attempt at really creating a comic...sorry if it was terrible! hah. Click the images for better viewing, these are all photos I took of my fish, some are actually pretty nice if I do say so.

More = Merrier

I found a recent news article which states that fish in groups of 10 or more are less stressed and happier than just a single lonely fish, a pair or even 5 kept together. Fish are more likely to demonstrate natural behaviors when kept in larger numbers.To answer this articles question "how many fish you should put in an aquarium to create the best environment for them" it's usually 1 inch length of a single fish is equal to 1 gallon of water. So if you have 2 fish in your tank that are each 2 inches in length, you'll need at least 4 gallons of water, perhaps more if the fish aren't full grown (my personal suggestion). So if both your 2 inch fish grow up to 5 inches each, you'll need at least 10 gallons of water in order to provide a healthier fish environment.

Now you ask "why are Betta's often sold in small amounts of water", I've yet to discover this answer fully but I do find it slightly inhumane myself. It's no wonder why Betta's AKA Japanese Fighting Fish are aggressive when together after reading the above article and why they seem so sad when living alone. The same question should be asked to pet stores that keep too many fish stocked in a single tank at one time. You could debate that pet stores do this because there selling rate and providing a big selection for buyers, or you could debate that the fish you're getting from these fish stores aren't as healthy as they may appear. I believe if you want healthier fish that are kept in these conditions then go to a store where people actually come and purchase the fish and if you see dead fish in the tank with them at the time of purchase, chances are they may not be THAT healthy.

On the other hand I somewhat feel schooling fish or more non-active fish will do okay in a tank that may perhaps be a tad too tiny for them. Just insure your fish have plenty of room to swim and they're not living fin to fin.

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