Your ready for a new pet fish. You’ve carefully weighed all your options and decided on a Betta fish as your new pet – great choice! As far as fish go, Bettas are one of the more intelligent species; they’ve been shown to recognize their owner and can even be taught to do tricks like pushing a ball through a ring with their noses or eating food from your hand. They’re also quite beautiful to look at with all their big, fluttering fins and brilliant coloring.
These fish often need just as much care, as any other fish in the fish keeping hobby. Below, we’ll cover all of the pet care basics that new and prospective Betta owners need to know.
Before running out to the pet store and picking out your new fish, it’s important to have everything you need. Here are the supplies and equipment you’ll need in order to own a betta fish:
Bettas are a rare type of fish (called labyrinth fish) that have the ability to absorb oxygen from air as well as through their gills when in water. This is why Betta fish have a higher tolerance for poor water quality and don’t necessarily need water filters or aerators. That said, a Betta’s bowl still needs to be cleaned and its water changed regularly to keep it happy and healthy. With proper care, your pet Betta can live anywhere between two and four years, sometimes even longer.
First, rinse your decorations with warm water to remove any impurities. Then place your decorations into the bowl and set up any filter equipment that you want to include inside the bowl or tank. Bettas thrive in water temperature that’s between 77 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s extremely important that you don’t place the bowl near air conditioners, vents, direct sunlight or anywhere else that could affect the water temperature or quality.
Once you’ve got the furnishings in place, fill the bowl or tank with tap water treated with dechlorinator or water conditioner. Always follow the directions on the back of the water conditioner to ensure a successful water treatment.
Fish are highly sensitive to fluctuating water conditions, so you’ll need to acclimate your Betta to its new home by putting it into a separate container (like a big glass) along with half the water that came with it from the pet store. Let the fish and water stand for about half an hour or until the temperature of the store water is equal to the water in the fishbowl. Then, add an equal amount of water from the fishbowl into the container with the fish, letting stand for about 20 minutes as the fish adjusts to change. Once the fish has adjusted, use a small fish net to remove the Betta from the container and place it in the fishbowl. Never introduce water from any local fish store or online website into your tank, as this can set off balance your aquarium’s ecosystem. Treat your tank as a closed system and quarantine any new fish for up to two weeks before introducing them into your tank. Keep the bowl and any containers your Betta will be in covered with a lid that has hole in it for airflow, as Betta fish can jump.
Never change the water in your Betta’s tank all at once, as sudden fluctuations could end up being fatal. Instead, replace your Betta’s water in 20-25 percent portions, preparing a few gallons of water ahead of time to cut down on your wait time. Water changes for Betta bowls that don’t have filtration units should be done weekly while those with units can be done every two weeks.
When it’s time for full cleaning, pour about 50 percent of the water from the fish bowl into a clean bucket, being careful not to stir up the gravel or waste that’s accumulated at the bottom of the bowl. Remove the fish with a net and place it, along with all bowl decorations, into the bucket. Use a clean paper towel to scrub the inside of the bowl and rinse it well with tap water (do not use soap), then clean all decorations, remove dead or rotting plant leaves and rinse the gravel in the bowl with tap water.
Once the bowl is clean, pour the old water with your fish in it from the bucket into the bowl and top it off with pre-treated tap water or bottled drinking water that’s been left out to reach the right temperature.
Despite the popular misconception that they like to nibble aquatic plant roots, wild Betta fish are insectivores and don’t eat plants. Your pet Betta fish should be fed pellet fish food, about two to six pellets per day. Bettas also enjoy eating freeze-dried brine shrimp, bloodworms and black worms, but these treats should be limited to just once per week.
More fish die from overfeeding than from starvation and Bettas are no exception. As a rule of thumb, feed your Betta only as much as it will eat in two minutes. For insects and worms, you have the option of feeding them to your fish live or dead, but if you feed them live worms you’ll need to rinse them off first. If you use gravel in your Betta’s fish bowl, steer clear of feeding your fish live food as it can hide in the gravel.
Betta fish have the nickname of Siamese or Japanese fighting fish because they’re extremely aggressive and tend not to do well together. Never put two male Bettas in the same tank together or you run a very high risk of one killing the other. In larger tanks, it’s possible to keep more than one female Betta together, also known as a sorority tank. But even female Bettas have been known to attack each other. But afterwards they find there order in the tank and no longer fight.
Goldfish generally cannot live with Betta fish several reasons. Betta fish are tropical fish and need water of at least 76 degrees Fahrenheit, while goldfish prefer cooler waters and can even live in icy water. Additionally, Bettas are insectivores while goldfish are omnivores, and goldfish tend to be bad fin-nippers, which won’t go over well with the Betta, which will bite back at a nippy fish. Bettas also do not do well with bigger or more colorful fish, as they’ll become intimidated and aggressive.
Here’s a list of fish and other aquatic creatures that do make good tank mates for Bettas:
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