Ok...So let's pretend I wanted to get into keeping bettas....I just want to keep a few males and females...and maybe breed them....I saw some pretty ones at the lfs in lil cups....

So what advice would you give me?

What is an appropriate home for a betta? A lil cup?

What would you recomend for feeding? (remember this is aimed at a newbie, so your probably not gonna talk a newb into culturing worms...)

Allright ya betta freaks....post away! If this gets good enough we'll "sticky" it...

hikara betta food is the best. i also feed frozen bloodworms the fishes LOVE them

As for sizes compartment, the better is big tank like 10 gallon. If you can't affort and wants to have a lot of betta, here is the one you should get and they are cheap. No excuses. LOL
Tupperware!! They are at least 1 gallon of water and it cost only 1.99 at Walmart. You can stack on top of each other up to 6. :) I wont 't go over 6 since you will having trouble to get the top one. Make sure drew two holes on the edge lid so you can throw in the food for them to eat rather take down one by one and open the lid to feed them.
Here is one picture of the 1 gallon tupperware. :) Recommended changing water is between fifth days(the best) to a week(ok).

Always put some life plant is the best.

If you want more comfortable for the betta to live in, here is a 2 gallon size tupperware. Just add extra 1.00 only. :lol: Around 2.99 each. This one is good for plakat too because more room to swim.
Changing water wise, one week to 10 days.
Same as above, put like plant. :)

If you don't like that shape, you can have another choice to get this 2 gallon tupperware. :lol: I think i got it for 2.99 too at Walmart.:)

How about water parameters? hard/soft, acid/neutral/alkaline? Do they care?

How about substrate? Any special considerations?

What if I wanted to breed them? what then?

Do I want the ones at WM or the "Megapet" in the lil cups with the blue water?

How do I select a quality speciemen....

Assume I know NOTHING about these fish...and fish keeping in general....(Bettas are often the first fish people choose to keep)

OK. Last sizes if someone do wants to breed hm babies, This is the one I recommended the best and cheap for budget! 4 plus gallon tupperware. You can leave the betta for 2 1/2 weeks to 3 weeks without changing water. Just suck out the poop poop 2 times a week and then add back some aged water. I am using this container now for my hm and they are perfect! :)

Who wants to add more about this post and please do so. Aren't it is fun?

Oh yes, I do recommended not to breed veiltail since they are abandoned all over the market now. You can see them in LFS, walmart, petmart, petco and if you hit 100 to 500 over babies, think who gonna have them. Hard to let go I tell you. Therefore, get plakat, crowntail or halfmoon or even wild betta to breed the best. :) People will want to buy them to have pets for sure. Think twice.:)

A bottle of declorinator, any brand that you trust the most.

Always aged water eventhough you declorinating them at least one day. I get 3 33 gallon plastic trash bucket in my porch and I can have aged water anytime I want. (You can have any plastic container like cat litter scooping sand container that is free if you finished using it.)

Ph is 6.5 to 7.8. You don't have to worried much about the soft or hard water. (You always get hard water anyway)

Temperature wise, 78 F perfect! 74 to 82 F range is ok.

Alway makesure when you changing water, change all. Makesure the temperature are the same too so you won't stress the betta or else you will make the fish got ick.

Betta real good medicine is Indian almond leaf. You can get them at aquabid.com in breeding section. One leaf for 5 gallon bucket. boil the leaf is the best so far rather than soaking it.

Bettafix is a good in handy for the fins that been tear or even got bite by other male.
that is all you needed.

My final words, the least chemical you add in to the water, the best you going to have a healthy betta.

If you can collecting rain water! Those are the best and cost you nothing. :) You don't even have to add any chemical at all. :)

Bettas do not require any substrates. If you want to display them (such as in a ten gallon divided) it would look very nice to have some substrate. Any would be fine since people use river rock, find sand, gravel, etc.

If you decide to breed them, talk to Yeevia :lol:. Alot of breeders will tell you to get a growout tank (which I would recommend too). WM sells a 20+ gallon plastic tubberware for $5 -$8 Dollars (90 something quart).

One word answer that I would recommend: YeeviaBetta :woo:
Any bettas would be fine actually since there isn't a bad betta but for quality I would trust Yeevia since he has the best prices I could find.

Wow those are some pretty large (and cheap) containers you got there Yeevia. Most breeders would not recommend breeding veiltails like Yeevia said. Veiltails are becoming more and more common due to excessive breeding over and over. There is, of course, nothing wrong with veiltails.

