Quality Bettas

 
General Facts ~ A Betta style of Living  ~ Tank Mates ~ Feeding ~ Sexing ~ Spawning ~ Betta Bad Habits

Due to having large fancy fins these fish get stressed out with high current and will often just sit in the corner of the tank and not move thus getting the rep for being boring fish. So here is how I do it......

The minimum size tank I will ever use for a Betta is 5lts which is about 1 gallon. I would have allot bigger if I had the extra space to do so. However my fish are happy little souls so I don't fuss too much. I use a home made sponge filter system which is simply a cut up (unused) car sponge, airline tubing, air stones, clear hosing and an airpump (I can provide you with a simple kit to do this, CLICK HERE for more info). I find this the best way to filter their tanks as the water disturbance is minimal but it really works and keeps the water crystal. You can have your Betta tank unfiltered but if you do this you will have to do allot more water changes which will become more or less often per week depending on the size of your tank. Remember just because they live in puddles in the wild doesn't mean that they live in filth. Your tank should always be heated too, you can create undue stress and illnesses by dramatic rises and falls in temperature plus your Betta will be more active in a heated tank.

When it comes to decorating the tank you can pretty much go wild. You can have a bare bottomed tank, sand, marbles...any thing you feel like really. Same goes for decoration and ornaments, I use allot of pebbles from the beach, paperweights and ornaments from bootsales. I always find it best to plant my tanks, even if its just the one plant. I find it not only looks better but your fish will like to swim in and around it as it provides cover for them. If you use a wide leaf plant he will even rest and sleep on it. The list of stay away froms is as follows:- Sharp/pointy objects and plastic plants oh and any thing he could get stuck in, they are very inquisitive and will try to squeeze into every thing. If you are keeping a tank of girls then plastic plants are fine same goes for the Plakat type. as finnage is minimal and wont get caught. Remember what ever you decide to put in your tank give it a good clean first, boil it up for about 10 mins.

A Betta is not called a fighting fish for nothing. They would rather be in their own tank and will tend to bully or even kill most other tank mates, not always the case but is it fair on them or worth the risk? If you really wanted to add something else to his tank then the only fish you are pretty much safe with is corys as these tend to stay out of the Bettas way on the bottom of the tank. If you are looking for Corys or plecs to put with your Betta then please check out www.tropicalaquatics.co.uk for great prices and service.

Under no circumstances should two males be put together in the same tank. Males should also not be housed with female Bettas as you will end up with dead fish. They are very aggressive towards any other type of fish especially other male or Female Betta - I cannot emphasise this enough.

Females are also aggressive but no where near as bad. You can keep females together in groups of 4 plus (never have just 2 or 3 otherwise they will bully each other to death) as a species tank or even in a community. There short fins also makes it ok to have them with barbs. I have all my HM girls together in one tank, the CT girls in the next tank Etc. Bare in mind you will get the odd female that wants to kick the fluff out of every thing, I have one out of all my girls and she has a special tank all on her own. She my little tiger.

Oh dear, I just re-read that and they sound like little killers!! This is all worse case stuff lol but its best you know it rather than makin the mistakes that... yes... I did.

Bettas should be fed on Betta pellets and not flakes, they don't have every thing they need plus many Bettas will not eat them. You should feed them twice a day on about 4 pellets at each feeding. They should also be fed bloodworm, be it frozen or live from an LFS. You can also dig up skinny earthworms for them, if you have the stomach to cut them up that is. Other live foods like Daphnia and Brine shrimp are very good too. Not all on the same day mind.

You should fast your Betta for one day a week as this helps to stop him/her getting bloated and enables him/her to shift any remaining food in his/her system. It is also good to feed them a de-shelled cooked pea every now and again to "clear him out".

 Remember a varied diet is a good diet.

Now this is going to be a short paragraph so i will use lots of pics ;).

Generally in all splenden tail types, bar one, the male has long pretty fins, the female has the shorter fins and is not quite so pretty as him. The female will also have a small white spot (the ovipositor) between the two small front fins (ventral fins) - this is the easiest way to tell with the short fin spendens (plakats) though when very young the male can have this too. The male will flare up and show off more than the female and he has a beard that spreads out from under his gill covers.  Below are two pairs of the longer finned splendens showing the differences

Males:

Females:

Heres a pair of Halfmoon Plakat so you can see the difference in the shorter fin type. The male is on the left, the female on the right.

Now for the longest bit....

Before I go through all the processes, if you are going to spawns please read up every shred of info you can and be sure to have every thing BEFORE you put your fish together. These guys can have up to 100 fry that will have to be separated into individual tanks at around 2 months old, then you have to find homes for them all! please don't add to the pet shop Betta. Remember you could loose your fish during the process if you don't do it right.

Right...Ok...so to start with you need to condition the pair you are going to spawn. All you need to do to condition them is feed them a varied high protein diet for about 1 weeks. Live white worm is very good, frozen bloodworm, daphnia, Brine shrimp as well as there normal food (not all at once or all in the same day though). If you have it, it also is really good to add black water extract to their water too. I house the pair next to each other during this period to get them all feisty and ready for the next step.

While doing this you need to get in every thing you will need for the fry. I make sure i have a bottle of Liquifry ready for when the eggs are in the nest - its rubbish as a food but it does cause the production of infusoria which the babies will eat for the first few days. A microworm culture, a brineshrimp hatchery with salt and brine shrimp eggs, Betta starter and Grindal worms. A small airline hose will be needed to siphon the tank why the babies are small, I always put an airstone on the end that goes in the tank as it stops any fry getting sucked up and then of course you will need a large selection of jars or small tanks to separate the fry into when they are ready.

