Pet Information: Bottom Feeders
Bettas are a wonderful, but greatly misunderstood, fish. Like all tropical fish, they require a heater and at least 1 gallon of water, with a filter.
Basic Characteristics
LIFE SPAN: 3-7 years
AVERAGE SIZE: 2” to 3.5”+ depending on variety PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: Betta fish come in a variety of sizes, fin patterns, and colors. Examples of fin patterns include plakat, veil tail, half moon, crown tail, and double tail. Dragonscale bettas have fins more like a plakat betta, and each scale is well defined. A unique characteristic that bettas share with other anabantid fish is their labyrinth organ. This organ is a specialized structure that allows bettas to gulp air and extract oxygen from the air bubble. This adaptation allows bettas to survive in poorly oxygenated water; the warmer the water the less oxygen it holds, and bettas in the wild live in water that is commonly 80 Fahrenheit or even warmer. For this reason bettas must always have access to air. Feeding your Betta
Bettas are carnivores, and are predominately insectivorous in the wild. While the feed on insect larvae in the wild, you probably do not want to bring mosquito larvae into your home. Live food, like brine shrimp or bloodwoms, can carry parasites so it is safer to supplement prepared foods with frozen or freeze-dried varieties.
Bettas should be feed twice a day, though one "skip-day" each week can help with digestion and prevent bloating. Varying the diet, possibly with a "treat-day," can also be beneficial (and fun). All food should be consumed within 5 minutes, and any excess should be removed (I use a designated turkey baster when necessary). It is easy to overfeed your fish, so consider using the scoop included in the treat package shown below. Look for foods made specifically for bettas, with at least 38% crude protein. The ingredients are also very important, and the first three should be fish (NOT "fish meal"). Fillers such as wheat can cause bloating and constipation. "Fishmeal" is also a filler ingredient, and can contain wheat with fish by-products. I prefer the Omega One Betta Buffet flakes. It lists the actual fish used (salmon, black cod, and a mix of krill, rockfish, and shrimp), and includes kelp and vitamins to provide a well rounded diet. Important vitamins are listed on the ingredients and added in as supplements, instead of relying on other ingredients to supply them like some foods do. I had a betta bloat on pellets, but never on these flakes. Crumble the flakes into small pieces and most bettas gobble them up. Some bettas are picky, including mine, but after a few days even my pickiest betta gave the flakes a try and now he loves them. (He also prefers when the filter makes his food move around the tank, I guess chasing it is more fun) If your betta absolutely will not try the flakes, or tries but does not like them, this company also makes betta pellets. Treats for your Betta
The majority of your betta's diet, about 75%, should be commercial flake or pellet food. The remainder of their diet should be freeze dried or frozen foods.
This Dial-A-Treat includes bloodworms, mysis, and daphnia. I highly recommend getting this when buying a new betta so that you can see which treats your fish prefers, they do not all have the same preferences. I also use the little scoop to measure my bettas' flakes in addition to their treats. It is cheaper to buy one of these (or another) option in bulk, but only if your fish actually eats the option you chose. Behavior
Male betta fish are intolerant of each other, but female bettas can be housed in groups of at least 5 (called sororities) so long as hiding spaces are provided. Male bettas can be housed in the same aquarium so long as a divider separates them from having contact with each other. In this type of setup, males will display to each other across the barrier and hiding places are also necessary. Having a divider that is solid on one side and open on the other is preferable so the "loosing" fish can "flee." Contrary to popular belief, bettas make great community tank members. They get along very well with other community type fish as long as the other fish are not prone to nipping the long fins of bettas.
Tank Mates
Many people have been told that bettas must live by themselves in a tank, but this is simply not true. Two males cannot live together, however they can and do live happily in tanks with other types of fish.