If you decide to breed, please do a lot of research. You could end up with well over 100 babies and you need to seriously consider the following:

Do you have a large enough grow out tank for the females? 55 gallons+
Do you have enough bins or jars for the males? Yeevia gave great examples with the 4 gallon tupperware containers.
Are you going to take the father out or leave him in?
What will you be feeding?
Where will the babies find homes?

It is best you know the history of the fish, which is why it is probably better you get them from a reputable breeder.

You just never know with a petstore betta.

What sources would you recomend for someone to use for research on Bettas?

As for research, I would recommended to bettysplender website. She has great articles post in her web and I know her too. She raise and sales betta too and they are very active betta. Recommended A plus.
Here is her link. :)
http://www.bettysplendens.com/articles/home.asp

Another research is in Midwest Betta Club
Recommended a B plus.
http://www.midwestbettaclub.com/articles/home.asp

The last is of course International betta congress website. :)
Recommended A plus.
http://ibcbettas.org/

If you are really a Bettacholic, sure you have to go through all this three links and do the research for what you want. I tell ya, you will be thrilled to get all the information and ready for betta. :)

Here are my $0.02.

How about water parameters? hard/soft, acid/neutral/alkaline? Do they care?

I keep my bettas in tap water that is conditioned with dechlorinator and it removes other toxicities from the water. I also add a bit of aquarium salt to the water, about 1 tsp/gallon and a half of water...it's supposed to help prevent ick and other nasties. Temp should be somewhere between 74°F-80°F, for a healthy, pet betta. Higher for ill or breeding bettas. Most important thing is that it be constant. Severe fluctuations in temp will kill a betta...so if your tank is running at 76°F during the day and dropping more than 5° at night, this will stress and kill your betta over time. How much time depends on how healthy the betta was to begin with and the age of the betta, old bettas and tiny babies are more sensitive than adolescent bettas.

How about substrate? Any special considerations?

I just use regular old pea gravel as substrate. For a beginner who might not want to spend tons of money, i recommend(and still use myself)buying your gravel at a home improvement store. A 50 lb bag goes for like $2.00 or so. Sometimes cheaper in the winter time. As far as i know there aren't any special considerations for substrate, just that it not have any sharp edges and should not contain limestone b/c that'll mess with your water parameters.

However there are special considerations for tank decorations. No sharp edges and a lot of ppl say no plastic plants, both of which can tear fins. And torn fins open the betta up to infections like tail and fin rot.

What if I wanted to breed them? what then?

I would recommend taking care of a betta for at least a year before you choose to breed them. You need to be sure you can take care of a single fish properly before you attempt to breed them. Besides breeding costs more money and most beginners aren't willing to spend a lot of money. So while it's understandable that you will get excited and want to breed right away, wait it out for a year first.

Do I want the ones at WM or the "Megapet" in the lil cups with the blue water?

If it's just for a pet, in my opinion it doesn't matter where you get them as long as it's a good place that takes care of their pets. Inspect the cups, they should be clean and they should smell clean too. There shouldn't be any dead fish or fish that look like they are about to die.

If the cups are so small the betta can only swim up to get air and feed, but not swim in a circle, well i wouldn't buy from that place b/c they obviously aren't taking good care of their animals.

However if this is for breeding, i don't recommend petstore bettas for breeding. Only exception would be a petstore that gets their bettas from local breeders. Then they should be just fine for breeding.

How do I select a quality speciemen?

Keep in mind that most bettas won't be terribly active, especially if kept in the little cups, but they shouldn't appear to have difficulty breathing(no gasping on the bottom) and they should be able to swim in the cups. If there is a bubblenest or active flaring at their male neighbors, this is a good sign. The fins should look good, a little fraying happens, but light colored bettas should not have bloody looking fins or bodies and dark colored bettas should not have any unnatural looking white or dark patches on their bodies or fins. There also should not be any cottony white stuff on their bodies or fins and if the betta looks like it has been sprinkled with large grain salt, don't buy it. Potential bettas should not be missing scales, eyes, or any other body parts. I don't recommend them for newby's at least, wounds open them up to infection. Also, before buying any pet, do some research and look at disease photo's to get an idea of what an ill betta looks like and look at pic's of healthy bettas too. Choose ones that look healthy. When in doubt, just don't buy from them.

So what advice would you give me?

