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I'm getting a betta for my 10g today, and want to take the best care of him possible. Although going from a tiny round cup to a planted 10g would make any fish happy, this will be my first betta.

First off, what exactly to feed him? Are betta bites the best food, or would color-enhancing tropical flakes be good too? I have a wide assortment of foods already, and use all of them for all my fish right now (frozen bloodworms seem to be the house favorite). Anything I shouldn't feed him?

I'm getting more plants for the tank... Since they are labyrinth fish, should I concentrate on covering the bottom of the tank more than tall background plants, or does it even matter?

Any more tips for a new betta keeper?

Congrats on your first betta

Some people find new bettas won't eat for a day or two until they get used to their new home, so don't be surprised if that happens.

Personally, I'd try to start him on flake. They really, really like betta bites but if you can get him to accept flake at least you have options for a varied diet. They usually like freeze-dried bloodworms too.

Plant choices will depend on your tank lighting of course. Since it's a 10g you could have a mix...maybe tall plants along the back and shorter or ground covering plants in the front. Anubias seem to be popular with bettas; they'll often rest on or under the leaves.

Good luck and post pics of your new friend if you can

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

i would say the blood worms would do well, or pellets. for color i would use color bits(i use for females keeps's 'em fat, and colorful.) with the plants i would have to say it wouldn't matter. so tall swords and moss on the bottom would do just fine. sounds like a very lucky betta.

I bought HBH Color Bright flakes at the LFS, and I think the kids upstairs may still have some betta bites from their attemps at betta bowls (poor little things). Plenty of bloodworms though... until the cichlids get their weekly dose.

I noticed he tried to eat some of the duckweed, so he may have a bit of an appetite. He changed color as soon as I got him in the tank though. He was practically all purple at the store, now he looks blue with a bit of a red wash on his tail. You think that this is due to stress, or that he's happy? Wonder which color he'll be tomorrow.

I did notice that he seems to like to sleep on the crypts, which are still tiny. I may try to get some midground plants to keep him closer to the surface.

Wish the little guy luck in his new home, the ottos will be coming soon.

Betta originally come from rice patties, so their ancestors were well accustomed to plants that started at the ground and continued on up through the water to the air... Just make sure that there's easy access to the surface of the water and he'll be fine. In fact, a couple leaves touching the surface or some floating plants would make a nice anchor for any bubble nest he'd choose to build. (Especially if that's in a slow moving part of the tank.)

Whatever you do, make sure you DON'T start him on bloodworms... he'll never eat anything else! I'd agree... start with flakes, especially if you're going to have other fish in the tank. I've found a nice betta flake, actually. It's by HBH, and is "color enhancing." It's the first flake food that I've gotten my male bettas to eat (I started them long ago on pellets, and they never took a shine to any flake foods).

My female bettas are in a community tank. They'll eat ANYthing and are happy to do so. Various flake foods, bloodworms, shrimp and even the cories' bottomfeeder wafers! I'm happy because they get a really good, varied diet.

If the betta won't eat flake, try the pellets... it's a good place to start, anyway. And there's no such thing as an old betta not learning new tricks... My betta Liberty has been with me for two years and didn't have anything but pellets for the first six months or so. When I got my bigger tanks, he started getting bloodworms. He's adjusted to new tanks and new foods (he eats flakes and various other foods, too, now) with only slight hesitation. I think he's doing well for an "old man."

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

harleysiber

I am also in the process os setting up a 10gal Betta tank There has been plenty of good infomation posted recently on that subject. Have a look at many old postings here and in the Betta forum.

I know basically very little about them but several things I can say I do know they are select your Betta carefully I have located an two LFS that keep there Bettas in large display tanks with single species and not if filthy little jars so small that they can hardly move. I personaly would look for this type of LFS. Plants this is causing me my biggest problem size and type. The drift wood I have has to be checked to make sure there are no sharp edges as this can damage the Bettas fines, and then could lead to other problems. Also choose carefully with the rocks I located a small bag of river pebbles at a local hardware store in the gardening section $2. Some landscapers also have them and can be purchased loose for a fraction of the price of a LFS.

Food ask at your LFS what they are feeding their Bettas and stick to that then slowly introduce othe foods.

All the best but do your research first. Here are a few WWW sites I was given and the advice was if not sure ask qwuestions on the Betta forum

http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_care.htm

http://www.healthybetta.com

http://www.bettysplendens.com/articles/catview.asp?catid=36

http://www.bettatalk.com/learn_about_bettas.htm

http://vanriel.myadsl.nl/BT-AABtailtypegenetics.htm

Keith

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