Recently I went to a pet shop and saw some of those siamese fighting fish or betas (not sure if theyre the same thing), and decided I'd really like to get one..but I've never kept them before so I'm not sure if they need to be cared for differently than regular gold fish etc. I've noticed a few of you on here have mentioned betas, so I'm just wondering if you can fill me in on the basics?
They need a more meat based diet, betta flakes are fine. Males can't be kept together. A male and a female are fine. They are also fine with other small non-agressive fish. About 5 gallons for every inch of fish is recommended depending on what you are putting him with. I always recomend filtration though if you do weekly water changes it is not necessary. A 10-20 gallon tank, with a undergravel filter run by a small powerhead and a hang on bio-wheel would be ideal. Also a small air pump can keep the gas exchange up and keep your Ph from dropping. Around here all that would be about 40-45 dollars.
I have had my beta fish for two years and I keep him in a gallon sized tank with no filtration, I just change the water out weekly. I use distilled water since tap water is not acceptable...it will kill your fish. Some people argue that a gallon size tank is not big enough, but if you read the history of betas in their natural environment they are found very often in small puddles over in Asia. He has plenty of room to swim and no tankmates. Betas are really the easiest fish to take care of...just feed them beta food once a day, make sure not to overfeed them, dont put two males together, and change your water out. Good luck!
I do the same thing as above, gallon tank, one male, I change the water weekly but I use tap water and a ater treatment made for betas to make the water ok.
If you plan to keep any invertibrates like snails or shrimp don't use distilled as the copper from the distilling process will kill them. Yea, that would be me. How many gallon size puddles have you ever seen with fish in it? Betta's like all fish enjoy room to swim at different speeds and flow to swim against. You could keep a human alive in a closet by providing what they "need" but it wouldn't make them happy.
have you considered getting a rescued betta so as not to create a demand for more purchased bettas? They are kept in really craphole conditions. I know it's only a couple bucks but paying a pet store for a betta tells them it's ok to keep them like that. You could always go and..uh..not create a demand (wink)
I was wondering what you meant about getting a rescued Beta. I think I know what you meant about craphole conditions. I used to see Betas in small glasses in stores and I only found out a few years ago that those fish were painfully dieing slowly.
yeah, it's a shame what they do to poor bettas. They never look happy, and often times many are dead. I have two (m/f) in a nicely planted 20L. They are a special kind called crown-tails that I got from a fellow hobbyist. I didn't purchase mine from the pet stores, because even tho I felt sorry for them and thought they were beautiful, I didn't want the stores to make money on thier misery. Sad. But, my bettas are happy, and my male is busy building a bubble nest! Wonder what that means.....
