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Hi everyone!

I just got a new betta for my new 10 gallon. Ive only kept a betta once, and i dont know every thing i need to. Can somebody help me and give me advice? Anything special they need to be fed? Do they jump? Are they agressive to other fish? Thanks everyone!

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betta (aka siamese fighting fish) i would have to say they are territorial. they look awesome but are aggresive. they stay mostly at the surface but will swim down aways occasionaly. for the beta i had i fed him bettamin i think thats what its called. (the betta food by tetra)

*click *flash *click "whered he go???"

Hi Goby,

Bettas are some of the easiest fish to care for.I doubt that compared to your other fish you already have keeping a betta will cause you any troubles. Dietarily they will accept most commercial flakes, and you can give them the odd bloodworm , brineshrimp, and other live foods to keep them in tip top condition occassionally. Foods with beta-carotene added will help the colour, and often help to boost the immune system too. Tetra colour, mixed with a little tetra vegetable food will often be sufficient for a colourful healthy fish.

Unless yours is a wild type betta with short fins, high flow rates annoy them, and they prefer still waters. Despite the labyrinth organ and a good tolerance of rough water quality, if you want to see the best from them make sure they get the water qualities and oxygen that you would expect to give most fish. Lots of people push their tolerances a little too far.

They are territorial, sometimes they even kill their own females, and males will obviously fight unless given huge enclosures. They will also fight with fish like gouramies, other betta species, and anything with large fins similar to theirs. Its not uncommon for them to persecute fish like guppies. Your paradise fish would probably engage them in a battle royale, and win, so dont mix them. Dont forget that they got the name of siamese fighting fish because they used to breed them in asia for fighting, against which bets were laid (yeah, sick eh?) so take their behaviour seriously.Captive bred lines can actually be more aggressive than wild ones, because a lot of the modern fancy lines we see now actually originally came from fighting stock.

They appreciate floating plants etc, and often like to hang out among them.

They can jump, but dont usually bother unless aggravated by some truly shocking water quality or ammonia spikes, or have been scared into jumping with a bang to the aquarium or similar.

Thanks soda and LHG! I have a new 10 gallon to put them in, along with the fry and a lonely tetra(widow). I have some floating plants, and a 10gal whisper filter. I need to get a new hood with lights, i have none. I think ill just keep it in there, as a show tank. Another question, will they destroy plants? I want to put some java fern in(my new favorite plant) My oher JF is reproducing, and i will have tons of them soon!

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the betta will nipp at the roots of the floating plants but i dont they will go as far as eating them

*click *flash *click "whered he go???"

Yes, bettas can and will jump. I've sadly had one jump out of the tiniest hole in his freshly cleaned tank... A square cut out of the back of the lid just large enough to admit the plug for the heater... i.e. about 1" x 1/2". I have no idea how he so accurately managed to jump out of this hole, which was 1-2 inches above the water line.

In a community setting, I've trained some of my female bettas to jump for food I hold suspended just above the water. I don't know if a male could drag his fins out of the water to do this... never tried. In fact, I haven't done this in a while... I think the last betta girl I had that was so "trained" just passed. I don't think I've tried this trick with any of the girls I have left.

Bettas can be extremely aggressive, depends on the personality of your individual fish. They are especially likely to attack or at least nip at fish with longer, flowing fins, such as male guppies and the feelers of gouramis.

What fish are you keeping them with? You mention fry? I used a betta for population control in my guppy tank. They can and will eat small fry, but once they get bigger, will generally leave them alone.

You may have an issue, however, with the tetra picking on the betta. The long fins are sometimes irresistable to nippy tetras. I don't have any experience with the black widow (which I assume is what you're referring to?) but keep an eye on it.

I've never seen a betta look twice at any plant. Also, java fern is considered pretty much inedible by even the most destructive herbivores so you don't have much to worry about.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Thanks Kitten! The fry are not harmed, as they are of nice size! I have no cover for the fish tank now, and i hope it dosent jump! Going to get one soon!

The tetra is all alone, until it heals, and i can give it away.....Thats probably why it dosent bother the Betta. And yes, it is its own new tank. I will have a photo thread coming up soon, so be sure to check it out!

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use saran wrap in the meantime

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Yeah, no need to get expensive on tank covers, I find clear plastic drip trays do the job when you cant be bothered with a proper lid. Couple of bucks from the LFS, cut it to size, and bobs your mothers brother.

Bettas are great. Had one in my ten for the longest, with an otto or two and a few neons. My guy never junped but I hear they do. They may or may not accept flakes. Even if they do they will probably prefer betta pellets. They are pretty hardy fish but still the better you can maintain the tank... I think I'd upgrade the filter. They can take a bit of current, in fact mine and others I know of enjoy playing in the filter stream. Not that It's that strong mind you. I recommend an aquaclear mini. adjustable flow rate and easily customizable media. Broad leafed plants and places to hide they seem to like. And I think they really don't appreciate a very strong lighting in their tank. As for other fish avaid anything with long flowing finnage.

You will soon find that bettas are very nice community fish as long as you don't have 2 males together.Betta pellets along with brine shrimp and the occasional blood worms will make an ideal diet.Yes they will jump.They are well worthwhile community fish but will not exept guppies or very long finned fish.Tiger barbs will nip fins but at one point i had kept them together without problems.Good Luck!!

Yup. I'm that crazy Twilight/animal/music girl

bettas dont require anything special. But like stated they can jump. so address that issue as soon as possible.

umm.. i feed all of my bettas hikari betta bio-gold. in my experience, i havent found many of my bettas to eat betta flakes. once and awhile FD treats are good. FD bloodworms etc...

