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The following are some
common questions about keeping bettas that I have received from people. Just
click on the question that you would like to find out the answer to.
Note: Answers are not absolutely as they
are based on what I know and experienced. If they are not able to satisfy you,
you could mail me again or seek advise from other breeders.
1. How often should I feed my bettas?
2. How often should I change the water?
4. What is suppose to be the betta ph in a tank?
6. Is it normal for bettas to chase and bite each other?
7. What do I feed baby bettas with? (note baby bettas are called fry/fries)?
8. Is it normal for this fish not to be as active when first putting him in a new bowl?
9. Does it take a few days for a betta to get used to the new environment?
10. How long does a betta live?
12. Why are bettas kept in small containers?
13. Can bettas go without eating for a few days?
14. Why are the betta's fin clamped? What can I do to help?
15. Why is my male betta building a bubble nest?
16. I have a betta with its eye swollen. What is it? How can I cure it?
17. Why do my betta not eat the food I give to him? I just bought it.
18. What other fish can I put in with my bettas?
19. How big should the breeding tank be?
20. Why does my betta keep changing its colour?
21. Is it true that bettas will jump out if you don't cover the tank?
22. My betta won't eat the fish food that I got. Can you recommend anything???
23. My betta keep spitting out his food. What is wrong?
24. My
betta just got injured recently. His fins are torn and some scales are missing.
What do I do to keep him
from diseases and
infections?
26. Are
tubifex good for bettas? I heard they are sources of disease and bacterias.
Answers:
1. How often should I feed my bettas?
You
can feed them as often as 4 times daily and as less as once daily. It depends
on how much you feed each time. You should only feed the bettas as much as they
can eat within five minutes. If you feed more often, the portion should be less
proportionately.
If you find your betta getting fat, cut down on size of feed
and frequency of feeding. Increase the feeding if the betta is getting thinner
and less active.
2. How often should I change the water?
The
frequency of changing water depend on the size of the container, the cleanliness
of the water, whether a filter is present or not and other factors.
a. The smaller a container is, the more frequent the water
changes. E.g.. a gallon bowl should receive water changes about every 3 days
or so. Bigger containers can have less frequent changes.
b. If the water is dirty, change it. It is considered dirty
when there is a lot of fish droppings, container feels slimy and the water is
coloured. Clean water will make the betta more active.
c. If a filter is present, the water need not be changed
as often. But this will also depend on the size of tank. A big size tank with
a filter can do without water change up to two weeks or more. A small one will
require a weekly change even with a filter.
3. How to differentiate between a male and female betta?
Answer can be found in my "How to differentiate between a male and female betta".
4. What is suppose to be the betta ph in a tank?
The ph of the tank do not affect the betta as much as some other fishes. But the value should not be too extreme too. Normally a ph of about 5-8 should be safe.
Bettas fight because they are territorial in nature. If they find that there is another betta in "their" territory, they will want to chase it away. They do this by fighting, which includes flaring, chasing and biting each other. This is true for both males and females. Females can tolerate each other better than males and the fighting will stop after a "order of pecking" is established.
6. Is it normal for bettas to chase and bite each other?
Yes, it is normal as that is their nature to do so.
7. What do I feed baby bettas with? (note baby bettas are called fry/fries)?
Answer can be found in my "Fry food" below breeding bettas section .
8. Is it normal for this fish not to be as active when first putting him in a new bowl?
It is
commonly seen. This could be due to the betta being stressed while transported
from lfs to its new home. After a while, the betta should be more active.
But if after a few days, the betta still remain inactive
and staying at bottom of container, it is time to take a closer look, although
this should been done in the first place while purchasing the betta. Look out
for any thing growing on the body of the betta. It can on the gills, the body
or the fins. After determining the cause for the betta inactiveness, take the
appropriate action.
9. Does it take a few days for a betta to get used to the new environment?
Yes, it usually does. But some bettas can adapt faster as they are not unduly stressed while they are being transported. To prevent or minimise the stress for the betta, it is good pratice to carry the betta in such a way as not to disturb the fish too much. Avoid loud noises too.
10. How long does a betta live?
A betta which have been well taken care of with regular water changes and good food can live up to two years or more.
You
can feed them with processed food made especially for them. Hikari Betta Bio
Gold is one type that is popular with a lot of betta breeders. Others
include freeze-dried bloodworms, flake food, betta bits, frozen brine shrimps
and bloodworms.
You can also feed them live food like, bloodworms, brine
shrimps, mosquito larvaes, fruit flies and other small insects. Finely chopped
meat can also be used but it dirties the water.
12. Why are bettas kept in small containers?
They
are kept in small containers as they do not require much space. In their natural
environment, they can be found in small puddles of water in the padi fields.
