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Bettas are beautiful fish! And not just because of their frilly fins and pretty colors. They're also easy to take care of, which is a definite plus for a person with a busy life-style. And they don't need that much stuff, so your shopping list will be pretty short.

So you've gotten your little Betta friend. This is the fun part. You'll want to set up an enviroment before you bring the fish home, so as to put as little stress as possible on him. To do this, you need the following equipment:

* A bowl or tank, with at least a gallon of capacity
* Enough water to fill it (more on preparing the water later)
* Gravel or some other filler for the bottom
* Fresh plants and/or ornaments (Don't use plastic plants; these can cut your Betta)
* A net
* pH tester and adjuster
* Betta formula food

You can get most of the things at a pet supply store, or even Walmart.
First, rinse the gravel and then pour it into the bottom of the tank. Add your plants/ornaments, then pour in the water. Test the pH. Betta's need a pH of about 7.0, and depending upon the size of your tank, you'll need at least a bit of pH adjuster tablets.

Drop the tablet in, and wait until its completely dissolved. Then you can scoop your Betta up and put him in. Watch him for the next day or two. If you don't see him, look inside the plants or, if you got an ornament he can hide in, check there too. He's probably just a bit shy, and isn't too keen on getting out into the open just yet.

So after you've observed him for a couple days, he should seem to be settling in just fine. I usually give a new Betta at least four days of 'calm down' time before I change out his water again. If you have a tank, you probably have a filter, so you won't have to worry about this as much. But if you have a bowl, you'll want to change out his water on average once a week, and add new water every three days o so, since their water evaporates fairly quickly.

To prepare water for future changing- get a gallon jug (like what you buy at the store, or a pitcher works fine too.) and fill it with tap or filtered water. You'll want to do this 24 hours before you plan to change out your Betta's water, to give it time to purify itself. Then just set it up in a safe place (top of the fridge, or a cabinet.) and let it sit. This process lets the chlorine in the water dissipate, so it's safe for the Betta. You can also get de-chlorinator, but aging the water is more natural, and safer.

Scoop your Betta out with your net, pop into him into a second container

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