Betta Care Sheet.

[PheonixKingZ]

This is a complete guide to keeping the wonderful species of betta fish.

Tank Specifications.

Tank size: 2.5 gal.-20 gal.

It is not a good idea to keep betta fish in a tank size, of under 2.5 gal. There is really no maximum size of tank you can or can’t keep a betta fish in, but a 20 gal, tank is a good idea.

Heater: 3-5 watts per gallon, but I prefer the Tetra brand 2-10 gal. Heater. It keeps the water temperature at a constant 78 degrees Farinhite.

Filter: Sponge filters are an ideal choice, but any other filter will work, as long as the intake is covered, and the flow is not to strong.

Lighting: Personal choice really. Just use the correct size for your tank, depending on what types of plants you are hoping to grow, will make your choice of lighting better.

Hood: Hoods with LED lights built into them, are a good option for beginners. Betta fish do need a hood, as they are know for jumping.

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Plant Options.

Common Basic Plants:

Java Fern: Grows best attached to a piece of lava rock/dragon stone or a piece of driftwood.

Anacharis: Grows best in sand or gravel. One of the very few plants you can just stick in gravel, and it will grow. This plan can also grow floating.

Water Sprite: Can be grown floating or in sand/gravel.

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Substrate.

Sand: Plant nutritious sand is better than regular sand, but if you just want regular sand, you can buy root tabs, or liquid fertilizer.

Gravel: A very basic substrate, composed of small, pea sized rocks.

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This has been a very basic caresheet, for the wonderful species, betta fish.

If you have any questions, please ask down below, this has been PheonixKingZ, and I hope you enjoyed this thread.

 

[Colin_T]

Presumably this is about Betta splendens (Siamese Fighting fish).

They naturally occur is water with a GH below 100ppm and a pH below 7.0. Domesticated forms can tolerate harder water with a GH up to 250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

They will tolerate a water temperature between 20-30C, with 24-26C being optimum.

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They are highly territorial and should not be kept with other Labyrinth fishes (Bettas or Gouramis).

They should not be kept with fish like male guppies that have long flowing fins and bright colours either because some male Bettas will consider those fish as intruding males and attack them.

Do not keep Bettas with fish that nip fins, like black widow (black skirt) tetras, serpae tetras, Beunos Aires tetras, tiger barbs.

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They should be fed a varied diet ranging from dry floating foods, frozen but defrosted foods like prawn, fish, daphnia, brineshrimp, bloodworms, and live foods like aphids, small flies, moths, mosquitoes and mozzie larvae. Just make sure anything fed to the fish is free of chemicals like pesticides.

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All fish including Bettas need an established biological filter in their aquarium. Air operated filters are sufficient and less likely to cause the fish to be blown around the tank, which can happen if power filters are used in small tanks.

Do a 50-75% (preferably 75%) water change and gravel clean the substrate in the aquarium at least once a week to keep nutrients and disease organisms down. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

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Don't use chemicals/ medications that leave an oily film on the surface because the fish can suffocate. If you plan on using things like Melafix, Pimafix, Bettafix, make sure you have lots of aeration/ surface turbulence and good filtration.

Most fish health issues are caused by poor water quality and a dirty tank/ filter, so do water changes and gravel cleans before reaching for chemicals to treat the fish.

The following link has information on what to do if your fish gets sick. The information applies to all fish, not just Bettas.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/​

 

[Essjay]

Have you seen the sticky in this section?
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/betta-splendens-caresheet.423362/

 

[Colin_T]

I don't look at stickies, I just look at new posts

I spose we should delete this thread then

 

[Chloe07]

Substrate.

Sand: Plant nutritious sand is better than regular sand, but if you just want regular sand, you can buy root tabs, or liquid fertilizer.

Gravel: A very basic substrate, composed of small, pea sized rocks

Would you suggest Fluval stratum as substrate? I'm setting 10 gallon tank for my betta and I don't really know which substrate to put in.
I have many live plants but I don't really care the growth of the plant. All I care is the well being for my betta.
On Fluval stratum it says its good for plants and shrimp but it doesn't say anything about fish. However I see many people use it as substrate for fish tank and it says it lower the pH.
Regular white sand seems easy to clean since my betta's food sinks down and he swims around to find and eat it. But there were reviews that the sand raises the pH and that some betta even eat the sand?
I currently have just natural river rock gravel. Would this be the best choice?