Bettas have different aggression levels, so classing them all as aggressive doesnt really fit exactly. Remember that some bettas are more aggressive than others so base your tankmates accordingly.

other than that, there really isnt anything else that is needed for them. im working on my betta site. When it is finsh it will include almost everything about bettas, so check it out for any questions you may have concerning bettas. http://www.bcaquatics.com

The only problem I had with my betta was it killed 3 bloodfin tetras, they were slightly smaller but he picked them out and killed them one by one. I guess he just didn't like them or something as he left the Danios which were the same size as the bloodfins alone. If you don't have a cave put one in there, some Bettas really like them. Especially if you have females. Also you can add females in there and they won't fight but add 2 or 3 per male.

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i wouldnt do that.

females and males shouldnt be together unless you are a breeder.

the females will end up fighting, and the male will end up fighting the females creating one big mess.

Are you saying that female bettas, as a rule, fight each other, chris? I mean, I totally agree with your statement not to have males and females together (although I've seen it done, I don't think it's a smart idea in most cases), but I'm a little unclear about your statement... not sure if you're against female community tanks.

I've have little to no problems with groups of female bettas in a community environment. In fact, I just added another female betta to my 20 gallon long tank (which has never had fewer than three girls in it at a time) today after a water change. So far, not a single issue.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

I dunno. I mean I had a male and female in my ten together for a couple weeks before I heard they ought not be together and they got along very well. I know it was only a short time, and there was plenty of hiding places and such but they kinda seemed to enjoy each other's company. mebbe they were just an odd pair.

I have 2 females and one male together, and they dont actually fight,although the odd session of gill flaring does happen, but as yet no actual fighting, but then the tank is a 30 gallon, very heavily planted, Compared to the standards that most people keep bettas in- well basically, I massively exceeded them. Females usually fight other females if the tank is too small, and the males dont usually attack the females unless again the tank is too small.Males however will usually fight on sight. Notably my bettas are also from natural bodied wild stock, and I find the selectively bred ones with huge fins are if anything more aggressive,the wild ones seem to have their aggression a little more in check, and their communication, and placation behaviours seem more advanced.

I thnk in general its mankinds intervention in the breeding that has created a race of superaggressive fish.I think its one of those things, a little lateral thinking,and the compatability problems can be solved as long as you have the right stock, and go big on the tanks, and use all the usualy aggression reducing techniques. As ever , primarily its the fishkeeping culture behind the species that is the real problem, once I got into it, looked at the factors that cause the aggression I broke the back of it in no time.

I mean, bettas are aggressive and bred for fighting,and even many of the variants purely bred for colour and form came from those fighting lines, but when you avoid those lines,and the traditions of tiny tanks I find managing their innate aggression much easier than that of cichlids for example.

Mine breed or not at will, can retreat from one another easily, and live out their lives with a sense of company.

I appreciate there may be nothing that can be done with the selectively bred specimens we see everywhere, as the aggression, and the high colour, and flowy fins go hand in hand, but when you look back to the originator , the real wild fighting fish, the whole outlook of the species changes and so does the care. Treated with the respect youd give any community fish, and given sufficient room, the aggression becomes entirely manageable. I think the expectations of the keeper are the problem, the fish themselves can be surprisingly laid back when properly catered for.

Let go the expectations of the showy colours, and the big fins and bettas become a good, tough, and only slightly aggressive candidate for the community aquarium, not the tiny tank bound, segregated monsters we allowed them to become. I had bettas as a kid, and in common with many kids- I killed them with my lack of knowledge. Now as an older man with more power to my elbow and a fresh perspective I decided to revisit the species a few years ago, I what I discovered, experimented with and proved, at least to myself, has made me see the bettas in a completely new light.

Actually given that I now know this stuff Ill concur with you in another post goby- perhaps they are some of the most abused fish. We changed their behaviour from brusque to superaggressive, and theyve been paying for it with a loss of social behaviour and bad tank conditions ever since.Wild stock move better, breathe better, think better, communicate better,feed better,breed better, live longer, and live better.

To my mind the perfection in natural evolution is better than these semi-handicapped selectively bred specimens that sell worldwide. Natural bettas will alway be more beautiful just as a wolf will alwys be more beautiful than a poodle. Natural forms are in any case far from ugly, often with some very vivid colouration anyway.

Theyre betta!

Yup! I totally agree that bettas are individual. I am currently keeping one with a bunch of platy fry, a lone tetra, and a soon to be other fish. Now, my questipon is, can they be placed in a tank with kribenses? I would really want to have one in there, as i found a last, lonely krib for a good deal, and it was an OK specimen, soon to get the "Fan" treatment from yours truly, GOBYFAN.

Now, if i were to convert the tank into a cimmunity tank, would i be able to put a krib, a bunch of platies, and a bunch of shrimp, or snails?

LHG, I do not know where to get, find wild bettas, as i realized long, long ago that i am only extremely far from their homeland. So i just bought one beautiful betta with the long, flowy fins and it is not at all agressive. I will lavishly plant it with large leaved plants, and keep it well aerated. Thanks to everyone!

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A krib and a betta is risky, and for a change the aggression will not come from the betta, it will come from the territoriality of the krib. The betta will either wane with the krib, or if the krib picks a fight and the betta doesnt back off, the krib, being the more powerful fish with a much harder bite, and a better wit for killing, will slaugheter the betta. Kribs tend to come up with level of aggression that some people suspect of rams and never quite get. My biggest krib can make half grown acaras back off. Hes way out of a bettas league.

Darn, the krib is going into the other tank.........Will the krib be affected in a TB tank? I have a ten with three tiger barbs, and a gold gourami. I know it is already squished, but i am going to find a new home for the Gourami and the Barbs.

All this makes a betta sound weak.......I will stand up for it!

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