Betta Fish and Betta Fish Care

Posts Tagged ‘Tank’

Female betta fish just because they are not as attractive as the male cannot be ignored. Female betta fish when compared to the male metta fish are less vibrant in colors. Very rarely you can find female betta fish being as colorful as male but not having the flowing large fins. When compared to the male, female betta fish are more tolerant towards different female betta fishes as they are raised in tanks together. This makes the female betta fish more tolerant towards other female betta fish.

Though they are more tolerant than the male, the female betta fish do fight when initially combined with other female betta fishes in a single tank. The natural tendency of being territorial make female betta fish fight with other females initially which most often does not cause serious damage.

It’s advised that one should not keep less than 4 female betta fishes in a tank. Four as well as more than four female betta fishes make a hierarchy and they do not fight with other. If you add just two female betta fishes, then they tend to fight with every other and hurt each other.
To keep 4 to 6 female betta fishes, it is advised to have a tank of 10 gallons size wtih plenty of hiding places with plants and rocks. This provides enough place to hide for female betta fish. When you add 4 to 6 fishes in a tank, these female betta fish creates a hierarchy and there will be an alpha female betta fish. To avoid any serious fight between these female betta fish, it is advised that to keep enough place in the tank wtih great hiding places and enough food to all of them.

Breeding Betta fish at home could be somewhat difficult. Especially with Betta fish, as they tend to be aggressive towards other Bettas. There are many steps you’ll need to follow in order to successfully breed your Betta fish.

You will need to make sure that your fish are at least 5 months old and fully acclimated to their tanks. You must set the male in one tank and the female in another close to each other so they could get used to one another before you bring them together to mate.

Betta fish will initiate to show signs when they are ready to mate; the male will make a bubble nest at the top of his tank where he will eventually place the eggs, and the female can develop colorful stripes.

Your breeding tank should be kept at 80-82 degrees for the baby fish to best survive. You can now place the female in with the male and he will hold her upside down so that she can release her eggs.

Betta fish can release hundreds of eggs, while some have been well-known to release close to a thousand. Her job done, the female will then hide and the male will take over the caring of the young.

It is best to take the mother out of the tank at this point, or the male may view her as a threat to the eggs and may get aggressive towards her.

Once the fish have hatched and are swimming freely, take the male out of the tank as well or he may begin to eat his young and your hard work will have been in vain.

Give the babies about two weeks before you change their water, and be careful that you don’t overfeed them or the tank could become cloudy.

After a couple weeks, you can begin changing the water and separating the fish into other bowls. Now all you will need to do is decide if you want to sell them, or keep them for your family.
About the Author

If you want to raise a healthy looking kid, would you be giving the child cereal every meal?
Feeding your fish’s no different from a kid. Although it is very easy to feed your Betta fish, they’ll not eat everything you throw in. You can try putting in fish flakes, but I can tell you they rather starve than to eat them. It’s not that they have turned bulimic, but definite food just does not appeal to your Betta fishes. Here are  a couple of useful tips.

Live shrimp brine
The keyword is live food; they are the best food you can serve on the Betta table. Feeding them with live shrimp brine is like having Sashimi for us. It has lots of protein, vitamins and minerals for excellent growth. You can compare the ‘skin color’ of your Betta fishes when they are consistently fed with the shrimp brine. You can find live shrimp brine at the local pet shop, but they can be pricey.

Live worms
Betta fishes are carnivorous. They like things that will wriggle around, so worms are attractive to them. I like feeding my Betta fishes worms, but maybe only about once every two weeks. Why? Worms are messy and dirty and they can contaminate your tank very easily. I have to clean them thoroughly before I give them to my precious Bettas. Any kind of worms require cleaning first and if they are not frozen, please throw them away after a day. So the trick here is to buy the minimum but enough to keep your Bettas happy for a meal or two. Remember, if it stinks, do not eat it, the rule is applicable to both humans and Bettas.

Pellets
For busy people who want to feed your fishes fast and spend the rest of the day switching cable channels, try fish pellets. Clean, fast and convenient. Looks for pellets that have shrimp brine mixed in them. Betta fishes are not natural pill eating species, so you might have to take a while before they initiate to eat them. Do not over feed them also, look at their tiny bellies and estimate how many pellets would fill them up.

For most people, getting live shrimp brine and live worms on a regular basis is not feasible. The best strategy then would be to go on pellets and feed them the live food one or two days before changing the water in the tank. Then it would be like treating your Bettas to a feast before sending them to a rejuvenating spa!