Groups of females, called a sorority, can also be kept in larger tanks. It is generally a good idea to keep at least 5 of them together, in smaller groups the dominant female may harass the others. When stocking a tank, follow the general rule of 1 inch of fish per gallon. Check to make sure the fish you are considering have an average or low bioload (algae eaters, slender fish), allow 2 gallons per inch of fish for those with a higher bioload. *Read more about stocking here. Depending on what you want to stock with your betta, a different tank size is needed. Because they can be stocked with any tankmate from mystery snails to ghost shrimps, there is no minimum tank size rule and you must first consider your stock, your stock's bioload, your stock's swimming needs, your stock's substrate needs, your stocks's schooling needs, and your stock's territorial needs. Considering Stock for Your Community Tank Because, like people, all fish have different personalities, they may not always get along with each other even if they are compatibl tank mates. This is especially true when it comes to betta fish, who may be more territorial than other betta fish and may attempt to kill any addition to its tank. Keep this in mind as you attempt to stock a functioning community. You may end up purchases a school of tetras, for example, and not be able to stock them with your betta in which case you must figure out what to do with them. The following are generally accepted tankmates: Barbs: Schooling fish Cherry barb Corydorus Catfish: Schooling fish Albino cory Habrosus cory Habastatus cory Julii cory Leopard cory Panda cory Pygmy cory Guppies: Schooling fish "Feeder" guppy Non-colorful female guppy Loaches: Schooling fish Khuli loach Yoyo loach Platies: Schooling Fish Non-colorful platies Plecos: One-per-tank Bristle-nose pleco Bushy-nose pleco Rasboras Galaxy rasbora Harelquin rasbora Rasbora brigittae Scissor-tail rasbora Shrimp: Non-Schooling Amano shrimp Cherry shrimp Ghost shrimp Snails: Non-schooling Apple snail Malaysian snai Mystery snail Nerite snail Pond snail Tetras: Schooling fish Black neon tetra Black phantom tetra Bloodfin tetra Cardinal tetra Ember tetra GloFish Glowlight tetra Head and tail light tetra Neon tetra Pristilla tetra Rummy nose tetra Von-rio tetra X-ray tetra Please note that some of the schooling fish can be placed by themselves but prefer to be in a school, while others must remain in a school. Various cory catfish can school together. Before stocking your tank, please do research into the species you are considering. Find out their bioloads (high or low), water conditions, live plant needs, and other details that may pertain to the type of tank you are considering. Betta fish should be added after you place your community inside because otherwise the betta may become territorial and not welcome any newcomers. Be sure to watch the other fish too--tetras have been known for picking on betta fish by biting their tails. This can sometimes lead to death. |
Wild Betta Fish
 Klong in Thailand
Betta fish come from warm slow moving waters in Southeast Asia. They are commonly found in rice paddies and other slow moving bodies of water; the idea of them living in puddles is incorrect and contributes to poor living conditions. While rice paddies are "shallow" bodies of water, they range from about 1 to 4 feet deep.
"Betta splendens lives in paddy fields and associated ditches, in marshes and flooded grass pits and in the klongs (canals) of the residential parts of towns and villages. At different times of the year, they may be very numerous." The view that fighting fish often live in mudholes and therefore can be kept in such conditions is not really tenable (rationally defensible). The fish will exhibit their full finery in a well-established, balanced aquarium and it is only under such conditions that their keeper will be able to appreciate their beauty at its best." - Labyrinth Fish: The Bubble Nest Builders written by Horst Link and published by Tetra in 1991 Basic Tank Requirements
TANK SIZE: No less than 1 gallon for a single fish, with a filter. A larger tank, at least 2.5 gallons, is recommended; it will allow for a more stable temperature, proper nitrogen cycling, less maintenance, and a more active fish. Bettas that just sit in their cup often become vibrant, active, and highly entertaining fish when given adequate space to swim and explore.
COVER: Make sure your aquarium has an escape-proof cover, bettas are jumpers. It should fit snugly onto the tank with an area for the filter, heater cord, and any airline tubing to enter. TEMPERATURES: Aquarium temperatures should be monitored closely and kept around 78 degrees Fahrenheit. An appropriately sized aquarium heater should be used to maintain proper temperature for your fish. Sudden drops in temperature should be avoided as they stress fish and weaken their immune systems. Bettas are tropical fish and require a heater in their aquarium. Keeping betta fish at room temperature (below 74 degrees Fahrenheit) is not acceptable and many consider it cruel. If your betta is lethargic, it may very well be too cold (or the water quality may be poor). Buy an aquarium thermometer, either one that hangs in the tank or attaches to the outside of the glass, and check the temperature regularly. Tank Decorations
Which gravel and tank decorations are used largely depends on personal preference. Gravel comes in many different sizes and colors. If using gravel, rocks, or driftwood from outdoors, i.e. which were found outside somewhere, they need to be sterilized before using them in your aquarium. This is accomplished by boiling the items in a large pot of water for 20 minutes to 1 hour. If driftwood found outside is too large to boil, baking it in a low temperature oven (200F) for a few hours will also sterilize it. The wood must be monitored very closely/frequently as the baking process risks drying the wood out to the point where it can catch fire.
