Keeping a pet betta fish is more popular than ever and the growth of the species over the last couple of months has been one of the main reasons that betta fish have been able to climb to their current position of being the second most commonly kept fish species in the world.
With there being so many people picking up their very first betta fish, we have noticed a bunch of people reaching out and asking various questions about keeping their betta fish happy.
We have published a large number of articles going over the various questions that we see about keeping a pet betta fish due to there being so many questions asked month in and month out.
One question that we have noticed people asking recently is about if a tank can be too big for a betta fish to live in and it’s great to see people realizing that you should never use a betta cup to keep your fish and larger tanks are better.
Due to there being lots of contradictory information out there and some specifics coming into play with the other tank mates you are keeping in your tank also needing to be factored in, we wanted to publish our own dedicated article on the topic to try and help our readers out.
How Big Should A Betta Tank Be?
People used to think that betta fish could live and thrive in tiny tanks for decades and although many people do still think this, it’s great to see people realize that you really should be keeping bettas in a larger tank.
Although the minimum tank size for bettas is up for debate with some people going with a 5 gallon tank but our recommendation being a 10 gallon tank, the days of keeping betta fish in tiny cups or jars are slowly going away.
The maximum tank size for a betta fish is also debatable due to the overall setup coming into play as most betta fish will get territorial of a small area in a large tank with the maximum size not being anywhere near as important as making sure that your tank meets the minimum size requirements.
Is A 20 Gallon Tank Too Big For Betta?
In our opinion, a 20 gallon tank for a betta fish is the perfect size and what the majority of people should be aiming for.
It is small enough to be easy to clean, cheap enough for all budgets, and easy to find somewhere to keep the tank in your home while also being large enough to keep your betta and some potential tank mates happy.
The 10 gallon tank size is our absolute minimum but it is restrictive on the decorations, accessories, and tank mates that you are able to keep in the tank with your betta fish.
The 20 gallon tank removes these issues and really lets you start to get creative with your tank setup allowing you to do a wide range of different things with your tank and customize it heavily.
Can A Tank Be Too Big For A Betta?
In our opinion, an aquarium tank can’t be too big for a betta fish as they are a freshwater species that comes from the slow moving waters of Thailand.
The natural waters that wild bettas are found in can be surprisingly huge but as we mentioned earlier in the article, the majority of bettas, especially females will usually just host one small area of a large tank.
We go into this in more detail in our article going over setting up a 55 gallon betta sorority tank due to this being a very popular option right now.
The main problem that people tend to have who end up trying to keep large tanks with betta fish in them is that they will add unsuitable tank mates that cause aggression in the tank or they will keep too many male betta fish.
We also have an article going over a betta harem tank that is usually a larger tank with multiple male betta fish in it but this is usually challenging and we would not recommend this for the majority of people.
The majority of people who read this article will either have budget or size constraints that will end up being the upper limit of their tank size rather than the requirements of their betta fish dictating the maximum size of your aquarium.
That said, simple logic also dictates that there is no point in buying a 55 gallon tank when a 20 gallon tank will do perfectly fine for a single betta fish if this is all that you want to keep in your tank.
Do Bettas Not Like Big Tanks?
Betta fish are usually indifferent about the upper size of their tanks as they usually stick to their own territory and are often not bothered about anything else that is happening elsewhere in their tank.
If you have accidentally added unsuitable tank mates to your tank that are being aggressive to your betta fish then this will make your betta unhappy.
Many betta fish in large tanks with fast moving schooling fish can end up getting stressed due to the speed and unpredictable movements of their tank mates too so keep this in mind when planning a large betta tank setup too.
A bare tank with no plants or decorations can also make a betta fish stressed or anxious if it has tank mates in its tank with it and we would always recommend that you add some type of sight break to your tank if possible.