 

[FishGuest5123]

Presumably this is about Betta splendens (Siamese Fighting fish).

They naturally occur is water with a GH below 100ppm and a pH below 7.0. Domesticated forms can tolerate harder water with a GH up to 250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

They will tolerate a water temperature between 20-30C, with 24-26C being optimum.

------------------------​

They are highly territorial and should not be kept with other Labyrinth fishes (Bettas or Gouramis).

They should not be kept with fish like male guppies that have long flowing fins and bright colours either because some male Bettas will consider those fish as intruding males and attack them.

Do not keep Bettas with fish that nip fins, like black widow (black skirt) tetras, serpae tetras, Beunos Aires tetras, tiger barbs.

------------------------
They should be fed a varied diet ranging from dry floating foods, frozen but defrosted foods like prawn, fish, daphnia, brineshrimp, bloodworms, and live foods like aphids, small flies, moths, mosquitoes and mozzie larvae. Just make sure anything fed to the fish is free of chemicals like pesticides.

------------------------
All fish including Bettas need an established biological filter in their aquarium. Air operated filters are sufficient and less likely to cause the fish to be blown around the tank, which can happen if power filters are used in small tanks.

Do a 50-75% (preferably 75%) water change and gravel clean the substrate in the aquarium at least once a week to keep nutrients and disease organisms down. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

------------------------
Don't use chemicals/ medications that leave an oily film on the surface because the fish can suffocate. If you plan on using things like Melafix, Pimafix, Bettafix, make sure you have lots of aeration/ surface turbulence and good filtration.

Most fish health issues are caused by poor water quality and a dirty tank/ filter, so do water changes and gravel cleans before reaching for chemicals to treat the fish.

The following link has information on what to do if your fish gets sick. The information applies to all fish, not just Bettas.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/​

Now that’s an excellent betta care sheet!

 

[Colin_T]

essjays post #3 has a link to a better Betta care fact sheet.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Yeah, I just looked it up but I know you just spit that information right out of your mouth. We need to get our care information from people like you with a lot of experience in fish care. If I don’t know something already, I can always trust your information. Oh...and if I disagree then you’ll know it. Right? Lol.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Thanks you guys!

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Hold it @Colin_T , we are not closing this thread........

 

[Colin_T]

it's not necessary tho because there's already a Betta care thread.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/betta-splendens-caresheet.423362/

 

[PheonixKingZ]

All I wanted to do was to help beginners....

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Would you suggest Fluval stratum as substrate? I'm setting 10 gallon tank for my betta and I don't really know which substrate to put in.
I have many live plants but I don't really care the growth of the plant. All I care is the well being for my betta.
On Fluval stratum it says its good for plants and shrimp but it doesn't say anything about fish. However I see many people use it as substrate for fish tank and it says it lower the pH.
Regular white sand seems easy to clean since my betta's food sinks down and he swims around to find and eat it. But there were reviews that the sand raises the pH and that some betta even eat the sand?
I currently have just natural river rock gravel. Would this be the best choice?

I can not really give you any information here. @Byron might be able to help you, but I can’t. As far as substrate, I would not waste the money on the expensive substrate. I would just go with regular sand, and get root tabs.

 

[Donya]

I think this thread has run its course.

Posts with care information or tutorials sometimes get pinned when they contain widely agreed-upon information, are very detailed, and/or are written by very experienced aquarists in the area. If there is already such a post on a topic, we do not typically replace it or add a new one unless the information is outdated. If specific problems are observed with any pinned topics, discussion about it is welcome.

The best way to help new hobbyists on the site is to respond to their threads and answer their questions directly. The mods don't typically remove posts simply for having information that is redundant to a pinned post. However, we do prefer that the pinned threads be referenced in situations where users are directed to existing resources (assuming a pinned thread on the topic in question exists).​