Can you tell me as much as you know about betta fish feeding, tank cleaning, tank size, breeding, ect?
29 March 2010
5 Comments
I really want to know a lot about my fish. He is a male and lives in a 1/2 gallon fish bowl right now. The bowl has two betta plants (fake) in it.
First off, your male really will appreciate a much larger tank, I personally wouldn’t keep one in any less than 5 gallons. They are surprisingly active fish and a tiny 1/2 gallon doesn’t provide them with that vital space. In such a tiny volume you’re also like to cause the fish suffering from water quality problems (the smaller the volume, the harder it is to care for!) as well as not being able to heat the tank nor filter it.
An active little Betta that I used to have in his hospital tank:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1xJQUuJ6n0
Bettas have the same needs as any other small tropical fish, a stable, heated environment with good filtered water quality (FYI adding your fish straight into a brand new filtered tank will cause new tank syndrome and the likely loss of the fish, read up on the nitrogen cycle).
Have a read through these:
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Betta_splendens
http://www.bettatalk.com
Forget about breeding, it’s complex and you need to dedicate about a year of your time for the spawning and raising of fry, as well as a whole room in your house.
edit: FYI Bettas don’t come from "mud holes" or "mud puddles" that’s a myth pet stores invented based on some wild fish getting trapped in small volumes of water in the dry season in their native Thailand. They actually come from vast but shallow rice paddies as well as lakes, streams and slow-moving forest rivers. These waters are not "dirty" because they have mud in them, they are naturally filtered by rains and the biological matter around them, its very healthy and drinkable water, if a little silty!
As for the care of your fish right now, you will have to do bi or tri weekly 50% water changes – this is very stressful for the fish which is why filtered tanks (which only need weekly partial water changes) are better – with dechlorinated tap water that has been allowed to warm up to the same temp as the tank water.
For feeding, very sparingly, they are prone to digestive disorders. I would feed mine Attison Betta Pro, between 2-4 pellets a day, and skip a day once a week, they would also get supplements of bloodworm and brine shrimp as well as cooked deshelled pea which acts as a fish laxative.
Betta Fishies, um ya. They generally kill each other when there isn’t enough space…. a 10 gallon tank can fit 2 Betta’s…. hm. I would just go with NEON tetra! they’re cute, move in groups, and NEON! Hope this helps! =D
My family owned a pet store for some years so I know a little bit about these…They are really easy to take care of. Where they are originally from they live in mud hole type things (i forget where..sorry) so they are pretty hardy. I wouldnt feed it too much they dont need too much food and it just messies up the tank. I would feed it daily though. Its supposedly not needed but I would feel bad for the little fellow. Dont put another fish in the tank with him. If you put another male (in another tank) up next to him you will see them blow up at each other. If they are in the same tank they will kill each other. The female betas are not colorful at all like your male. If you get a female you need to talk to the people at the pet store about breeding them etc i have forgotten all this..but the females lay eggs even when they arent babies in them. They just look like little bubbles on top of the water. Its really cool actually. I would just clean the tank when it gets gross just make SURe to put de chlorinator (sp?) in the new water or it will kill your fish! You can go to a place like pet smart or your local little pet shop and get a book on betas..Ours in our store were around 7 dollars and they really had a lot of info in them! Sorry I have forgotten a lot of stuff its been a few years since our pet store..but good luck!
Oh and I have 2 betas right now and they dont have a heater or anything. You dont need all that. Just dont let it get hot or cold.
usually male betta’s can not live with other male bettas. because they will fight with each other. but female betta’s could live with each other.
for breeding time.. you have to find a female that is ready to mate. female beta’s have a white dot underneath her belly..
they are egg layers…
when a male beta is ready to mate. he will make bubbles and prepare himself. make sure he is alone in his own tank about 2 inches of water. use a 10 gallon tho. and when he makes enough bubble for his nest, put the female in and he’ll chase her and when she’s ready to mate with him. he then raps her and squeezes so her eggs will fall.. he picks the eggs up and put them in the bubble that he has already made.. sometimes the female might help or might just wanna snack on the eggs.. they do this process for awhile until he sees that she has no more eggs and chases her off… thats when they are done spawning……. move the female out and leave the male beta to take care of his nest. the eggs will drop and his duty is pick up the eggs and put them back in the nest.. the female usually checks on his nest to see if there is enough bubble. if there isnt enough she will not mate until she knows its enough.
within 2 days. there should be lil’ fry beta’s… but the fry’s will have a hard time getting some air. the daddy will still suck them in his mouth and blow them back to the nest so they can stay up or get some air.
i say. leave him for 3 days.. but once the lil’ frys starts to swim. make sure to take the daddy out because he’ll begin to eat his off springs…
during this time of spawning.. he probably will not eat anything but you can still feed him.
do some water changes once a week.
Your best bet is to go to a pet store, book store, or your local library, and get a book or 3 about Bettas. That is the best way to learn everything there is to know about your fish. There is too much to put in a little "answer" box.
For the basics, he should be in a bigger tank. At least a 2.5 gallon with heater and filter. He might survive in a bowl, but he won’t thrive. You should feed him Hikari Bio-Gold Betta pellets. I fed mine 4-6 baby size pellets every day.
As for breeding, don’t even attempt it. It is best left for the experts. Often times the female is severely wounded if you don’t know how to properly go about it, and if you do manage to get a good number of viable fry, all the males have to be separated. Where are all those tanks going to come from, and where are they all going to go? We’re talking about possibly dozens of separate habitats. You don’t even know what you’re going to do with them. What if nobody is interested in buying them? It’s way too complicated and way too expensive for someone who doesn’t breed Bettas as a profession.
Keep one or two (separated, of course) for your own enjoyment, and be happy with that.
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