Lets cut to the chase because life is short. Ive created this 10 step guide to betta fish care for people to read and properly care for their fish. Im the owner of FishAquariumGeeks and this is my life (keeping fish).
- Supplies List Items You Need
- Tank Size Does Matter
- Carnivore Diet Food
- Overfeeding Kills Fish
- Water Quality
- Aggression Levels
- Water Temperature Heater
- Clean Water
- Filtration Facts
- Tank Mates & Other Fish
Visit this page (click here) to view the supplies list you need for betta fish. Owning a Betta fish isnt as simple as just buying a fish bowl and the fish itself (common disbelief). There is a list of items you need for keeping a betta fish. You can save money by buying an aquarium kit because a lot of the items are all in one.
Visit this page here to view our needed supplies list.
Some even include kits where aquariums come with little lights and filters all built into them. This is a great size for one betta fish and they will greatly appreciate the size expansion versus the little cup you bought it in. I would love it if everyone used bigger tanks than 5 gallons but I know it just isnt feasible to wish upon. If it helps spark your interest at all, Walmart sells 10 gallon aquariums for around $12 dollars.
You can also save a lot of money buying package deals with filters and all the needed components.
The betta is a meat eating carnivore. Feeding your fish those crappy flakes or pellets just isnt cutting it. I would advise getting them some good food like bloodworms or dried shrimp. This food (image below) is one of the best routes. Its designed specifically for bettas by one of the best food suppliers on the market (Omega One). I would advise it.
The most common issue I see people have is my betta fish will not eat! He will starve to death! Lets dissect this a little bit. A betta fishs stomach is the size of their eyeball. That means after feeding them one of those pellets, there stomach is now full for the day. It takes a betta 2 full weeks to starve to death. Thats 14 days without eating and that means your fish is fine and wont starve to death. Its a very common issue for Bettas to over eat and have digestion issues. Feed them once a day at the same time of the day for a routine schedule if possible. Over feeding them causes bloating and other issues.
Be strict when feeding your Betta fish and know they need less food than you think.
Most people have this thought that their betta fish needs bottled water. Thats wrong. The betta is actually a pretty tough camper when it comes to water. The thing that needs to be watched is chlorine. Buy a basic water conditioner and apply it to your water from your faucet before putting it in your tank. Its that simple.
Add the amount of water conditioner as per instructions on the bottle. I use a small bucket to fill the water with just because its easy to add the conditioner. I will repeat, the conditioner needs to be added before that new water goes into your fish tank. The conditioner works instantly to make the water safe of any chemicals for the fish. Dont make this more complicated than it is.
The most common step that is skipped by beginners is the thought of beneficial bacteria I KNOW IT SOUNDS complicated but it really is not. Lets explain this dumb-ified and maybe that will help. Your tank needs to be thought of as an ecosystem because that is what we are replicating (mother nature aka the outdoors where fish live). Beneficial bacteria make the water easier for the fish to live in. With a brand new tank, you need some of this good bacteria. This bacteria grows on plants, rocks and decor. When you are at the pet store buying your fish, ALSO BUY a fake plant or decoration or rock from an established aquarium. Tell the employee your tank needs beneficial bacteria. They will KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN. Transport this decor in a bag of water to your new tank. This will make your new tank an ecosystem.
The betta fish is also known as the Japanese Fighting Fish. It gets that name from its tendency to fight by nature. The male sex of these fish are extremely aggressive and will fight to the death. Male Bettas cannot be roommates with other fish and there are no exceptions. I dont care about the 1% of people out there that have experimented with this and found a nice male. Experimenting like this is not right to the fish and morally wrong in my opinion. Fish get lots of stress when put in the wrong environment and stress causes fish to die. Long story short, male Bettas are not to be put with any other fish. Females can be happily put with other tropical
fish and get along great with each other.
When you buy your betta, they usually come in a small cup without heated water. It actually works out nice for us because our room temperature is around their tropical water temps. Water temperature for these fish should be between 75-82 degrees Fahrenheit. The safest route would be to have a heater on your tank if you think your room temp might lower from that range. Figure on 5 watts of heater power for every gallon of water your tank has. With a small tank, heaters are very cheap and will cost under $5 US dollars usually.
*Side Note: Some people are under the impression that a light on your tank is enough to heat the water but it really isnt most lights that come on tank setups are LEDs and give off barely any heat what so ever. For more information on lighting and what schedule the lighting should be on for sleep time and
such visit this link.
