You can find suitable betta food in dry form such as flakes and pellets for feeding betta fish. Flakes can be crushed between your fingers to become smaller flakes or even powder form. Pellets obtained from stores are usually packed in convenient dispenser packages that allow you to tap out one pellet at a time. This form of packaging is convenient to be used for small feeds. If you are giving one betta food, one pellet is sufficient for one feeding. Pellet is considered as the most convenient form of food. As betta has a small mouth, very small pellets should be selected for its food.

Frozen betta food available in stores includes brine shrimps and bloodworms. The disadvantage of this form of food is that it is difficult to obtain a small portion to feed just one betta in a bowl. It is easier to use this type of food for feeding several fishes. If you are feeding your betta with other fishes, you can leave a small piece of frozen food in a little water to defrost. When it is defrosted, you can sieve out one or two worms or shrimps for your betta and use the rest to feed the other fishes. Frozen foods must always be kept frozen. It is advisable not to thaw and refreeze these foods. Blood worm is the most common type frozen food for betta.

Freeze-dried betta food is very convenient to use. You can simply pick one or two free-dried bloodworms or shrimps and drop it into the container for your betta. Freeze-dried foods should be kept in airtight containers. Live food suitable for feeding includes shrimps, bloodworms and mosquito larvae. Some live foods can remain alive for a period of time in the water and allow your betta to be fed over a period of time. There is no fear of these organisms decomposing and making the water dirty.

As seen from the above, there are many kinds of betta foods available. You can select the types most suitable for your use. Bettas survive well with live foods as well as prepared foods. All these food can provide proper nutrition for them.

Copyright : Rose Mary

In order to ensure that your betta have adequate nutrition, it is better to feed it with a variety of betta food. There is a great variety of live foods as well as prepared foods available at stores. You can select a few types of betta food to feed it. You need to vary the type of food to provide a balanced diet for it. Besides, this will also prevent it from getting used to a single type of betta food.

Bettas require a high protein diet. They mainly eat small animals which they can swallow whole or with only a few bites. Besides proteins, they need carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. Proper feeding with the right betta food not only can help to make them strong, it can also enhance their colours.

If you are feeding a single betta, you can use one pellet, flake or live organism which is considered sufficient for one feeding. Fish is cold-blooded. While warm-blooded animals use food to produce body heat, cold-blooded animals do not. These creatures have lower calorie requirements. Many warm-blooded animals may starve to death if they go without food for a few days whereas most fishes can survive without food for more than a week.

It is important not to overstuff a betta with too much betta food in one feeding. This will cause its belly to bulge. This condition can sometimes be fatal. It is also advisable not to feed it too frequently without giving any breaks. This can result in the betta suffering from obesity or some forms of degenerative diseases. Bettas tend to eat as much as possible the amount of food given to it, hence, you need to exercise caution in feeding it with the appropriate quantity. If your betta shows no interest in eating when food is given, then most probably it has fallen sick. Unless the betta is spawning or tending a nest, there is no reason that it would not be attracted to food.

The above are some tips on feeding betta fish which you can take note in your betta care. You need to provide adequate betta food for your fish to remain healthy and colourful. In particular, varying the type of betta food is necessary to maintain a proper diet for it. 

Copyright : Rose Mary

Bettas need exercise to maintain good health. Hence, the betta fish bowl you use for keeping your betta should be large enough for it to swim about. Bettas are meat eaters, so they must be fed with meat-based food. In wild environments, their main foods are insects, worms and small crustaceans. It is important to note that bettas are tropical fish and they come from warm habitats. Thus, they need a warm environment to survive well. Ideally, the temperature of the water in the fish bowl or tank where they are kept should be around 27º C. In order to maintain this temperature, an aquarium heater may be necessary in some cases.

The volume of water recommended in the betta fish bowl depends on the frequency you intend to change the water. If you intend to change the water once a week, it is recommended that you give your betta at least 4 litres of water in the fish bowl. If a litre of water is used, you will need to change the water about every two days. Keeping the water too long in a small betta fish bowl will cause the water to be toxic, being full of wastes. Thus, if you keep your betta in a small betta fish bowl with just 250ml of water, you will need to change the water every day!

Male betta fishes have an aggressive fighting behaviour. When a male betta fish sees another male betta fish, he will tend to give a dramatic display. Probably, he may initially hover around at the bottom of the container with his fins partially folded. Then, he will rise from the bottom, unfurls his fins and spreads them widely. Flaring his fins, he will lunge at the other male betta fish. If the other betta fish also gives a dramatic display of his own, a fight will ensue. Both bettas will be injured as a result of the fight. Most of the time, their fins and gills will be damaged which may give rise to fin rot. It is interesting to note that a male betta fish preparing to breed will give the same kind of display when he sees a female betta. Hence, it is advisable to refrain from keeping two male bettas together, as well as a male and a female betta together unless you are trying to breed them. If two betta females are placed together in a fish bowl, they usually do not attack each other.

The above are some points you need to take note when providing betta care. These points are important if you want it to live well. In particular, you need to take note of the aggressive behaviour of male betta fishes and the precautions to take. Good betta care helps your betta maintain good health.

