'For anyone who has a betta fish or is thinking of getting one' Fish

For anyone who has a betta fish or is thinking of getting one

Myth: Bettas are happiest in small fish bowls because they lived in tiny mud puddles in the wild.

Fact: Bettas lived in shallow waters, but not tiny puddles. Their natural habitat (rice paddies, etc.) often spanned several acres. They do well in shallow water, but they (like all fish) also crave space to swim. Shallow does not equal cramped. In fact, most fish bowls give them the opposite: deep water with little room to swim from side to side.

Properly cared for, a betta can live five or more years. The most common cause of death in bettas stems from lack of exercise.

Their natural habitat is very warm. Bettas are tropical fish and do not thrive in cold water. They prefer a temperature in the high 70s/low 80s. All betta breeders and hobbyists keep their fish in heated aquariums.

Additionally, their very large fins are very prone to rotting, which quickly becomes a problem in dirty water. The smaller the aquarium, the more frequently you need to do water changes!

Please do not keep your betta in a tiny bowl. They are kept like that in a pet store because they cannot live with other bettas and most stores don't have room for individual betta tanks. That does not mean you should take your fish home and put it right back in a tiny bowl! Bettas are fish, and fish need to swim. Contrary to popular belief, they are very active; they appear listless at the pet store due to poor water quality, cold temperatures and no room to spread out.

The absolute minimum tank size recommended by betta experts is one gallon. A one gallon tank and heater usually costs less than an ornamental fish bowl.

Do you want a decoration, or do you want a pet? If you want a decoration, get a plant. If you want a pet, please practice responsible pet ownership and give your fish the best habitat possible-- he will be far more active, vibrant and healthy in a clean, large, heated tank. (As with any other fish!)

Back then (like 15 yrs ago) we got a betta and put him in a 90 gal aquarium with various other aquarium fish. He was one of the most active fish in the tank. He was in with 1 or 2 small mbunas, various tetras, bala shark, severam, gourami, misc community fish. He swam all through the tank and certainly seemed to be happy.

I am currently running a 125 gallon aquarium with 1 male beta in it. He is one of the most entertaining fish in the tank. He swims all through the tank checking things out. Occasionally he puffs out at various fish in the tank, but he doesn't attack anyone. Originally I had the tank set up mostly with rocks (was going to be an mbuna tank) and the beta had all his fins bit off by a mean gourami. I put him in a fry net till his fins regrew and changed the tank layout on the next water change. Problem solved.

The tank is currently set up with LOTS of fake plants, some stone pavers I bought at home depot to build caves with. Standard gravel with a canister filter. I keep the pH around 7.8-8 and temperature around 80 deg F.

This is what I have in with the beta

1 red betta

1 std pleco

1 L114 Leopherd pleco

1 L333 Yellow King Tiger Pleco

1 L264 Sultan Pleco

14 zebra danio (they were 68 cents a piece)

6 Neons

1 Pictus catfish

1 Golden Ram Cichlid

1 Dwarf gourami (mostly blue with red stripes)

4 Dwarf Honey gouramis

1 Gold Gourami

1 Opaline Gourami

I think having tons of silly little fish like the school of danios helps make all the fish in the tank less aggressive. I think the masses of plants also help protect the fish because the territorial fish seem to be making smaller territories. Before I made the tank layout change the gold gourami was beating my betta up.

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