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Betta's need warmth!!! Unless you live in the tropics or in the warmer parts of Asia such as Thailand and Singapore you need to keep your bettas in a heated tank. If the water is not warm enough the fish are susceptible to Ich and other diseases. You will not see alot of movement in them and they will be plain unhappy. Bettas are carnivorous and love to be fed. A healthy betta will eat, an unhealthy betta wont eat.!! They love live foods like Blackworms, mozzy wrigglers and brine shrimp. The next best thing is frozen food which are easily available at pet shops or you can freeze your live foods yourself. Most bettas will accept dried food also. Its best to give them a mixture and not just one type. If they seem to be constipated or their swim bladder is playing up - as in they are floating up the top on their sides or sinking to the bottom. peel a thawed pea and chop it up. They love them and it should fix the problem. They like their water clean!!! To avoid diseases and unhappy Bettas ensure your water is clean and healthy. Depending on the size of the tank you have them in. For instance a litre bowl or jar needs to be atleast cleaned every 2nd day. I have my juveniles jarred in 1.25l coke bottles which are placed in a 2 foot tank, I always have extra empty jars warmed and aged in the tank with them so i simply tip the fish into a net and tip them back into the new jar. If you have them in a larger tank such as a 2 foot tank and it has a filter going you can probably get away with a 25 to 50% clean once a week. The simple answer is Bettas get sick if their water is filthy.. they are swimming around in their own muck. Plants make them happy Bettas dont eat plants but they like to hide in them or lie around near the surface on them. Plants given that their healthy improve the water quality by soaking up the Co2 in the tank. If their unhealthy and rotting away they become part of the problem. Gravel is not needed in a betta tank. Its good to anchor the plants, its pleasing to the eye but unless in a big tank with other community fish its a hassle to clean the bottom. Its a lot easier in smaller tanks to syphon up the muck on the bottom to stop it rotting into the water to not have gravel. Its also easier to see when a betta does a poo and if theyve eaten all their food. Hence noting if the fish is healthy.
Male bettas are solitary from their own breed, by this I mean dont be putting a male betta with another male betta as they will fight to the death. Only put him with a female betta if your intending on breeding them and take her out once the deed is done. One male betta may be placed in a tank with other community fish, as long as they are peaceful fish Mr Betta will do fine. Female bettas can be placed together fine, my experience is more than 2 is harmonious. If only 2 are in the tank they will spar to get the top ranking. In a community tank with other fish they do fine.
Alot of fish shops will tell you that Bettas dont need a lot of water so they can live in a cup or something small. Bettas can survive in this environment, it doesnt mean they are happy. As long as the water is kept at the right temperatures and kept clean they can survive. Bettas like all fish like to have room to swing a cat in so to speak. My adult males are all kept in 3 litres of water and if i had more tanks and more space they would get more. My juveniles are kept in coke bottles be it 2 litres or 1.25. As they are smaller they can handle this and its temporary until they are sold. Im sure they are all thinking .."When's it my turn?" I dont believe PH is a factor with Bettas. Im sure there is a PH that they love but I have never worried about it. All my fish have survived and thrived as long as the water i add to their tanks is aged, a bit of salt added and clean and warm. Im not an expert on PH by a long shot but understand that Bettas breathe from the surface and not take their oxygen from the water. My belief is the less chemicals the better. I treat my bettas with Melafix,Pimafix and Bettafix which is the same thing as Melafix. These are herbal treatments and seem to do the trick. I add Bettafix to the water when adding a fish. If a fish shows signs of illness they are the first things i add to try and nip it in the bud. However i have the big guns in the cupboard if something really takes hold. Touch wood it hasnt yet.
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