Research, research, research. Make sure you research for at least a month(i usually recommend spending about 1-2 hours a night on the internet researching, every day for one month), before you purchase your first betta. Join mailing lists/discussion groups, find message boards like this one, etc. Can i throw a plug for my webpage in here too?? Marsha's Pet Page with Betta Info and Pic's!.

Other good places would be the following pages:

Betta Anatomy(so you know what it should and should not have as far as body parts: http://betta-barracks.50megs.com/WHATIS.HTM

Basic Info on Keeping and Breeding, also has a message board: Betta Junkies

Betty Splendens: http://www.bettysplendens.com/articles/home.asp

Those are just a few to get you started, but really the best info comes from experienced keepers and breeders, so hit those mailing lists/discussion groups and message boards.

What is an appropriate home for a betta? A lil cup?

Definately not. Little cups aren't fit for anything other than holding a betta during a tank break-down. A proper home for a pet betta is anything that is at least 1 gallon or larger. For a newby i'd recommend at least a 2.5 gallon tank as the minimum. Most newbie's aren't willing to do a water change every other day, with a larger tank you can go like a week between changes. You can use anythng that holds water. It doesn't have to be clear, that is just for our enjoyment. People use: beanie baby boxes, rubbermaid containers, sun tea pitchers, gallon milk jugs(rinsed out of course), aquariums, kritter keepers, etc. Even better for a newby would be a 10 gallon tank minimum, since newby's tend to want to eventually add other fish to their bettas tank.

I also recommend live plants, walmart in particular has these bulbs called "Mystery Lillies", hanging up near the fish food and supplies. They are one of the easiest plants i've ever grown. I'd buy a few packages for any tank that's 2.5 gallons or larger. Live plants will help control algae(one of the reasons newby's give up keeping fish)and help keep the water clean between changes. They really help out a newby.

I don't recommend those lily vases, bettas have to breathe air and they eat meat. The instructions that come with those peace lily vases are recipes for dead bettas. If you use a vase, do not add a peace lily to it. Feed your betta food made for bettas or carnivorous cichlids. Bettas need a lot of protein and very little vegetable matter. No matter what the instructions say, bettas will not eat off of the roots of those peace lillies.

What would you recomend for feeding? (remember this is aimed at a newbie, so your probably not gonna talk a newb into culturing worms...)

Hikari Betta Bio Gold pellets, a good tropical fish flake, freeze dried bloodworms, and a variety of frozen foods. I can understand newby's not wanting to feed live foods, but frozen is a must have. Bettas that are fed entirely dry diets, will become constipated and most die from it. I also feed mine baby food meats like veal and most newby's would be willing to try that as well. Only keep opened jars of baby food for 3 days, then you have to throw them away.

Extra add-in's:

I recommend having the following on hand at all times: aquarium salt(for conditioning the water and treating ick), Melafix or Bettafix(for torn fins), aquarium water conditioner(for treating the tank initially, but also treating water you use to replace discarded water during water changes or for adding water when making up for evaporation), water testing kit(they will be expensive, i think a complete kit is $50 or so, but well worth it!), an extra net or two(at least one extra for handling ill bettas and use it only for ill bettas and make sure to boil it or dip it in bleach and water to clean it) and stresscoat or the equivalent of it(for new additions, treating ill bettas, etc.).

Hope this helps! :)

my advice is sometimes dont breed LFS LPS or WM betta unless they are deffly not veil tails.

a appropiate home for a betta is a 2G bowl or tank, most people say 1G is the min. and i agree but anything under 1G has to be well WELL taken care of... you must keep up with your water changes you CANT over feed... if so you must do and immediate water change!


food? well some bettas dont like flakes.. mine are well adapted to it... i feed my bettas a variety of foods including the following:
Bettamin tropical flakes
Nutrafin Max Flakes
Hikari betta pellets
Hikari frozen bloodworms
Frozen daphnia
frozen peas that have been boiled, poped out of there shell and cut up
Brine shrimp (your LFS sometimes has them live and/or frozen... ethier work but live will give them stimulation)


my food that i dont reccomend are:
tropical fish flake food, bettas are meat eaters so they need meat not veggies, though a pea everynow and in this is good for there digestive system!
freeze-dried foods, freeze-dried foods are fatty and bettas dont swim very fast so your hurting more than helping by feeding them alot of fatty foods and ... overfeeding them.



happy bettta keepings :) ^_^

Wow! This thread has become a treasure trove of great info!

