This site is for people who need real advice on how to take care of a betta fish. I am sure that you probably realize how hard it is to go from site to site and see the same things over and over again on how to take care of these beauties. I assure you that you have entered the perfect place for betta haven.
First let me begin by introducing my bettas: Darwin, Dracko, Eragon, Jupitur and Saphera. These are my guys and one girl of course. I have had Darwin for 4 years going on 5. He is fire engine red and a little bit of blue. He is the biggest and the oldest of any other betta I own. The name is everything I do believe in naming a fish. It is a strong sense of fish character and no one wants to be called gills. So when you name your fish make it a strong name. Dracko is a crowntail betta he is red, blue, purple, green, grey, and other multicolors. He is a feisty one indeed. But he is the toughest one to care for and Eragon who is also a crowntail betta. They are difficult to care for because of there uniqueness. There fins are very fragile and can easily get torn from plants and other accessories in the tank. I would definitely suggest to have all bettas even crowntail ones be in a tank alone with nothing in them. It will have them last longer and preserve there beautiful look. Jupitur is the same as Darwin but have black all around his outer fins. Such as the ring around the planet jupitur. Saphera she is my girl betta. What a jumper she is and is alabaster blue/grey. All of these guys have been with me for a year except Darwin who has been with me for 4 years. Even though they have there own personalities they always know who you are and are very eager to show off in front of you. They will last a long time if you follow what i say or at least take a look at my advice.
Bettaworld is tough. These fish are breed in different countries and in different ways. Some are kept very well and when breeded right they can be healthy fish. Bettas orginally came from Thailand if those out there don't know. The original betta is as big as your hand it looks like the female but is a male. Those are known as Giant Betta. They are also very hard to take care of because there water conditions are much different then the water conditions here in the US. They usually are in small swamps in Thailand and are hidden in rice paddies. People in Thailand spend countless days picking them out of the rice paddies and selling them to the US. Of course they never give the instructions on how to properly take care of them resulting in many betta deaths from Thailand to US. Once when they are here in the US you can see them in many pet stores around the country. When you are in need of looking for a pet and you do decide this is the one for you. You must be prepared to take excellent care of them. It is not cheap but they are the only colorful fish that can survive in fresh water and are arranged in different colors and types and prices. I have to say for having five i have spent a whole lot of money on these fish of mine but feel that it is worth it because i have had them for so long and take excellent care of them. I watch every day to see if anything looks off and i have medicine on everything with them to give just in case they get sick. Frankly bettas do not have to have that much attention only that as an owner you do not ignore them like a piece of furniture. They prefer to be spoken to just like a dog or cat. Although they are not able to be pet due to the bacteria and germs that our hands have which will effect them greatly. Yet just saying hey darwin how are you boy makes them feel great. They can also be really good protection. I had a person above me in my condo unit have a boiler break and Darwin was jumping in and out of that bowl like i never seen him do ever. He usually is the quit one. But he was warning me of the danger and then suddenly the whole ceiling collapsed with water what a mess but they were all ok. So see they are not stupid or slow like most people assume.
Since i gave a brief description of my guys and how they are brought to our world let me begin by suggesting a couple of ideas on how to handle these fishy friends. First when you are in a store such as petco or petsmart. Always look at them under the light. If they have rings on there body going from head to tail then they are very sick. Know this doesn't mean you can't save them but if you save this particular betta you want to give him Betta Remedy Mix right away. Have him be in a small Arcylic tank and then as you finish the medication through out the bowl and buy him a new one. This will prevent him from getting sick with that disease again. While you take care of this betta be very careful to monitor him because sometimes they can go into shock so while you finish the meds and switch him to his new bowl have the water be the same temperature and put a spoon full of Aquarium Salt, a pinch of Chloramine for the tap water and a little bit of betta water. This should be ok and he will do just fine trust me on this one. I have saved all of mine and they were in pretty bad shape some had fungus and others had internal diseases. I would not suggest this to new comers at all. I would suggest to make sure you pick one up that is energized, strong color, and is not lying down or looking depressed. This would be a good one to get. Depending on the fish i would suggest to go Big on the Tank not Small. They do grow and prefer to have space to swim up and down. I have mine in huge tanks and are lovin' it. I would also suggest to not put anything in the tanks because it could frey there tails and also give them bacteria or fungus problems. The plants that they have in pet stores are nice but are they really taken care of is the question. They can have bacteria on them, parasites and if that gets into the water and on the fish well you can't fix that one. So that is unecessary to get plus you have to replemish every two weeks which gets very costy. Also plastic or little accessories that they can hid in is not a good idea at tall they can sophicate and also get pocked in eye from anything plastic plus it ruins there fins. So if you have them in a tank with just water rocks and the fish they will last long and do very well. You will not have that many problems at all then you would have if you had all that other stuff. Also a light LCD would be benefical to these guys since they do like the light. I use them on mine and love it and it doesn't bother them at all.
I have surfed the web through and through to see if i was missing anything. I never saw anything that helped me with my fish and so I had to figure it out on my own. I am hoping that this helps a little bit and better understanding of these species. I guess right know I am going to leave this to the viewers out there and if you have any questions or concerns with your bettas please feel free to respond to this site and i will walk you through it.
Thank you for visiting my website
Sincerely,
Bettaworld
