will drown if they sink to the bottom. The male fish is in a constant frenzy maintaining his bubble nest and returning fallen babies to the loft.

After all the eggs are laid, it is time for the female to depart. The female often wants to help with tending the nest, but I have never seen a male that will allow it. The male always chases her away to be the sole keeper and tender of the nest. If she refuses to leave, he kills her. This is the way of things in the world of bettas.

You can find bettas in about as many colors as you can imagine. They are selectively bred for fins and colors. You can keep them in small bowls like brandy snifters or goldfish bowls. Just remember that your fill line should allow the most possible surface area for your fish to be happy.

Many people overfeed their bettas, and many people worry too much about keeping a sanitary fish bowl. Bettas need very little food. They love live foods like brine shrimp or tubifex worms or mosquito larvae. Just don't give them more food than they will consume in about 5 minutes, or you will likely fowl the water when the food rots.

If you can stand a little algae on the glass or a little debris on the bottom, don't disturb your fish more than you absolutely have to. You will weaken your fish if you are constantly disrupting the PH and giving them temperature shock by changing the water and worrying about keeping their environment clean.

For breeding, bettas like water to be slightly on the acidic side of neutral in PH. Rain water collected from a cistern is generally ideal. Make sure it has rained for a while before you begin collection. You don't want to contaminate your aquarium with the pollutants in the air.

You can get more enjoyment from your bettas if you put males where they can see other males or put mirrors next to the glass. They will fan out like peacocks and give you beautiful displays of fin and color if you do this.

All antibantids, including bettas, gouramis and paradise fish can be bred in the same way. They are all bubble nest builders. Some varieties are more difficult to breed than others. Some are less sensitive to colder temperatures than a betta would be.

Bettas should be above 70 degrees and below 84 for ideal conditions. I like to use a lot of floating plants when I have bettas in the tank. Things like water sprite, duckweed and hornwort give them adequate hiding and providing plants always enhance the life of a fish.

I remember when my Dad owned a tropical fish store in Canby, Oregon in the 60's. Our business card had the outline of a betta on it. Our slogan was, "We carry a large variety of aquarium fishes and aquatic plants, but the most valuable thing we have to offer is our knowledge and it's free." My Dad also published a Ten Commandments for raising tropical fishes. I remember a couple of them. Thou shalt not deny thy fishes the comfort of living plants. Thou shalt not deny thy fishes the company of their own fellow species. I think you get the idea. It was kind of a common sense handout we had for our customers. Many of them framed it above their fish tanks.

Back on the subject of Betta Splendens. That is their taxonomic name. You won't forget that they are bettas and not betas, will you? This is the most important part, that is if you don't want to hear me grumble and start saying nuclear / nucular. Betta / beta

Learn more about this author, Michael Mccormick.
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