Other Information
AQUARIUM SETUP: Once you have set up your aquarium, the system needs to cycle. Cycling refers to the nitrogen cycle within the aquarium. Fish produce waste as ammonia. Beneficial bacteria convert toxic ammonia into slightly less toxic nitrites and finally nitrates. Nitrates are non-toxic except in very high concentrations. When you first set up an aquarium, these beneficial bacteria are not present and the ammonia level will rapidly increase. As the first type of good bacteria becomes established, ammonia levels drop and nitrites rise rapidly. As the second type of good bacteria becomes established, nitrite levels drop and nitrates rise gradually. Water changes remove these accumulated nitrates. This entire cycle, from ammonia spike to gradually increasing nitrates, takes roughly 1-2 months and may produce some transient cloudiness in the water. If you have a betta only aquarium, pay close attention to your pet betta during this cycling period for any signs of stress such as heavy breathing, lying on the bottom, or sores on the body and/or fins. Do partial water change immediately if you notice these signs! For larger community setups, it is important to buy only a few fish at first: 5 or less. After the first month, once the nitrogen cycle is nearly established, it is fine to add a few fish at a time until your aquarium is fully stocked. You can keep more than one male betta in a setup so long as there are dividers separating the fish. You can keep one male betta with one or more female bettas and other community fish without separating them. NEVER BUY ALL YOUR FISH AT ONCE FOR AN AQUARIUM. YOU RISK CAUSING A TOXIC AMMONIA OR NITRITE SPIKE, WHICH CAN KILL ALL THE FISH!
FILTRATION: The filter is one of the most important pieces of equipment in a betta’s aquarium setup. Filters remove solid fish waste, remove dissolved chemicals from the water, and provide surface area for beneficial bacteria that detoxify harmful waste compounds in the water. There are many types of filters from hang-on-the-side to canister filters to sponge filters. The most important aspect of picking the right filter is making sure the filter is rated to the size aquarium you have. This information will be on the filter packaging. It is always better to over-filter an aquarium than under-filter. When selecting a filter for a betta aquarium, choose a filter that does not create strong currents in the aquarium, as bettas prefer slow moving water. AERATION: An air pump, airline hosing, and airstone provide oxygenation to the water. Air pumps are sold based on the size aquarium they are used for. Because bettas are able to extract oxygen from air using their labyrinth organ, an air pump, airline hosing, and airstone are not required for betta only aquariums. If bettas are kept in a community aquarium with other fish, an air pump, airline hosing, and airstone are required for proper oxygenation of the water. LIGHTING: Fish require a clear day/night cycle to do well. Bettas are no exception to this rule. Since bettas come from tropical locations, the day night cycle should be as close to 12 hours on/12 hours off as possible. This is easily accomplished by buying a light timer. Keeping the lights on for more than 12 hours contributes to excess algae growth. Lighting comes in either fluorescent or incandescent fixtures. Fluorescent fixtures are better for aquariums containing live plants. WATER QUALITY: Water quality parameters are important to monitor. Changes in water quality can stress your fish and increase their susceptibility to diseases and parasites. Bettas, like other fish from Southeast Asia, usually require neutral water with average hardness. Pet stores or your exotics veterinarian who works with fish can test water for you. pH: measures the acidity or alkalinity of water. Ammonia: toxic to fish; it is excreted by fish and produced by decaying material (such as uneaten food). Nitrite: toxic to fish; it is the first product of the nitrogen cycle. Nitrate: only toxic in high concentrations; it is the end product of the nitrogen cycle, removed via water changes. Alkalinity/Carbonate Hardness: measures the buffering capacity of your water/its resistance to pH changes. General Hardness: measures the total hardness of your water. ACCLIMATING and QUARANTINING NEW FISH: Acclimating and quarantining new fish are important topics to cover. Simply dumping fish into an aquarium with different water quality parameters from their current water can shock the fish’s system and sometimes even cause death. Additionally, new fish can carry parasites and diseases that your fish may not have. Introducing new fish can therefore cause a disease or parasite outbreak with your previously healthy fish. New fish should be quarantined in a separate aquarium for 4 to 6 weeks. If you are keeping a single betta in an aquarium setup, this is not required. If any disease or parasite problems arise during the quarantine process, your regular tank full of your other fish are not exposed. If such a problem arises, we recommend contacting your exotics veterinarian for help diagnosing and treating the problem. There are two ways to acclimate fish. The first method is to float the bag containing the new fish in your aquarium for 15 to 20 minutes to equalize temperatures. At that point you can add a ½ cup to 1 cup of tank water to the bag (depending on the bag size). Wait another 15 to 20 minutes and then add another ½ to 1 cup of tank water to the bag. Repeat this cycle until you?ve added 4-5 times the original volume of water to the bag containing your new fish. At this point, catch your new fish out of the bag and release it into your quarantine aquarium. Discard the