Thank you all! :wub: Maybe I'll pick up my first betta soon.... jay

Seedy, I tell ya, you will get addicted like all of us here. LOL Become a BETTAHOLIC!!!! LOL :lol: :lol: :lol: I am telling you the true!!! :lmao: :lmao:

All the betta members here did do a great job. I am so happy and excited. Everyone do know things and they did do homework. :) Good JOB members!!! :woo: :woo: :woo:

Wait a minute, homework wasn't part of the deal :laugh:. Yeevia is right you WILL become obsess with bettas and occasionally will hear them talk to you :jk:

and you will see them dance :dancer:

Tank size: Nothing less than a gallon for a permanent home. Yes, bettas can live in smaller quarters, but they'll be a whole lot happer in a bigger home. And heck, a 10-gallon aquarium is usually as expensive or less expensive than any so-called "betta keepers".

Feeding: Any sort of "Betta pellet" or flakes (most of mine don't like flakes... except my girls). Also, frozen foods like bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphnia, etc are great. There are also freeze-dried versions of most of these that make great treats. Cooked, shelled peas are a favorite, too (but don't use often).

Substrates: I use either glass marbles (you can get these at any fish store, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Stein's, etc) or aquarium gravel. You can also use sand (NOT marine sand, as it releases salt).

Medicating: This is a very controversial topic. All in all, I'd stick to using as little medication as possible, as this only stresses the fish out even more. Start off using aquarium salt and/or heat. If these don't work, use Maracyn and/or Maracyn 2 as directed. Jungle Fungus Clear/Eliminator works great for any sort of true fungus. For Ich or Velvet, first try aquarium salt and heat. Jungle branch Ick clear fizz tabs also clear it up in very short amounts of time (definitely recommend that). Colloidal silver (usually a ppm of 550 or so is the best investment) is a definite MUST-HAVE. It works for swim bladder problems, fin rot, lethargy (from who knows what), etc. It's the best $30 you can spend.

Also, make sure you take the carbon out of your filter when using medications.

I think most of the other stuff was covered. I'd recommend looking at some quality betta breeders if you're looking to breed. Unless you have a fish store that gets in things other than veils, I'd just pay the extra and go through a breeder. Here are some good sites I've looked into:

http://www.bcbetta.com
http://www.bettatalk.com
http://www.atisonbetta.com
http://www.aquabid.com (choose carefully and only from those sellers with good foodback)
http://www.bettysplendens.com
http://www.ibcbettas.com (in their member pages and also in their stock shop)

And there's ALWAYS Yeevia*mart!! I would definitely suggest this one. Great fish!!

Ok, that's my two cents!

Thanks for all the info!!!! It is really helpful to find it all in one place!

This should be pinned.

More info,

If you're keeping bettas, and if you have about 100$ to spend, set up a 10 gallon tank and fill it with platies, maybe, 3 male, and7 females, and you'll have fresh fry food for the bettas at most times, maybe 2 males and 7 females, but yopu get my point
bettas love to eat livebearer fry, and platies are the most reliable, and hardier than guppies.heck, if your betrtas tank is 2 gallons or more, add java moss and add like 5-10 fry, they'll hide, and provide both food, and excitement for the grumpy old males, for a female tank, make sure its, like 1 gallon of water for each female, like a 5 gallon w\ 5 females, you could add like10-20 fry in there.
plus watching them chase em is exciting too

Oh and if yo are ever thinking of breeding bettas, dont decide for yourself, you'll get overwhelmed, got and look up betta breeding from proffessional breeders, such as faith from bettatalk.com

If you're worried about bettas not eating, one thing that really helps, is having two identical tanks, real tanks, about 2 gallons with 1 male betta in each, after they are done flaring at each other, they seem pretty acclimated and eat right away, it always works for me.

as well as in getting them to eat, alot of pet stores add a male betta to their community tanks with great fry producing fish, and ask if you could by one that is living in a community tank at a store, those ones are well acclimated to living anywhere, as lots of space means they might find an unfamiliar place anyway, so the new tank wont suprise them as much, and they will also eat very quickly, i buy most of my males, and all my females, from community tanks, also get them at a time when their actually body, is about..1 inch long,as they are the best size to buy to ensure both longevity, breedability, and surviving.

so remember these 3 things when buying male bettas ( only if you will take 2 or more of them )

-always buy two or more and put them in identical tanks, real tanks, right next to each other
-look for male bettas that are kept in community tanks, and have been in there for a week if you know of it.
-buy male bettas at about 1 inch long actual body ( not fins )

or at least this is what i do, and it really helps them surviving, especially those prissy prissy crowntail bettas that hate life and wish to just sink