Another reason is that they have the labyrinth organ, which allows them to breath
air.
But the main reason is that shop owners try to minimize the
space that they take up by doing so.
13. Can bettas go without eating for a few days?
Yes, bettas can go a few days without food. It is not unusual that bettas go without food for a few days up to 1 or 2 weeks without food in their natural environment and still stay alive. But after that period of time, they will be very weak and thin.
14. Why are my betta's fin clamped? What can I do to help?
Bettas
clamp their fins when they are sick or stressed. There are a few possibilities:
a. The betta is down with a disease/infection/fungus...etc.
b. The betta is stressed.
c. Finrot.
a. Look closely at the betta to find any growths on the body or fins. If there are, consult your lfs for the appropriate medication. Another alternative is to change the water more frequently.
b. Remove any noise or vibrations that can affect the betta in any way. Avoid direct sunlight too.
c. Keep the water clean and feed less to avoid dirtying the water too much.
15. Why is my male betta building a bubble nest?
Male bettas build nest when they are ready to breed. Even when not breeding, it will still blow a nest. It just shows that the betta is healthy and satisfied.
16. I have a betta with its eye swollen. What is it? How can I cure it?
This symptom is called pop-eye. One easy way to help your betta is to change water immediately. Do not feed it for a few days, or very light feeding. Change water every two days and the betta will recover after a week or more. There are medications for pop-eye if the betta do not get well after the above treatment period. Consult your lfs for available medications.
17. Why do my betta not eat the food I give to him? I just bought it.
Bettas that show this symptom usually are those that are used to other food than the one that you are feeding it now. Let it fast for a few days before trying again. After not having food for a while, it will gladly eat whatever is offered and be choosy. If that does not work, try another type of food till you can find one that the betta seems to enjoy eating or at least is consuming it.
18. What other fish can I put in with my bettas?
Other fish that can be put in with bettas include, tetras, plecos and otos. There are others but I am not sure about their names. It seems fish that do not have long fins will do fine with bettas.
19. How big should the breeding tank be?
The size of the breeding tank do not have to be too big and also not too small. For more details, go to my "How to breed page".
20. Why does my betta keep changing its colour?
The reason why your betta is changing colour could be that it is a marble. A marble will change its colour as it grows.
21. Is it true that bettas will jump out if you don't cover the tank?
It is
true that bettas can jump out of their containers. I learnt that the hard way
after losing three bettas....: (
One way to prevent that is to keep the water level at least two to three inches
below the top of the container. Alternatively, a cardboard could be used to
cover the container but with a small space for air circulation.
22. My betta won't eat the fish food that I got. Can you recommend anything???
If you
have just gotten the betta, refer to question
17. If otherwise, then there could something wrong with the betta. Look
for symptoms of disease and infections. If there are, get the appropriate medications.
If there seems nothing wrong with your betta, try letting
it fast for a few days. It might be recovering from some ailments you might
not have noticed. Then feed it after the fasting. The last reason could be that
it is near its time....and there is nothing that you can do.
23. My betta keep spitting out his food. What is wrong?
This could be due to a stomach infection. I have read of it somewhere but not sure of what the cure is. Consult your Local Fish Shop (LFS) people, they should know. Symptoms are that the betta will bite the food, attempt to swallow it but eventually spitting it out. The betta will grow thinner and thinner as the infection stops the food from going down its throat.
24. My betta just got injured recently. His fins are torn and some scales are missing. What do I do to keep him from diseases and infections?
One
good pratice is to keep the water clean. An option during this period
of time is to let it fast. There is a traditional way of healing and that is
to use dried banana leaves. It is said to help the betta heal faster and even
make its colour look brighter.
It does make my betta more active with the leaves in with
them. It also seems to keep some common disease and infection away. Anyway,
there is no harm in using them. Only thing is that it turns the water brownish
in colour.
25. I am taking a plane to Canada and I stay in Australia. I would like to bring my betta along, how do I do it safely?
There is a tried method that works like this. Use a mineral water bottle or coke bottle. Size big enough to keep the betta/s in. Fill it up to half bottle of water. Put in the betta. In this way, you can keep the betta with you to ensure its safety. You can also open the bottle regularly to air it. A few of the local breeders have tried that and recommends it. This of course is limited to a few bettas at one go.....not hundreds.
26. Are tubifex good for bettas? I heard they are sources of disease and bacterias.
I do
say that tubifex worms can greatly contribute to fast growth rate for betta,
especially fries. But there is common agreement that they contain "bad" stuff
in their bodies. It could primarily due to the food they eat......which by my
guess is waste from other animals...
They could very possibly be major carriers of disease and
harmful bacterias. So try it at your own risk.