Copyright : Rose Mary

In order to prevent betta diseases, you need to provide clean water for the betta, right water temperature, good betta food and appropriate quantity of food. If all these are taken care of, your betta will be kept healthy. On the other hand, if you give your betta dirty water, cold temperatures, lousy food, insufficient food or too much food, your betta will be prone to suffer health problems. When changing water, it is better to use water of the same temperature. This is to prevent shock to the betta due to sudden change of water temperature. Also, the water used should have been treated to remove chlorine compounds.

It is advisable to keep your new betta fish alone in a betta fish bowl, without sharing water with other fishes for about a month, when you first brought it home. The purpose of doing this is to allow some time for any disease the betta is carrying to manifest itself. In this way, you can treat the betta disease while your betta is in the betta fish bowl without allowing it to infect other fishes. After the infection is treated, you can transfer it to the tank and allow it to stay with the other fishes. Fishes do not need to come into contact with one another to spread a disease. Things such as fish nets and water hoses can transfer pathogens from one container to another.

How do you know that your betta is sick? A healthy betta has fine colour, good fins, looks lively and seems interested in its surroundings. If a betta is sick, it will not display one or more of these signs. In particular, clamped fins are good signs of a sick betta. If a betta is suffering from a parasite disease, abnormal spot will appear on its body. However, sometimes it may not be easy to notice these spots on its body, especially when its colour is very light. You may need to use a torch light to shine on it to see the spots more clearly. Some bettas whose fins are damaged have a higher chance of suffering from fin rot. One of the recommended treatments for betta diseases is to put some salt into the water. Some betta keepers used salt regularly to prevent the bettas from being infected with diseases.

As seen from the above, betta diseases prevention is not difficult. Most importantly, regular changing of water should be practised to ensure clean water is present in the container for your betta. If you practise good betta care habits, your betta will be healthy and happy.

Copyright: Rose Mary

A common betta disease is the ich (short for ichthyophthirius), a protozoan disease. A betta suffering from this disease will have white spots reflected on its body. These spots are actually formed by parasites embedded in the betta’s skin. This betta disease needs to be treated promptly. If left untreated, the betta will die. The treatment for ich is to raise the water temperature to 90 deg F (32 deg C) and add a little salt to the water. The water need to be change at least once a day to remove parasite existing in the water. If the parasites are not cleared, they may attack the fish again. There are some medications available at stores to treat the infection but care must be taken to use the correct dosage. Especially for small betta bowls, an overdose of mediation should be prevented.

Another common betta disease is the Velvet. It is also a protozoan disease which will cause small yellow spots to appear on the betta’s body. The betta will have a “sandy” appearance. In order to see more clearly the spots, you can use a torch light to shine on the betta. Velvet is more commonly found in young bettas than old ones. For this disease, you can place some salt in the water. There are medications sold by stores to treat the infection caused by this disease. Regular changing of water is also recommended to remove the parasites in the water.

When a betta’s fin is damaged, fin rot may occur. This is because the damaged tissue causes infection. One of the ways of treating fin rot is to place the betta in clean water. If the fin rot is serious and providing clean water does not help the condition, then you can purchase some medications to remove the fin rot infection. As soon as the damaged is stopped, the betta could regenerate its fins. Even if the gills are affected by the fin rot, the betta can still take in oxygen from the air and stay alive.

The above are some common betta diseases. Prompt treatments are important to prevent the diseases from developing into more serious conditions which may result in death. Bettas must be kept in clean water, hence regular changing of water is required. Proper betta care must be given for betta to maintain good health and have long life!

Copyright : Rose Mary

Bettas belong to the category of labyrinth fishes. They have a labyrinth organ that allows them to breathe air. Although they also have gills like other fishes, they are not able to get sufficient oxygen from the water through these gills. Thus, they need to come to the surface of the water to obtain oxygen from the air. Due to this fact, having access to the surface of the water is critical to them.

Believe it or not, exercise can help a betta maintain good health and live longer. Bettas living in betta bowl have less space to move around than those living in a tank. For those living in a betta bowl, due to space constraint, they tend to move around less than those living in betta fish aquarium.  With less exercise, these bettas have a higher chance of becoming obese or developing degenerative betta diseases which may in turn lead to early death. Thus, we can conclude that bettas living in a large betta tank will have more exercise, be healthier and have a lower chance of developing betta diseases. The advantage of a betta living in a wild environment is that it has more opportunity for exercise as it needs to search for food and escape predators. So, if you can try chasing your bettas around the betta fish tank more often, this may help to prolong their life!

Unfortunately, betta fish life span is not very long, as compared to other fishes in general. If you provide good betta fish care, its life span may range from one to three years. Sad to say, many bettas die premature deaths due to sickness or poor betta fish care.

As seen above, bettas are colourful fishes which belong to the group of labyrinth fishes. They need oxygen from the air to survive as well as exercise to maintain good health. Proper betta care is important to prevent betta diseases. Hope the above information can help you know more about betta fishes and also help you decide whether to keep one as a pet!

