I really wanna get a beta fish. Can people please tell me:
1) How to take care of them (how often to change water, how often to give food)
2) How big they get
3) What colors they are
4) ANYTHING ELSE THAT GOES ALONG WITH THESE!!
Thank you in advance!
Answers:
Bettas can tolerate a wide range of water conditions. Bettas have an organ called a labyrinth that allows them to breathe surface air. This enables them to live in small individual plastic or glass jars without the need for aeration. If you keep bettas in small jars or containers, you need to change water often to keep water clean. Tap water should be de-chlorinated. There are two ways to de-chlorinate water, one way is to use a de-chlorinate solution available at your local tropical fish shop or age the water for at least 24 hours for the chlorine to evaporate. Also add a teaspoon of aquarium salt to every 5 gallons of water for the prevention of fungus and diseases.
The key to maintaining healthy bettas is to feed them with a balance diet; this means feeding your bettas a variety of food. Live food such as brine shrimp, bloodworm, tubifex, and daphnia are ideal for bettas. If live foods are not available, substitutes in the form of frozen or freeze-dried should be used.
Here are some (lots) of pictures of the varieties of tails and colors
http://watershed3.tripod.com/types.html.
A
These guys know a lot about bettas, more so than any answer you'll find here on yahoo.
http://www.forumsvibe.com/betta/index.ph.
1 - Change the water everytime it looks it. Trust me, you can tell. The water gets cloudy and food pellets lay on the ground. ONLY CHANGE with PURIFIED water. Just buy a gallon at the store everytime you need to change. If you use tap water, you'll kill it.
2- They get a little bigger than what they look like when you purchase them at the store.
3- Every color you can think of. Go to a local pet shop and I'm sure they will have tons to pick from.
4 - Do not put more than one in a tank, and don't cheat them out of less than one gallon of water. I know they sell tanks that are 'made' for beta fish that hold maybe 16oz of water, don't do that. Give him room to swim. One gallon per fish is usually safe. WalMart sells one-gallon tanks with oxygen feed for about 10 bucks. I would suggest getting an oxygen feed in it, they come with certain tanks. This just helps keep the water moving and so that your fish will have a oxygenated tank.
When you buy them, make sure they don't have any signs of infection. Some betas carry 'ick' and I believe it is white and once they have it, its very hard to keep them alive. Just pick a healthy fish. Usually once you start taking care of your fish properly, you will see how vibrant they get and their fins grow out a little more. You can really see a difference in their health.
They are aggressive fish. Make sure you check on them occasionally because they will see their reflections and try to 'fight' that. Do not put a tank light on in a dark room, he will see himself and die trying to kill his reflection. If you notice that they are beating themselves aganist the walls, just put some paper around 3 sides of the tank to prevent that. DO NOT put that light on in the dark though!
Hope this helps. I have 2 and have had them both for over 2 years. ;)
1. check out http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_care.htm.
2. most often two inches
3. just about any you can think of
4. remember their personalities are different so you have to watch them carefully or else your money will go to waste,only keep 1 male, prevent sickness by not judging when to change the water like when it looks dirty (it might be too late then) same with food etc, and love them!
sorry about question 1, i'm pretty lazy :)
I'm afraid goldfish6 doesn't know much about bettas.
1)Purified water is bad for almost all fish. Fish need minerals found in normal tap water. Some water is too hard, or soft for some types of fish. Betta can take amazing extreme of pH, and hardness so if it's legal to drink your betta will love it.. The only risk is if changes in water chemistry happens quickily. (Bottled even of the same brand can come from different sources.) All you need is tap water with the chlorine removed. (Use drops, or age for 48 hours in an open container.)
2)Betta are Anabantoids which can breathe from the surface of the water. Betta, and many of it's cousins have non functional gills and can drown if they can't reach the surface.
As far as care read betta talk. As far as size most pet store betta are 6 months to 1 year. Their fins may grow out, but the main body won't get bigger. Bettas can be almost any color, but red, and blue are dominant. As a result most pet store betta are blue and/or red.
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