HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR BETTA
Bettas (Siamese fighting fish) are starting to really become a very popular fish in the aquarium hobby due to the varied colours and their own unique personalities.
They are from the family Osphronemidae and originate from Asia.
However the colours and tail types that we see today available in the trade are through selective breeding, which has produced these amazing intense colours.
WATER REQUIREMENTS
AQUARIUM REQUIREMENTS
It is recommend that a single male betta be kept in a aquarium no smaller than 15litres
NB: WHILST SHOPS KEEP THEM IN SMALLER SPACES, THIS IS TEMPORARY – DO NOT KEEP THEM PERMANETLY IN JARS, BETTA BARRACKS OR WALL MOUNT CONTAINERS.
It is recommended to keep female bettas in no less that 10litres per female – Again a large tank will be required to keep females in a sorority (Sororities do come with caution).
The larger the aquarium, the more stable the environmental conditions such as temperature and water quality will be, however a filter is ALWAYS essential.
We would recommend either sand or aquarium gravel and if possible live plants to provide your betta cover and somewhere to hide. If you are not wanting to provide live plants, it is recommend to use silk aquarium safe plants.
In addition to plants, its recommend to provide your betta with suitable aquatic ornaments, such as plant pots, model caves and other aquarium décor, this will provide your betta with shelter and hiding spots.
However when selecting décor, please ensure that there are NO sharp or rough edges, as this can cause fin damage.
PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT IT IS RECOMMEND THAT BETTAS HAVE A GENTLE CURRENT.
An Aquarium heater is also extremely important.
IMPORTANT – BETTAS ARE GOOD JUMPERS, PLEASE ENSURE THE AQUARIUM HAS A LID AND NO GAPS
INTRODUCING YOUR BETTA
Always seek advice from a knowledgeable business or individual, to ensure that your tank is suitable for a Siamese fighting fish.
Water quality is important and ensuring your tank is FULLY CYCLED is extremely important, we would advise that you purchase a water testing kit which tests for:
•Ammonia
•Nitrite
•Nitrate
•PH
•Temperature (Daily Checks)
NB: WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND TESTING YOUR WATER PARAMETERS ONCE A WEEK AND RECOMMEND A LIQUID TEST KIT, WE DON'T RECOMMEND THE TEST STRIPS
The saying goes “we don’t keep fish, we keep water”.
Ensuring the water quality in your aquarium is suitable is extremely important, such as AMMONIA AND NITRITES ARE 0PPM.
When adding any new stock to an aquarium it is important that this is carried out slowly, this is due to the beneficial bacteria that has been established when your filter was set up, this slowly increases over time, the more fish you add, the more feeding increases thus meaning the levels in your water parameters will increase.
Over stocking or stocking your aquarium too quickly can result in ‘new tank syndrome’. This occurs when there are not enough nutrifying bacteria to cope with the increased waste from fish, leading to unhealthy levels of ammonia and nitrite, which may cause the fish to become unwell or even die.
NITROGEN CYCLE
When you purchase any fish from a shop, you should get asked a multitude of questions, one of the main questions will be
HOW LONG HAS YOUR TANK BEEN SET UP FOR?
The reason for this, is that when purchasing and keeping any new fish, your tank MUST go through a full cycle. This helps to build up beneficial bacteria within your aquarium known as the BIO LOAD.
You will see above a diagram of how the Nitrogen Cycle works, however DO NOT be fooled, this can and will take some time to start this cycle. There are products on the market today to speed this process up, such as Seachem Stability, or GOOP. These products contain the beneficial bacteria needed to help with this cycle process. However you do need a source of organic waste to get the cycle going, such as fish food.
What you will see above is the following
1. The Fish is fed
2. The Fish Breathing waste, uneaten food and decaying fish and plants are then broken down, this is called organic waste
3. This is turned into Ammonia (Extremely Toxic to fish)
4. NITROSOMONAS Bacteria then convert the Ammonia into NITRITE (Extremely Toxic to fish)
5. NITROSPIRA BACTERIA then convert the Nitrite into a much less toxic waste called NITRATE
6. LIVE plants, Algae's and water changes, help to keep the Nitrates low, even though these are less toxic, it is recommended to keep these Nitrates under 20ppm (Be warned that Nitrates can be present in your Tap Water, its vital you test your tap water)