Betta – Male Regular Assorted colors Aquarium Fish

Description

Betta splendens

Betta Fish History

The Betta fish is one of the most popular freshwater tropical fish in the world and easily recognized. The Male Betta is beautifully colored in many shades of vibrant hues different from other freshwater fish, the female of this species is usually more bland, brown, with hints of colors, but like we say, you must have a female if you want more fish! This member of the Belontiidae family is very hardy despite their seemingly delicate beauty. Betta splendens require simple care which makes them a favorite for both beginner & advanced hobbyists!

Betta splendens are often referred to as Siamese Fighting Fish since it had been bred over the years to be colorful & combative. I recall my Dad mentioning something about paying $1 to watch a fish fight on the street corner when he was in the war in Vietnam in the US Air Force. I guess they fought til the death or near death back in those days, and trying to understand the point of such novelty is absurd to me, but many things have changed since 1969, so we can look at some of those past rituals as just part of history.

Betta Housing

So, you guessed it! Only one male Betta should really be kept in a typical aquarium unless you have a divider, but many people do not realize that you absolutely can keep your prized Male with a group of female bettas or most other fish types and species for that matter. Male bettas will not seek out a fight with other tropical fish species, but rather keep to themselves high up on the water lever near the top, and prefer to sit on some soft aquatic leaves. If you are successful in breeding, you literally can have a tank full of males & females and raise them for a very long together, once you move them around, and then put them back together, there will be the natural aggression. Plant names like Hornwort, Anacharis & Frogbit are just a few species of aquatic plants that will serve many helpful purposes in the life cycle of your happy healthy Betta environment!

The Betta should be housed with peaceful fish that will not nip at the Betta’s fins. Fish like Barbs, and some sharks such as Balas will bully the Betta. The plants will provide adequate refuge for Bettas to rest within the leaves, as well as when their frye are born, they will also have a better chance at escaping death if they can hide within the leaves of Hornwort and Anacharis. These plants will also keep the water clean and add dissolved oxygen into the water, so there should be only rare water changes, focus more on addition of water due to evaporation as this is better, naturally!

Bettas should be in water that is a temperature of 75° – 86°F for best results. The Betta can be bred in your home aquarium quite easily. Once the eggs are laid by the female betta, the eggs are placed inside of a bubblenest that was built and tended by the male Betta. Fry will appear in 24 hours and must be fed very small food, such as crushed flakes, or Fry Formula Foods.

Betta Biotope Advice from the Farm!

In your Betta biotope we highly recommend using beneficial bacteria, not only in your Betta tank, but in all aquatic eco-systems as this is the absolute best natural way to achieve an organic biotope that is nearly self sustained and quite possible one way we can better our planet. We know through science that many harmful protozoa could never survive in an environment that contained these marvelous beneficial microbes because they’d get gobbled up instantly, so there would be no need for medications! This is also why it is important to have a layer of stones that will act as a true substrate to allow your bacteria to seed and allow waste to collect under the rocks. Check out bacteria products such as Stress Zyme +, AquaGold, DrTims and Aqueon Pure. We definitely encourage the use of healthier fish foods such as Cobalt Aquatics providing prebiotics & probiotics that are only fed about 3 or 4 times per week, allowing your Betta to forage and explore, you know…be a fish. One more thing, check our the Olive Algae Eating Nerite Snails on our site and stock about 1 to 2 snails per gallon. They’re great for virtually all aquatic situations from aquariums, ponds, we even use them to clean ALL our auto-fill livestock water troughs and doggy water bowls at the farm. These little nocturnal janitors will lick the heck outta everything at night, and then burrow into gravel or hide under wood during the day. Our farm named and put these snails on the aquatic map in the early 90’s and the aquatic industry hasn’t been the same! They wont reproduce in freshwater, the white pretzel salt eggs they lay about once a year on the glass will be eaten by your bettas. The eggs wont likely ever hatch, they need a specific temp and perfect specific gravity in saltwater to hatch. Lifespan is about 3 to 4 years and they’ll lick every inch of your biotope, eat fish waste, algae and they wont eat your important aquatic plants! Definitely solid advice friends. They’ll make life easier. Here’s a link for the Nerites….

Thank you and Good Luck!