Betta fish are magnificent to watch and generally easy to care for as long as you give them space to roam and explore in their tank. Their diverse colors, appearance, and fin shapes make them entertaining household pets. Today, most of the Bettas, if not all, in the pet trade are captive-bred fish.
However, if you are thinking of adopting this wonderful fish, there are a few things you need to learn before making your final decision. Here are four things you should know before adopting a Betta fish.
1. Find a properly-sized aquarium for your Betta fish
Betta fish can thrive in a small glass bowl or jar with minimal water, but these are far from the ideal size and might lead to various complications. Maintaining the correct water parameters in small tanks is hard, especially for novice aquarists.
The ideal tank size for a Betta fish is five gallons or larger. This may seem like a lot of space, especially when you consider the size of a Betta fish, but the bigger your home aquarium, the less work you will need to do. For more valuable information about the appropriate tank size for your Betta fish, visit https://www.aquariumsource.com.
2. Buy the right Betta fish food
A proper diet with a well-balanced ratio of the essential nutrients-carbohydrates is vital for any living being, and Bettas are no exception. Being a little carnivorous, Betta fish do well with regular flakes for tropical fish or pellets specially formulated for their nutritional needs. In addition, your Bettas will also require some tasty treats containing frozen daphnia, bloodworms, and brine shrimp.
An important thing to note about feeding is that you should avoid overfeeding your Betta. Overfeeding may physically harm your fish or negatively affect water chemistry due to a buildup of excess food and fish waste. Use a tweezer to serve the right amount of food to your fish.
3. Don’t put more male Bettas in the same tank
You will ideally want a male and female of certain species to live together for a complete reproductive ecosystem, but for Betta fish, it is a no. Male Bettas are notorious for their aggression towards each other, so keeping more than one male in the same tank will likely lead to a deadly fight.
It’s best to keep your Betta fish alone in their respective tanks to keep them alive and healthy. Male and female Bettas can live together, but keeping them in the same aquarium is not recommended.
4. Avoid putting your Bettas in the water straight from the tap
While tap water can appear and taste clean and fresh, it usually has chemicals that keep it carbonated and free from bacteria. Before adding tap water to your aquarium, allow it to sit in an open container for at least a day (24 hours). This will allow harmful elements such as chlorine to evaporate and stabilize the water’s pH by reducing carbon dioxide. Alternatively, you can boil the water and let it cool slowly before adding it to your tank.
Endnote
These are just some key things anyone looking to adopt a Betta fish should know. However, if you want to become a professional aquarist, learn a lot more about how to take care of Betta fish so that you can offer them an appropriate environment for a healthy life.