Changing the water in your tank is just simple laws of science. With the fish waste and uneaten food that decays, water needs to be changed on a weekly basis at minimum.
Warning: the average person thinks to change 90% of the water in the tank at once. It just makes the most sense to us but the matter is, its very unsafe for your fish. Reason being, fish become use to the water parameters. That previous water is what they were used to and when you pour 90% new water in the tank, the fish goes into shock. It only knows the old water and its organs dont know how to handle the new water. Change only 40-50% of the
tank water to keep some of the old water that the fish has acclimated to.
Water clarity is an important factor for betta fish. They need their water clean and free of bacteria. Without beating around the bush, there are lots of sicknesses that run with the betta and poor water conditions. White dots on their skin that are parasites breeding and more gross stuff like that. The betta is a tropical fish and you cant run away from needing clean water. Buy an aquarium filter and do regular tank water changes. Ill keep it as simple as that.
Stick to a schedule of every couple of days.
Your not crazy for wanting to play with your pet fish. There are days I wish I was swimming inside my aquarium. A happy fish is a healthier fish. Here is a fun trick that some of you can do. Obtain a small mirror and put it up to the aquarium glass. You will notice your male get all boasted and ready to puff out. This is his territorial fighting side coming out. Its good for the betta to change things up and have their scans rips change a bit. Dont leave the mirror there too long just for his health sake. I have seen videos of betta owners teaching their fish to jump out of the water to snatch their food. It blew me away and made me realize the sky is your limit. These fish are awesome.. its just that simple.
Betta fish have some weird digestion issues that sometimes arise. Ive noticed most of them come from over feeding the fish and poor nutrition. There is a trick to solve these problems. Your common household Pea helps their digestion system. Most peas come precooked and those are what you use. Remove the skin and cut up into tiny pieces that the betta can eat. Drop these on the surface and watch them eat them. This does wonders for their nutrition and digestion.
These are the most crucial variables for taking care of Betta fish. Hopefully my grammar and spelling wasnt to hard on you. Let me know what you think and how your journey is going with your fish. I would love to hear from you. Im just an average Joe myself looking to see your tank setup. Best of luck to you.
Posted by Salama:
I bought a betta fish yesterday and bought a 2 gallon tank is this size good and thanks you have helped me alot! Ive had betta fish survive 3 and half years old!!:). Salama:)
Reply from Admin Chris:
I would say thats pretty long and its cool to see how long these fish can live. I have seen a lot of talk about the betta only being able to live for so long because of breeding issues and eggs building up in the females but Im not sure I believe it. I havent had great success with having females live for longer than 3 years though which is kinda sad. I would love to know any stories on female bettas living for as long as possible.
Posted by Muuka:
When we got our first betta when I was about 7yrs old (Im 26 now so long time ago)
It lived in a smallish tank (maybe 1gl We didnt do internet or research stuff all that much. Besides what my mom was told by the petstores for info) I learned they are carnivore eaters too.
of course my mom was used to taking care of fish alot from her childhood and working in a petshop herself. So she did water changes very often.
But he lived almost 7years with us. Until he was murdered by my ex-step dads lies he claimed he got his friend to petsit for us while we were in cali and so alot of our pets suffered for it (the bettas water dried up sadly)
He was a fierce betta too lol flared at everything, and would jump out of the water and bite your finger when you went to give him food, or put your fingers near his hair holes (had a lid with holes cuz hed jump out at you) Hence his name was Psycho =P
I love betta fish (and other fish) I research alot now. An Im always learning new things (like I didnt know the thing about the pea until your vid) Im on bettafish dot com I only have 1 betta right now (hes sick from when I was away no one changed his water so hes in his 1gl for treatment.) till he goes into his new 10gl planted tank.
Posted by Kathy:
Chris I have a question about feeding frozen food, primarily brine shrimp and blood worms. I have a hard time judging the amount. It seems like after I melt the portion I have cut off from the block, I cant compare it to the size of my betas eyeball since it is so watery. Do you have any suggestions? btw, loved your video. I am a betta owner for just 6 months so Im learning all of the time and your video is just excellent for newbies like me. Thanks.
Reply from Admin Chris:
What the fish can eat within 5 minutes once a day is going to be the proper amount. Its awesome to see newbies getting involved into the fish community. You gotta love this darn hobby.. its so addicting.
