Tuesday, November 22, 2011

I want to get a betta fish but I need some help first. Any tips/advice etc.?

I will do some research myself also but I would like to hear from other people too. Is it true I need to put a special kind of water in the bowl or is any water okay to use? Any info is appreciated! Thanks.I want to get a betta fish but I need some help first. Any tips/advice etc.?
basic betta care is pretty simple if done right. you really only need a gallon for your betta but more is better. you dont NEED a heater but to have one is good, your betta will be more active when the heater is on. you dont need special water but you need to de-chlorinate it with water de-chlorinater or age it (leave it out for 2 days) and the chlorine will evaporate. you should get some gravel (from a pet store) and a small plant(they like to sleep on them or hide). you can get a filter if you want but it isnt nessecary. you should get a gravel cleaner but a little one because it cant suck up your fish. you can feed him flake food, pellets, freeze dried food, frozen or alive. any of them will do but freeze dried blood worms and alive is the healthiest. you shouldnt put the tank in direct sunlight or youll get algae which is a pain in the **** to clean. the most common deases of betta's are swim bladder bloat or fin rot and NEVER put to betta's toegether at any time unless your spawning them which takes alot of time and alot of effort plus another tank filter etc. to heal these problem you can eater get bettafix for fin rot or medicine for bloat. I think thats mostly the basics but if you can think of anything else then look it up.I want to get a betta fish but I need some help first. Any tips/advice etc.?
A suitable tank would be a 2 1/2 gallon or larger. They can live in smaller, but the 2 1/2 is a good minimum size because it is the smallest body of water that can be reliably heated. Bettas really do need heat, not having it can nip a couple years off of their life span, as it leaves them very susceptible to disease. They will also be a much more entertaining pet if they aren't too cold to move. A good temperature is 76-82 degrees F.


Bettas are carnivores. What that means in the pet world is that they need special food for Bettas to give them all the nutrients they need. Flakes are okay, but they can sometimes cause constipation. Pellets would be a better food. And you can also feed bloodworms every once and a while as treats. It is a good idea, to lower the risk of constipation and swim bladder disease, to have a fasting day once a week.


Their water needs to be changed once a week at the very least. Sitting out your water will get rid of chlorine, but not the deadly chloramine that most places now put in their water, so a water treatment is a must. I use aqua safe myself. Prime works too.





When decorating the tank, keep in mind that Bettas have very fragile fins. Most plastic plants can cut them. Therefore, when choosing plant decor go for either silk or live. And of course, keep in mind that Bettas will kill others of their species.





And lastly, here are a few excellent sites to get you started on your research, the first is a site about everything Betta, the second is a Betta forum:


http://www.bettatalk.com/


http://www.ultimatebettas.net/
ok get a 1 gallon tank or more get a plant or 2 and one little decoration yuo need dechlorinated water or use tap water and buy some of the dechlorinater stuff. get some of the gravel to put at the bottom of the tank. gte some betta pellets and sometimes get him grown brine shrimp for a treat. change 20% of the water every about 5 days and clean the entire tank about every 2 weeks. always put dechlorinater. i tihnk thats almost about it. hoped i helped!
The best possible home you could give your betta would be a 5 gallon, heated, filtered/cycled tank. Live plants would be nice too, but that's up to you.





Here's a site that tells you how to cycle a tank:





http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php





Regular tap water treated with a good conditioner like Prime will work great for your fish.
dechlorinated tap water should be fine, you can find dechlorinaters at pet stores

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