Cinnamon and Basil!!

[missi182]

I brought these little guys a home a few weeks ago, and of course I want them to thrive, so is there any betta tips anyone would like to give me? I had two bettas in these same vases for 3 years until they passed (of course I cleaned the glass very well with diluted bleach). I feed them blood worms (at least thats what I think their called) every night.

[bonheki]

ohh cool I just got a male and a female today!

[invadertoast]

Keep the water clean and don't let 'em get bored. I have three males, two in a divided and filtered 2.5gallon and one in a gallon bowl. The two that share a tank have pvc pipes that they love to hide in, and keep entertained by flaring at eachother. I put a mirror near my other guy's bowl once in a while to keep him entertained. It makes a big difference, a bored betta doesn't look or act healthy.

I also have five females in a community tank, I think they have even more personality than the boys do!

[missi182]

I always thought that keeping them near each other stressed them out, but they are close enough to each other that they flare up all the time.

[invadertoast]

My two that share the divided tank actually ignore eachother alot of the time. The larger one likes to flare up then retreat to his pipe, then come out again to repeat himself while the smaller one hangs out in the open more and tends to ignore the bigger one, but sometimes he joins in.

On a side note, I didn't know how BIG these guys got!! My sister had my bettas for 4 months after I moved and I couldn't believe how huge my oldest male grew, I guess I just didn't notice before when I saw them everyday!

[missi182]

haha, thats awesome. I never noticed over the 3 years I had my other bettas that they grew much, but I believe ya!

[Mindibun]

I would consider doing live plants instead of fake if you're going to keep them in tiny vases like that. It helps to oxygenate the water (good) and keep bad algae and whatnot down. Bettas do much better in larger, filtered systems, but I know a lot of people still keep them in vases. It's your choice, but you should definitely consider a more intricate set-up. The water changes on vases get annoying after a while, don't they?

Pretty fish btw. I love the way you have them on either side of the rock thing.

[missi182]

Last time I had live plants my beta over ate and died!! He got really really fat then went belly up All he ever did was eat and the roots of the plant slowly disappeared. I have also heard that betas breath from the surface more than through the water, but I could be wrong. The vases are 1.5 gallons. I don't mind the water changes too much. But thanx for the tip! I have thought that myself before.

[Mindibun]

when I was a kid we had betas in vases with live plants and they never ate the roots. I guess yours was just a pig. -lol-

Oh, and I read somewhere also that bloodworms should be fed every other day instead of every day. I'm not sure if that's right or not but that could be another thing to look into. My fish get them maybe twice a week, so yours are spoiled.

[littleindiangirl]

Last time I had live plants my beta over ate and died!! He got really really fat then went belly up All he ever did was eat and the roots of the plant slowly disappeared. I have also heard that betas breath from the surface more than through the water, but I could be wrong. The vases are 1.5 gallons. I don't mind the water changes too much. But thanx for the tip! I have thought that myself before.

You are correct!
Betas are the most abused fish out there. I've said it before I'll say it again.

They have an upturned mouth because they breathe just like goldfish, through the surface of the water.

It's a warm tropical fresh water fish, needing at least 5 gallons of water. The vases are a death trap. The roots provide no nutrition to the fish, and the little to zero oxygen exchange takes the life of these amazing beautiful hardy creatures.

They need warm water, little current and very clear water with frequent water changes just like the next fish.

Keeping them in a vase, with a plant is abuse in my opinion. Best to keep them in a 10 gallon, with a water heater, slow current, filters, just like you would for any other tropical fish.

Don't buy them from petsmart or other pet shops that keep them in little cups. They are usually inflicted with diseases like fin rot, ich and other crap.

Bettas should be lively, with nice full plumes, full color and swimming often.

If you buy a nice betta from a breeder, it would put all the others to shame and make you wish you had never bought those other ones.