bag and water that the new fish arrived in. With the second method, dump the new fish and its water into a 5 gallon container (a clean bucket works well). Using airline tubing, start a siphon and trickle water into the bucket containing the new fish. After about an hour, or when the water volume in the bucket has more than tripled, you can net your new fish out of the bucket and introduce it to your quarantine tank. HABITAT MAINTENANCE: Water changes are the most important aspect of keeping happy healthy betta fish! A partial water change, up to 1/3 of the total water volume, needs to be done every two weeks to remove built up wastes and harmful dissolved compounds. If you are keeping a betta in a small tank without a filter (NOT recommended), then water changes need to be done every 7 days or more frequently. The easiest way to do water changes is with a gravel vacuum. A gravel vacuum is a large diameter tube connected to thinner, longer tubing. A siphon is started with the wastewater collected in a bucket or poured down the drain. The gravel vacuum sucks waste out of the gravel without removing the gravel itself. Replace removed water with dechlorinated water of the same temperature as the aquarium water. If using tap water, a commercial tap water conditioner must be used to remove chlorine and chloramines. Alternately, well water or spring water may be used to replace the removed water. NEVER COMPLETELY EMPTY AND CLEAN AN AQUARIUM - YOU WILL REMOVE BENEFICIAL BACTERIA THAT DETOXIFY HARMFUL WASTE COMPOUNDS! The media in an aquarium?s filter should be changed once a month to once every other month. Never change all filter media at once unless your filter uses single replaceable cartridges. Spot clean your aquarium as needed to remove uneaten food and scrape algae from the walls of the tank. SIGNS OF A HEALTHY ANIMAL: Healthy betta fish have vibrant colors, smooth skin, and swim normally, with fins held away from the body. You may even notice courtship between males and females or display/fighting behavior between males that can see each other through dividers. Healthy betta fish will also have a voracious appetite, often learning to come to the front of the aquarium as you approach to feed them. We recommend routine water testing daily to weekly for a brand new aquarium setup and monthly for an established aquarium. Many pet stores or your exotics veterinarian who works with fish can test water for you. We also recommend a physical exam with an exotic pet veterinarian for pet betta fish if you notice a change in appetite, swimming, breathing rate, or if you notice sores/growths on the fins and/or body of your pet. Physical exams are done using reversible sedation at your exotic veterinarian’s office. SIGNS OF ILLNESS: For most conditions, see your exotic pet veterinarian, who can properly address the condition and treat your pet. Most diseases in betta fish cause identical symptoms - basing treatment on how a fish looks often leads to mis-diagnosis and inappropriate treatment for diseases and/or parasites. SOME COMMON PROBLEMS INCLUDE: HEALTH ISSUE: SYMPTOMS: TREATMENT: External Parasites Rubbing on objects in the aquarium (flashing), small sores on the skin and fins, heavy breathing, clamped fins, white spots on the body See an exotic pet veterinarian Internal Parasites White stringy feces, decreased appetite, thin stomach or swollen stomach, clamped fins See an exotic pet veterinarian Bacterial Infections Decreased appetite, small sores on the skin and fins, rubbing on objects in the aquarium (flashing), swollen stomach, swollen eyes, clamped fins See an exotic pet veterinarian Fungal Infections Decreased appetite, small sores on the skin and fins, white cottony growth on the skin, clamped fins See an exotic pet veterinarian BETTA FISH COMPATABILITY: Bettas make wonderful additions to community tank setups as long as only one male betta is added to the aquarium. Male bettas will fight and injure each other if kept together. One or more female bettas can be kept in the same tank as a male betta so long as they have hiding places available. Both male and female bettas get along very well with other non-betta fish. The following was taken from the “Freshwater Fish” care sheet to provide more information on betta-friendly community fish: Peaceful/Community Fish: This group of fish can easily be mixed together without any aggression or predation problems. This group of fish includes some of the hardiest and most easily kept fish, allowing you to keep groups of them in a smaller space than larger growing fish. Examples of these fish include: livebearers (mollies, platys, and guppies), small growing barbs, most tetras (schooling), rasboras (schooling), danios (schooling), white cloud mountain minnows (schooling), killifish, small growing catfish species such as corydoras (schooling) or hoplosternum catfish, algae eaters such as bristle nosed plecostomus or otocinclus catfish (avoid the common plecostomus as they grow very large and do not eat much algae once mature), certain dwarf cichlids such dwarf gouramis, and of course bettas. *Fish marked “(schooling)” should be kept in groups of at least 5 to 6 individuals. Keeping these fish by themselves causes stress and an increased susceptibility to diseases. REMEMBER: Bettas require warmth, light, and filtration just like any other tropical fish. While they may survive in a bowl with no supplemental heat or filtration, this is not humane unless water changes are done AT LEAST once weekly and the bowl is kept in a room that never goes below 74 degrees Fahrenheit. No Exceptions! ©2012 Evan J. Reed DVM and Dawn M. Trainor-Scalise |
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