Keep Betta Fish Happy & Healthy: 6 unique Veterinary Guidelines
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Lots of aquarists start their fishkeeping journey with betta fish. It is because a betta fish is one of the most beautiful ornamental fish. Not only that, but some people think keeping a betta fish is so easy and they suggest beginners. Actually, this is a myth and due to this wrong concept betta fish die off gradually.
As a whole, one-fourth of a tank must be poured with pond water to keep betta fish healthy. Besides this, a combination of commercial food and human foods is the most recommended for betta fish. Furthermore, to keep betta fish happy, enough spaces, a heavily planted tank, and toys are a must to have in a tank.
| This answer is certified by Udipta Roy, M.F.Sc. (JRF), PhD Scholar, Aquaculture, ICAR-CIFE, Mumbai |
This couple of lines may not help you get the full concept of this. However, don’t worry; here this article will help you to know how you can keep your betta fish happy and healthy. So without wasting much time let’s dive deep into the topic.
6 most unique and uncommon ways to keep betta fish happy & healthy
Betta fish is not the hardiest but hardier than different types of ornamental fish. It can live at a low oxygen level. Not only that but it can live in lower space too. However, these factors reduce the lifespan of a betta fish.
So you need to know the exact 7 unique and uncommon factors that help to keep betta fish healthy and happy. These factors are mostly uncommon because other experts may not discuss them much. So let’s start discussing
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One-fourth of the tank must be poured with pond water
To keep betta fish healthy pond water is a must according to a veterinarian. Betta fish come from the shallow water of ponds, slow-moving streams, and shallow marshes of the Asia continent.
So if you keep betta fish in tap water then it may or may not thrive. It depends on the particular betta. However, if you develop your tank’s condition like its origin then it will definitely thrive and will become colorful.
Pond water contains lots of beneficial bacteria that help betta fish to show vibrant & gorgeous colors. This bacteria helps to establish the aquarium quickly too.
To keep betta fish healthy, having one-fourth of pond water is enough in the aquarium. You must not choose any pond to collect water that is covered by algae or any hazardous waste materials. Clean, clear and natural pond water is the most recommended for betta fish.
Read more:- How to keep fish healthy in a fishbowl: 5 uncommon tricks
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Provide more space and keep live plants
Lots of misconceptions are there about betta fishkeeping among most beginners. They were told that betta fish is suitable for a bowl or a nano tank.
However, this statement is partially true. Betta fish is highly tolerable in terms of space. It means the betta fish can live in a nano tank too.
On the contrary, it should not be kept in a nano tank or a bowl anyway if you want it to be healthy. You must know that no fish likes to live in a smaller space. It prevents the growth of the fish. So ultimately a nano tank will reduce the lifespan of the betta fish. The most recommended tank size for a betta fish is >10 gallons.
Betta fish require hiding places and plantations. A heavily planted tank may be good for betta fish. However, you may keep some live plants for developing their natural habitat. A densely planted tank has the ability to reduce the aggression level of betta fish too.
| Note – If you want to know an in-depth guide about betta fish then you should purchase THE BETTA BIBLE by Dr Martin Brammah. Personally, we have read this book and we recommend this book for new betta keepers hard. These 300+ pages will give you in-depth knowledge about keeping bettas healthy & happy. |
Read more:- How to Build Planted Betta Tank (Care Guide with Infographics)
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Mix human food with commercial foods & provide
Betta fish require eating well to stay healthy. If you want to keep this healthy and happy then you must take care of it with proper nutrition. Lots of aquarists think that only commercial foods are enough for ornamental fish. However, this is not true because fish always like to eat live foods. Commercial foods such as pellets, flakes and frozen blood worms do not have the ability to provide the right nutrition at a time.
To keep betta fish healthy and happy you must mix its foods up. Commercial foods are okay for every day’s diet. However, as live food live bloodworms, brine shrimp daphnia, mosquito larvae, wingless flies you can provide. Brine shrimp has 61% protein content but its size is so small so only brine shrimp will not be sufficient for an adult betta fish. However, juvenile betta fish will love to eat brine shrimps.
As human food, you can provide smashed peas. This vegetable has a high fiber source and that’s why it is good for betta which has constipation disease. Spinach is another good food source for a betta. You can provide small pieces of mangoes once a week as fruit.
You must know your betta well before providing food. These foods are all certified by a veterinarian. But still, the food habits of betta may be different from each other. So if you see any symptoms of constipation of betta then you should provide food once per day.
