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Betta Care
Basic Betta Care Sheet (feel free to print out)

1. Choosing your Betta
Your betta should be active and flaring at other male bettas (if there are any beside him). But of course, that is your choice. You may see a sick
betta and may want to bring him home to treat him. Check his fins carefully. Make sure there are no holes, no black edges on his fins. The fins
should not be too ragged and ripped looking (it depends on the type of betta). Check the body for white spots, or other un-natural looking
build-ups.

2. Housing Your Betta
You should try to keep your betta in a 1-2 gallons tank or bowl. It's best not to keep your betta in anything less than a gallon. Never put 2 males
in the same tank/bowl without a tank divider. (They will fight) The water temperature should be anywhere from 74 degrees F - 79 degrees F.
Bettas like water with a pH of 7.0 and soft water. If the temperature is lower or higher than 74 degrees F - 79 degrees F, your betta may not
be as active or the water temperature may cause illness. Make sure you have a large enough surface area (meniscus area) so your betta can
breathe. On the first couple days, you should keep the betta in a dark place, leave him alone, and don't "peek" at him or change the water
too often. This may stress the betta out.

3. Maintaining
a. less than 2 gallons
fill up a container with the water from his tank. Net him out carefully as not to tear his fins, and place him into the container with his tank
water. Pour the water from his old tank out. Rinse the tank with warm water. If you have gravel or plants, you can dump it into a collander/sive
and rise it. Do not use soap or anything that you use in the kitchen with fish. It can be poisonous to fish. After rinsing out the tank or jar,
fill it up with treated wter. It would also help to add a little bit of salt. The salt can kill and prevent illness. Do not use table salt. Use just
rock salt or aquarium salt. Make sure the water from the 2 containers/tanks/bowls are the same with a thermometre. Net the betta out of
the container and put him into his newly cleaned home.

b. 2 gallons or more
Using a siphon, suck out all the uneaten food and the fish wastes. Suck out about half the water and add new treated water in. Make sure the new water you add in is the same temperature as the water in the bowl or tank. In partial water changes, there will still be salt left in the tank from the last time that you added salt, so add salt less often.

4. Food
Bettas eat meat (carnivores), so they will not survive on just a vegetable diet. Try not to feed your betta the food that you feed your other tropical fish. Your betta needs betta food. You can feed your betta:
a. Hikari's Betta Bio-Gold (pellets)
b. Tetra's Bettamin (flake) -your betta may not like this food as much
c. Hikari Micro Pellets (pellet)

Feed your betta about 2-4 pellets 2-3 times a day. Some live, frozen, or freeze dried foods that you can feed your betta are:
a. bloodworms
b. waterfleas
c. daphnia
d. tubifex worms
e. brine shrimp

The above foods cannot be fed every day unless you are conditioning your betta. Maybe 1-2 times a week. You can try raising your own wingless fruit flies, blackworms, or white worms for your betta to eat.

5. Fighting
2 Male Bettas put together in the same tank without a tank divider will fight. They will tear and rip each other's fins w/ their mouth. Some will fight until death while some may just run away. Never put 2 males together. Sometimes male bettas and female bettas will fight and flare at each other.

TAIL TYPES(See Pictures Section)
Half moon
Delta
Veil (most commonly sold in your local fish shop)
Crown-Picture at top right corner
Super-Delta
Round



**Please feel free to print the Basic Betta Care Sheet out**

Diseases
Ick/Ich(Parasite)-Ich looks like white grains of salt on the body of your fish. Your fish may rub him/herself against rocks & aquarium objects & dart around madly. More water changes are recommended if your betta has Ich. Ich can be medicated.
Flukes(Parasite)-The gills may turn red and swollen. The betta may scratch himself against objects and breathe rapidly. Flukes can be medicated.
Velvet(parasite)-Velvet looks like a yellow dust, and the betta will try to scratch himself against objects. Velvet can be medicated
Popeye(Bacterial)-Basically, eyes that are popped out like a ball! The betta may have trouble finding food because of his eyes, and he won't be so lively. Popeye can be medicated.
Finrot(Bacterial)-Fins start to fall off or look ragged. The tips may be red and you can see the fin rays exposed. The betta may looks pale and won't be so sluggish.
Fungus-White cotton like stuff around the mouth, head, or body usually. The betta's colour may fade and will not be as lively. Fungus can be medicated.
Cloudy Eyes-Whitish film over the eye. This can be cured by feeding your betta him/her a larger variety of food, or you can add vitamins to the food itself or into the water.
Dropsy-The scales will protrude at the abdomen and look like a pinecone. The betta will not be as lively. Dropsy is usually fatal, but you may try to medicate your betta. Dropsy is basically a liver failure, and the fish cannot take water out of the body fast enough.

Tips
-Try not to use Gravel in little betta bowls. It will make it hard for the bettas to find food. It also makes the tank hard to clean. I used to have gravel in my 2 gallon tank, but i didn't like it. It hid all the poop and I couldn't see the uneaten food.
-Use a Turkey Baster to take out any uneaten food or poop. This is a lot easier to do without gravel
-Provide Some Sort Of Protection in your tank/bowl. Bettas do get scared and would appreciate something to hide in. I keep a plastic plant and some moss in my tank. The betta tends to like the moss because it covers more area in the tank I guess. My female has a little moss in her house too. =]


Bettas R' Us
Bettas R Us


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