Copyright : Rose Mary

The betta fish is one of the most fascinating fish of all tropical fishes.  This special fish has enchanted many fish enthusiasts and has become one of their favorite choices for freshwater fish keeping.  The betta fish is available in a great variety of colors, patterns and styles.  It can survive well in small water spaces and requires only minimal effort for its maintenance. 

The betta fish has many wonderful characteristics.  Its body is streamlined which helps it to slip easily through water.  Besides, its tapered body shape reduces water friction.  Hence, it does not require much effort to move forward.  The betta’s body is slightly flattened which is commonly found in fishes staying in stagnant or slow-moving waters in their natural habitat.  The betta has external gills which can extract oxygen from the water.  As it belongs to the family of labyrinth fishes, it also has the ability to breathe atmospheric air.  The betta’s body is covered with scales which are thin, transparent plates overlapping one another.  The functions of these scales are to protect the betta’s body from injury and enable it to glide more efficiently.  There is a mucus layer covering the scales which helps to provide better smoothness as well as protect the betta from parasites.  The betta’s fins are used for maintaining balance and turning around in various directions.  The betta has a gas-filled swim bladder which functions as a floating device.  The swim bladder helps to keep the betta from sinking.  As the betta’s mouth is upturned, it is considered a top feeder.  Hence, while feeding the betta, you can just simply drop some floating food on the surface of the water and it will scoop the food up. 

Betta fishes can be found in the waters of Thailand.  They are mainly found in places such as shallow rice paddies, polluted rivers and stagnant pools.  These fishes tend to prefer living in areas where the water contains low oxygen levels.  Due to commercial selective breeding, the variety of colors, patterns and styles of the betta fish has increased tremendously.  There are now more choices for people to select the type they want.  For those who are trying to keep the betta fish to beautify their home, they can have a better chance of finding one that matches the color scheme of their room.

One advantage of keeping bettas is that it can be kept in small glass or plastic containers which may prove unsuitable for other kinds of tropical fishes.  It is known that bettas thrive better in small spaces than goldfish.  Goldfish often suffers oxygen deficiency when being kept in small water spaces.  Betta fishes will not suffer such a deficiency because, being a labyrinth fish, it can come to the surface of the water to breathe air.  Hence, goldfish bowls, jars, tumblers and plastic containers are commonly used by fish hobbyists to rear betta fishes.  Furthermore, betta fishes require only minimum maintenance to keep them in good health.  They just need to be fed with proper food regularly and be kept in clean water. 

The betta is an amazing fish and keeping it can enhance your life.  You can keep it as a pet as well as use it to beautify your home environment. Besides, it is easy to keep the betta and hence, does not require a lot of your time.  Furthermore, with a great variety of types available, you will certainly be able to find one you like.  If you intend to keep fishes as your hobby or are considering adding more fishes to your collection, you can consider getting the betta fish.  As a start, you can read about betta fish to learn more about it.

Copyright : Rose Mary

Due to its quality of physical toughness, the betta fish can survive well even if it is placed in small bowls or jars.  Betta Fish is a labyrinth fish and is able to breathe atmospheric air.  Hence, give a small space, it will not suffer any oxygen deficiency because it can swim to the surface of the water to breathe air.  Although the betta can thrive in small containers, it is important that the water in these containers be changed regularly.  The smaller the water space, the more often is the need to change the water.  If a betta is reared in a small living space with poor water conditions, it will not reach its full coloration and high activity levels.

Betta Fish should be kept in water with temperature between 74 degrees F and 84 degrees F.  If the temperature is above 84 degrees F, the betta will display some discomfort and in the long run, they may age faster.  When changing water, it should be ascertained that the temperature of the new water be similar to that of the old water. This is to ensure that the betta will not experience a sudden change of temperature and become sick.  If small containers are used to keep the betta, the water in these containers need not be filtered.  However, if larger containers are used, filtering is encouraged as it can lengthen the time needed for a water change.

It is not advisable to place more than one male betta fish in an aquarium.  If this happens, the bettas will become aggressive and attempt to defend their territory within the small space.  Hence, they may cause harm to each other.  It is very rare that two female bettas will fight against each other, though sometimes there may be a little fin nipping between the two.  As such, most of the time, there is no serious injury.  Placing a male and female betta together with other fishes in a community aquarium can create problems.  This is because there is a possibility that these two bettas may start spawning and this may affect other fishes in the tank.  When you place a betta in a community aquarium, you should ensure that the other fishes in the aquarium are not the aggressive type.  This is to prevent attacks from these fishes which can result in damage and injury.

Betta Fishes have a rapid metabolic rate, hence, it is advisable that these fishes be fed with small, frequent meals.  If too much food is given in one feeding, the betta may not consume all the food and the remaining food may cause pollution of water. 

The above are some points we need to note if we want to keep our bettas well.  Keeping Betta Fish is an interesting, enriching and rewarding hobby.  You can choose to keep it in an aquarium or in a small container.  As there are many types of Betta Fishes available, you can have more choices to select the type you like.  Once you have started this hobby, your passion will grow and eventually you will want to learn more about the remarkable Betta Fish and hope to keep more of them.

Copyright : Rose Mary