Posted by Julia:
Hi . Ive had my betta fish for a little over a month now.. He seems to be doing great. Vibrant colors, swimming around, eating. I just went to turn off his tank light and noticed his head is turning white! Please help! I do a 40% water change once a week with chlorinated water.
Reply from Admin Chris:
White dots are known as ich most of the time. You need to do a search on curing ich. Here is a quick guide I will throw together. maybe do some more extensive research regarding it.
Curing Ich Guide:
1. Clean the tank gently. Clean inside glass too.
2. Do a 30% water change EVERY DAY
3. Raise the temperature in the 80s
4. Add the dosage of Quick Cure product
5. Add 1 teaspoon of aquarium salt for ever 2 gallons of water
6. Rinse and Repeat daily until this illness is gone
Posted by Stacy:
I just got a new betta because my last one died, I believe he had the Popeye illness, but I was wandering for my new one will it hurt to reuse the tank after Ive cleaned it thourghly? And I have also seen in different sites that some recommended not using plastic decor for the tank.
Reply from Admin Chris:
I wouldnt think so. What might not hurt is to use a saturated solution of aquarium salt in the tank prior to putting your fish in there. Salt really kills that stuff at a rapid pace. You could also use the dry out effect where you let the tank dry for some time and just know that most of those illnesses live only in water and die off. Its good you take action on the fact of the illness though like you are.
Posted by Brian:
Siamese Fighting fish* they are native to Thailand.
Posted by Joel:
Can you please help me?my betta fish does not eat dried bloodworms it does not eat pellets too.what do i do?
Reply from Admin Chris:
Go to your pet store or Walmart and buy dried shrimp Sometimes it can be found in the turtle food section. They love shrimp.
Posted by Helena: hi, ive had my betta for a little shorter than a year and this past 2 or 3 months it has been floating at the corner of the tank vertically. i went to arizona and left it with my neighbors. before i did i changed the tank water (i pour my fish into a smaller container than clean out the gravel and add new warmer water than dump my fish back in) i know that my fish could go into shock but i dont know how to make it get used to the water. i also dont know if the water im putting in the tank is healthy. i live in fullerton and i searched up that they dont put flouride in the city tap water. i was wondering if that made it less healthy for your fish. Also, my neighbor told me it has been laying on its side and switching locations every day or so. i called petsmart and they said that it had to do with the temp so i swapped the water out for warmer water. i could tell that it had trouble swimming and didnt gave that much energy and it was kind of swimming on his side. so far hes had 2 sudden bursts of energy zapping around tonight then sunk back down. right now hes at the bottom of the tank taking deep gulps rapidly. hes also loosing his color! hes naturally a deep purple and blue. he hasnt been eating so tomorrow i will go to petsmart and get him some blood warms and dried shrimp. ill also buy peas. and if that doesnt work ill try epsom salt. as for everything else, PLEASE HELP
Posted by Tirza: Hi you can not really find out the age of a fish but the most accurate way is there colour or you can ask a worker at the pet shop for the exact date have fun. chris dont think that you are hurting your fish it just says that most bettss DONT like them but if your fish likes them then that is okay. yes it is okay you can keep a a betta in a 10 gallon and 1 gallon less does not matter but dont do 5 less or so 1 or 2 at the most.
Posted by Kayla: okay so I hope to get a betta fish for my birthday. I have been doing some research and theres a lot to take in. I know 1.5 gallon is on the small side but its all my parents will allow me to have will my fish be unhealthy because of this? what types of plants should I get for the tank? and I have seen a lot of videos about sponge filters what are they and should I get one?
@Reply: I just bought a betta and didnt want to put in in a one gallon bowl so therefore I put him in my 30 gallon tank, he seems to be struggling to swim in the water because of the air bubbles.should I take him out ?
@Reply: Hey I have 2 female bettas can I add a male betta without dividing the tank
I need to know ASAP
Thanks Usman
Posted by Alex: Hi I got a betta from Petco about 2 days ago. When I saw him in the store he seemed healthy. He had built a bubble nest in his container, so I saw that as a good sign. (That is a good sign right?) I already had a tank set up at home. I have live plants in it that dont look like they are doing to well. My tank has a heater and thermometer, and the day I got the betta the temp. was around 72 degrees which I thought was fine. I have no filter in my tank because I read that bettas do not like a strong water current. its also a personal beleif of mine that filters are death traps.