Read more:- How Much Do Tropical Fish Eat? Cost Analysis
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Do not keep other bettas with it
Lots of people want to keep more than one betta fish in a tank. However, according to Nationalgeographic.com, male betta should not be kept with other bettas if aquarists want to keep this healthy.
One research paper stated that male betta feels stressed when they see another betta. Now that second betta can be at another tank also. The male betta is very aggressive in nature and always tries to fight with other bettas. Now, if it can’t attack other bettas, then it will feel stressed and sad. So, if you want to keep your betta healthy, then other bettas should not be there within its viewing area.
On the contrary, you can keep bettas by developing betta condos. You can use mirrors and proper plantations to keep male betta together. This will be a safe option to keep more than one male betta together. For female betta, you can build a separate sorority tank. However, you must know some special tricks that you must follow in this case. Go and check this out now
Read more: – Two Betta Fish in The Same Tank: Is It Even Possible?
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Safe tap water is the most recommended here
Water is one of the most important parameters which you need to check if you want to keep betta happy & healthy. Betta may get stressed a lot if the water condition is not okay.
However, here we are not discussing the normal ammonia, nitrite, or pH because these parameters are too common. There is another water parameter that can be harmful to betta fish too. This is chlorine or chloramine.
Generally, most aquarists use tap water for keeping betta or any other fish. Now, tap water contains either chlorine or chloramine, or both. These elements kill bacteria and make water drinkable. These elements are not harmful to humans but harmful to fish.
So you must not use tap water for keeping betta that has a chlorine or chloramine content of more than 0.003 ppm. To remove excessive chlorine, you can just keep water in the open air for 24 hours. Otherwise, you can use sodium thiosulphate to neutralize chlorine.
However, chloramine cannot be neutralized by these two methods. For this, you must use a different water conditioner. This is a chloramine neutralizer. You can use these to treat water before adding water to the tank. Dechlorinated and neutralized water is the most preferable way to keep betta fish healthy and happy.
Read more: – Symptoms of Chlorine Poisoning in Fish Tank
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Some toys can make betta happy
To keep betta fish healthy, proper nutritious food, oxygen, temperature, space, and other water parameters are required. But to keep them happy you can use some toys.
Some betta fish keepers use decorations inside of the tank. Here decorations are not referred to as toys. A research paper states that betta fish also have an emotional feeling like humans and small toys help betta fish to be happy. Like humans, betta fish also remain healthy if they become happy.
As toys, you can add laser pointers, betta balls, ping pong balls, and resting leaves. These toys will be so helpful and betta will be comparatively less infected by diseases.
Not only that, but you can talk with your betta fish too. This also helps betta fish to be happy. Betta fish know their friend very well. Lots of aquarists believe in this concept however, there is no scientific evidence to justify this statement.
Read more: – 5 Rare Betta Fish that you must try to collect: With Care Guide
Final thoughts
Keeping a betta fish is neither easy nor hard as you think. You can easily keep betta fish even if you don’t know anything about fish keeping. However, you must keep these 6 points in mind while keeping betta fish. Some betta fish are hardier than others. But you can’t generalize it for all bettas.
Lots of other experts are talking about the most common ways to keep betta healthy. They are not wrong. Their suggestions are absolutely valuable. However, if you maintain our suggestions while keeping betta then it will definitely be happy and healthy. These six points are certified by a professional veterinarian & these are unique & uncommon too.
So best of luck & happy fishkeeping 🐟
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OMG, so glad “hell yea” was an option to express my love for this site. Love the tips & if I was to ‘write’ an article with the same topic, Betta, it would pretty much be exactly the same. Love the end. I think it’s very important to keep in mind just how important it is to personalize your Betta care. My oldest Betta, Spirit, knows me by voice ( looks as well ) Spirit always got ‘along’ with other Betta on side of her tank but most recently I noticed just how much she’s teaching our newest friend, Starlight. Starlight is adjusting well but it’s good to find articles like this to help keep my Betta safe, healthy& happy. All good signs in this Betta loving home! Later! Oh & thanks again!
When we first started keeping g Bettas we had a little book. Did what it said and we had bubbles eggs and tiny-print babies. But it fell apart when we could find food for the babies, I just didn’t have time to keep up. Our last adult betta from that time is dying. He go fin and tail rot and I read the direction but he is barely alive… for 2 weeks!