Right now to set up the container to spawn in. I use one of the rubber garden bins that you can pick up from B&Q and find this works a treat. The water needs to be 4" (10cm) deep no matter the size of your container and the water will need to be heated to about 80 degrees, if you have your tank any deeper the fry wont make it back to the nest on their own should they need to. No filter is needed. Be sure not to have any gravel etc on the bottom of the tank other wise eggs will get lost in it. Float either an Indian Almond Leaf, some bubble wrap, half a polystyrene cup or just any thing that will stay floating on the surface for him to attach his nest too. Again adding black water to the tank water is really good for the spawning and it also helps the whole nest building process. Be warned it does make you water look very brown.

So you have left your couple next to each other for a week. She should have got a little fat belly and be barred up showing him interest. He may have made a sort of bubble nest, but its not all that important if he has or not at this point. Give your happy couple a nice big feed then an hour later add him to the container followed by her. Cover the container, I use a section of that tripple glazing plastic but you can use any thing that keeps the moister in and gives the some privacy (leave a peephole though). Now just leave them for 2 days.

Over that 2 days he will make a beautiful bubble nest while she hides behind the heater, he'll then encourage her to follow him under the nest and they will spawn. It all sounds a little worrying I know, but it really is a succesful way of doing it and I wouldn't do it any other way. I have found that this way I have minimal damage to the female, larger spawns and less fuss. The pictures shown here were taken in a glass tank setup to give you a clearer view of his nest and them courting.

 Okey Dokey so when the two days are up you need to get her out of there. Put her in a tank on her own with some Melafix to treat any ripped fins she may have developed. It is now that you start to add the Liquifry to the water. I usually take a little bit of the tank water out in a jar mix the 3 drips of Liquifry in that then gently pour it back in the water - this way it doesn't go into the tank in big blobs and go mouldy. You still need to keep the tank coverd.

The male will look after the eggs until they hatch, mending the nest and putting back any eggs that fall out. Once they hatch (after about 48 hours) he will tend to them and keep them in the nest as for the first 3 days they can't swim and in their wiggling will fall out of the nest and sink to the bottom, your male will attentively swim up and down picking them up and putting them back. You must still not feed your male at this time as he may mistake the fry for food then get a taste for them.

At 3 days old you Fry will start to free swim and the male needs to be removed and fed a nice meal for all his hard work.

If you have any more questions please ask, no question is stupid or otherwise. I would rather you ask me 20 questions and do it right than no questions and loose fish

So thats how to spawn a Betta...

Raising Fry

I would love to tell you the hardest part is over, but really its only just started...sawry

Up until 3 days old you didn't need to do a thing apart from Liquifry each day, but now that isn't enough for them. You little babies need to be fed 3 times a day on microworms, but not too many as the fry are only tiny and you want to keep waste to a minimum as you are not changing or filtering the water yet. Please also make sure that the tank is always covered with a cloth as cold air will kill the fry when they take their first breath. The humidity also helps to make sure that the labyrinth develops properly.

At a week you need to fill the tank to about half full and start doing daily partial water changes using your airline and stone (try not to get a mouthful of water it really doesn't taste good) this continues until they are separated.

At 2 weeks old you need to start feeding them BBS (baby brine shrimp) which will stay alive in the tank for a little while so the wastage isn't as bad if you over feed, though please try not to. You still need to be giving them microworms at this point and you still need to be feeding 3 times a day. At this age i move my fry into a 50ltr tank.

At a month and a half you need to start swapping the Microworms for Grindal Worms you can also start adding the Liquifry powder food at the same time as the worms to start to get them used to it. Still keep up the BBS. The water changes need to be at least a 25% change every day.

At 2 months the fry start to get there colour (its really exciting). You need to stop feeding them the microworms and concentrate on the BBS, Grindal worm and baby powder. They need to be fed twice a day at this point. It is from now onwards that you will start to be able to sex the fish and when you spot a male you will need to remove him. If you are unsure then wait a little bit longer, it wont take long.  You can now add a slow filter to the tank but you still need to keep up with the daily water changes and I can imagine that now you have read to this point you are puzzled as to why it has to be done. Well I'll tell you...The fry release a hormone into the water that will stunt their siblings growth so if you just leave it you will have teeny fry that will never grow. By changing the water daily you are keeping it well diluted and stopping it from working.

At 3 months you can start to sell off your fish, you should also be feeding them on Betta pellets instead of the powder and you can stop with the Grinal worm too.

You will always loose some fry along the way, even the best breeders do. You will also get fry that are deformed and that will need to be culled. It is hard work and yes it does take allot of time but I always feel it is worth it in the end.

Link to Betta Fry Growth Chart: Fry Growth

Other than beating the fluff out of other fish these guys have very few bad habits.

Jumping: They do jump and they will jump out of the tank or out of the net so make sure your lid fits well. If you tank doesn't have a lid then make sure there is a good 3inch gap between the surface of the water and the top of the tank. I have a Betta that jumps out of the water when he sees me with the food pot, its nutty. Below is a video showing a Betta jumping. The clip belongs to Dandybabydoll on youtube

Tail biting: Some Bettas will chew there own tails. In order to fix this you need to know why they do it. Some Bettas bite there tails through stress and frustration, others do it through boredom. You may never stop them from doing it but you can help the situation by moving the tank around the room or re-arranging the ornaments once a week or so. For the frustrated fish it can be as simple as moving them away from any other fish. But always try to give your guys plenty to explore. The picture below is of a fish who chewed off his tail uring transporting.

 If you have any questions regarding these amazing and majestic fish please contact me