I have seen more than one fish die because they got caught in one. My tank set up had been sitting for about a week before I got my betta. I treated the water with water conditioner, but I looked at the date an it said to use it by june 2013 I think.(Does water conditioner expire?) This was my first time getting a fish in a few years. I have had a lot of fish die on me, and I didnt want it to happen again. Unfortunately it did. My betta hadnt eaten anything since the time I got him and wasnt swimming around much. He would sit at the bottom of tha tank and only swim to the top when he needed air.
He seemed lethargic to me, I wasnt sure what to do. I thought maybe my water temperature was to cold, because it can get very cold in my room. I turned up my heater a few degrees maybe to around 76? That didnt seem to help. When I checked on him last night he was resting on a floating long toy I got him. He wasnt in it, but on it very close to the waters surface. He did not look good at all, he looked like he was sick and about to die soon. I woke up this morning and went to check in him and I thought he had moved to a new area in the tank. I was hapoy for a second because I thought it might mean he was doing better, but on closer inspection he looked dead.
I knew he was dead then, but there was a part of me that was hoping he was just resting so I left him alone. I checked again a couple hours later and I knew he was definetly dead. I know it was stupid of me, but it was really depressing beacuase Ive been doing research and saving up my money for a couple months now and I was finally ready to get my fish and he just dies on me. Of course I wanted to hope against hope that he hadnt really died. I feel horrible and I like everything I did was wrong. I didnt do a water test and I had read about bio-filtration, but wrote it off as not that important.
I didnt just go out and by this fish on whim I did my research. I watched yours and others peoples videos online, I read many articles, and a few books. I thought I was ready tk get a betta. He wasnt in a tiny bowl either I had him in a 10 gallon tank. I also did a about a 20% water the day after I got him because there were dead leaves and some other junk floating at the top of the tank. I treated the new water that I put in, and let it set for an hour to acclimate to the tanks water temperature. I checked it witn a thermoter and it seemed fine. Also the day I got my betta I didnt just throw him the tank I let him set in my room for about an hour so his container water would be the same as my tank water.
After an hour I put his container in my tank and let it float in there for about 15min. just as an extra precaution. Im trying to figure out what I did wrong. Im hoping I can go into petco today and have them do a water test for me, and maybe to talk to one of the employees about it. (I might not because it seems like sometime they dont know that much about the fish) Can you help at all or give me any advice? Please, I dont want to kill another betta.
Thank you,
Alex
Posted by Tristan: Wonder if u can help me
Ive had my new male betta for 15 days now.
rescued him from a local pet shop which he was kept in a small 2 2 litre container.
Hes now in a marina style 35 litre with live plants, heater n lighting n filtration.
He settled in fine n happy
I did a 30 % water change 2 days ago n of course added tap safe n aquarium salt when adding fresh water.And ever since then hes been constant pacing back n forth the left side of the tank.
My other male betta is so chilled n has the same 35 litre tank set up n hes just a chilled dude.
Ive draped a white t-shirt over that side incase he was getting stressed by catching glimpses of his own reflection in the glass due to the pacing n Ive also
Kept the light off too.
He does still eat luvs his worms then goes back to the pacing.
He has no visible symptoms or any other illness what so ever.
Any ideas as to why hes doing this would be peace of mind for me just want a happy boy.
Thanx
Posted by Karen: Hi I like ur video I just bought a male betta fish for my son today and he wants two so can we put male and female together in one tank please I want to know.
Posted by Tina: I bought a new aquarium and on the back of the aquarium box it says to use the Whisper HT10 but Petco said that is too big for my tank. I dont know what to do. Do I get one that turns on and off depending on the water temp, or the one that stays at a temp and doesnt move at all? I am so confused. My betta is at 71 degrees right now and moves a lot, is he ok or no?
Also, mu sisters Fish has the same tank and he seems like he sees his reflection or something because he flares a lot. Esp. when the light is on, any suggestions on what to do?
So happy I founds your blog, you know more than the people at the stores
Thank you!!!!
Tina
Can u make a new video telling us viewers about your fish and personality of them I think it would be entertaining but its your choice you know im only a 13 year old and am so interested in animals such as betta fish dogs cats bunnys any type of farm animal I prob have but betta fish are my favorite I love how u show your point of view with us and how much u have helped me you are a great help thank u so much
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Lets cut to the chase because life is short. Ive created this 10 step guide to betta fish care for people to read and properly care for their fish.
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