antialgae solution

Question
My daughter gave me a beautiful blue female Bette for mother's day.  She is a lovely lady and I have gotten quite attached to her.  She has about doubled in size in the 6 weeks that I have had her.  In some of my gardening catalogs there is advertised a solution that prevents algae in a bird bath or a small pond.  It would be handy to be able to use some in her fish tank to cut down on the cleanup needed.  BUT I do not want to hurt my little lady.  Would it be safe?    Also it has been years since I have had any fish.  I know that you can not keep 2 bettas in the same tank but what about any other kind of fish?  I know that it is silly to project human emotions to fish, but can she get lonely?  I have her tank on my desk  where I spend a good portion of everyday.  My little lady is about 2 1/2" from nose to tail fin.  I had a dwarf African frog for about 3 days.  There was a nice little cave for it but then it up and disappeared.  Could my little lady have eaten him.  I never found even 1 little piece of the frog.  It is so much fun to watch my little lady go bananas  when I turn on my aquarium screen saver.  One side of her tank is next to my monitor and when the aquarium screen saver comes on she starts swimming very fast up and down and side to side until it cycles thru the program to the part where the lights go off and she can not see the fish on my monitor.  I really enjoy watching her and want to keep her as healthy as possible.  Thank you,  Paula

Answer
Hello,
You cannot use algae cleaner for birds in fish tanks.  Bettas need very clean tanks, and depending on the size of the tank, all the water should be changed every week with a good water conditioner such as stress coat or aquasafe.  If you have a filter, and the water is cycled, then you need to change 25% of the water every week.  You must always make sure that there is no ammonia, or nitrites in her water, and that nitrates are low.  You can buy these little test kits at your pet store, and they are always helpful to have on hand. The little lady is aggressive.  If you could not find the little froggy, I hate to think of what happen to him!!  With the experience I have had with Bettas, I keep them alone, and no, they are not lonely.  In a big enough tank of 25 gallons or more, I would consider mixing the little lady with other fish, but if her tank is 5 gallons, she is best left alone.  I am very surprised that she would have eaten the little african frog, they usually get along.  We really get attached to bettas, it is almost love at first sight, and they seem to know this.  They are intelligent little fish.
Here is some information of Bettas that you may find interesting:

Bettas need 5 gallons of water or more to be healthy, and happy.
In their habitat the betta may live in shallow waters, but they have lots of room to swim.  
Keeping Bettas in small bowls, containers, vases, mirror tanks, etc. is cruel.  The Betta is one of the most mistreated fish on the market.
They need a heated tank.  Temperature should be 78-80 degrees.  They are tropical fish, and are cold under this temperature.  Cold bettas get sick, are miserable, and live unhappy lives. ( Always remember  when heating a tank, do this very very slowly.. (one) degree every two days, as bringing up the temperature too fast would be deadly to your Betta.)  Put your Betta in the same degree water she is in now, and bring the temperature up very very slowly.   The temperature should always be stable.  Fluctuating temperature is very bad for bettas, and any other fish.  
They should have a silk plant in their tanks, so that they can rest on the leaves.  They also need a little tunnel or some knick knack that they can go through.   One teaspoon to five gallons of diluted aquarium salt may be added to her water.  
Aquarium salt helps them with stress, and helps with parasites.  However if a Betta is showing signs of a swollen tummy, salt should not be used.
They need a varied diet. This is very important.  Betta pellets one day, Betta Flakes the next, Daphnia the next, and bloodworms should be given once a week as a treat.
She should be given one frozen cooked pea a week, and on the day you give her the pea, she should fast.    
A betta is prone to constipation, and constipation leads to Swim Bladder Disease.  A cooked frozen cooked pea a week keeps them from getting constipated.  Always remove the outer layer of the pea, and cut it into small pieces feeding it to your betta one piece at a time.
They should have 2-3 small meals a day, and not one big meal.  We must remember that their tummy is the size of their eye.
Example:  2 pellets for one meal.
Water changes are very important.  Water changes must be made every week without fail with a good water conditioner such as Aqua Safe or Stress Coat.  There is also a conditioner made especially for bettas.  If you do not have a filter, change all the water in his tank weekly.  Bettas do better without filters in 5 gallon tanks.
Never put two bettas in the same tank, they will kill each other...male or female.  The Betta male is a loner.  Females can be kept together in a big enough tank, but they are also aggressive towards each other, and the tank should be at least 30 gallons with many hiding places.  I have yet to see female bettas getting along, although some people insist that they do.  I wouldn't recommend this for your little lady!
When treated well, a betta can live up to 8 years, if you buy her when she is very young.  (Unfortunately we do not know their age when we buy them at the Pet Store which is why some bettas die two or three years after we have bought them.)  Seeing as the little lady has almost doubled in size, she must have been very young.
She is an intelligent little fish, and should be treated with kindness.  I'm sure you will treat her with white gloves!
Too many vendors know nothing about the betta, and don't care...so don't give good information on how to keep them.
They are there to sell, and will say anything just to make a buck.  They send you home with your bought betta, telling you a small bowl is perfect, and bloodworms!  The poor customer thinks she has everything she needs, and then the fish gets sick, money is spent to cure her, and eventually the fish dies.   
This turns my stomach over.  Unfortunately there are no laws to protect fish.  
Bettas kept in small bowls, one gallon tanks, and vases, will get sick, and are very hard to cure in such little water.  They end up dying, and
that hurts the person who has grown so attached to them.  They don't deserve to be treated this way.
This is how a Betta should be treated.  If treated this way, you will have your friend for a long long time.  I breed them, love them, and know what is good for them.
If you have anymore questions, do not hesitate to write me.  I'm will wonder about this frog for a long time!! She is one wicked little betta!

Lynda