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How to feed a baby betta fish


Baby Betta Fish: Comprehensive Guide To Proper Care

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Adult Bettas are a colorful addition to any aquarium, and they’re reasonably easy to take care of, but what about baby Bettas?

Is it challenging?

Baby Bettas are pretty challenging to keep, and they require monitoring more than adults. But, if you’re willing to go through this challenge and raise baby Betta fish, we’ll help you!

[FREE DOWNLOAD]: How To Avoid The Top 5 Mistakes New Betta Owners Make

We’ll tell you all about their diet, breeding, ideal tank conditions, and more. So, without further ado, let’s jump in!

Page Contents

  • Ideal Tank Conditions
    • Water Quality
    • Temperature
    • Tank Size
    • Tank Substrate
    • Tank Mates
  • How to Feed Baby Betta Fish
  • Where to Get Baby Betta Fish
  • How to Breed Betta Fish
  • How to Make Baby Betta Fish Grow Faster
  • Common Aquatic Diseases
  • Watch This!
  • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Are baby Betta fish aggressive?
    • What are suitable baby Betta tank mates?
    • What is an ideal baby Betta fish body size?
  • Conclusion

Ideal Tank Conditions

The first thing you should know is the ideal tank conditions for baby Betta fish. These are essential for the happiness and well-being of your baby Bettas.

Water Quality

First of all, baby Bettas prefer living in high-quality water, which means it’ll be best if you install a sponge filter. We know there are many other filters you can install, but they might create water currents in the aquarium.

Accordingly, they might cause your young Bettas to get sucked up into the current and get badly injured.

If you choose not to install a filter, you’ll need to maintain regular water changes to clean the tank. Ideally, you should change about 25% of the tank water twice every week. You can also use airline tubing or an aquarium vacuum to remove dirty water from the bottom of the tank.

Temperature

In general, Betta fish are tropical, which means they need high temperatures to thrive. Baby Betta fish even love higher temperatures than adults.

If you raising baby Bettas, you should maintain an aquarium temperature ranging from 76 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit using an aquarium heater.

You should avoid changing the baby Betta tank temperature constantly because this can cause your Bettas to stress, which may hinder their growth.

Tank Size

While adult Betta fish live in large tanks, baby fish get stressed when they have ample space to swim. These are optimal for growth and won’t cause your fish any stress.

Ideally, if you want your baby fish to be comfortable and grow well, you should look for 2.5-5 gallons tanks.

Tank Substrate

Baby Bettas are curious and love exploring around the tank, so adding substrate will benefit them. However, rocks and gems aren’t suitable because newly hatched Betta fish might injure themselves or get trapped under them.

Try settling for small gravel or sand as a baby Betta tank substrate, instead.

Tank Mates

Baby Bettas can live together in one tank until they begin to show colors. Once you notice this, you should separate your Bettas into different tanks. You can either put each one in a small tank or a cup.

[FREE DOWNLOAD]: How To Avoid The Top 5 Mistakes New Betta Owners Make

They often show color once they reach about nine weeks, which is a sign that they’ll start getting more aggressive.

This way, you’ll avoid fights and injuries in your aquarium. But beware that you’ll also need to put more effort into feeding and monitoring all of your fish.

It’s worth mentioning that male Bettas are more aggressive than their female counterparts, and they love fighting, like all Siamese fighting fish. As for female Betta fish, you can keep them together in a sorority tank without an issue.

When breeding, you can keep one male with several females. Accordingly, if one female doesn’t want to mate, the male will have a higher chance of finding one that has no issues. When males don’t find available females to mate with, they get more aggressive than usual.

Fun Fact: It’s not recommended to keep other types of fish with baby Bettas since this might harm and stress your young fish.

How to Feed Baby Betta Fish

In the wild, Betta fish are carnivorous, and they mainly feed on insects and insect larvae. However, in tanks, they feed on live and frozen foods.

Young Bettas can eat live food like Daphnia, tubifex worms, brine shrimp nauplii, white worms, mosquito larvae, and Grindal worms.

If live food isn’t readily available, you can feed your Betta fry (newly-hatched fish) frozen foods or crushed pellet foods. If you feed them pellets, you should monitor them to ensure they eat the food. Sometimes, baby Betta fish ignore pellets and don’t go near them, which means they might starve if you don’t notice.

Ideally, you should feed your Betta fry a minimum of two times per day, preferably even more. And you shouldn’t put too many pellets in the aquarium at once. Instead, you should put small amounts many times a day. This way, the water will stay clean, and your baby Betta fish will have a well-balanced diet that’ll help them grow.

Another meal you can provide for your Bettas is infusoria, which is a liquid fry food that you can add to the aquarium using an eyedropper. You can find it in many pet stores.

As baby Betta fish grow, they’ll be more ready to accept larger foods, so you should adjust their diet accordingly.

Where to Get Baby Betta Fish

Since young Betta fish are so fragile, they often don’t survive in fish stores for long. And although we don’t recommend buying them from such stores, sometimes it’s the only option. If it happens, you should check the conditions that the fish are living in and use your judgment to decide. But how can you do so?

Generally, most stores keep Betta fish in small cups, so you should look at them and make sure the water is clean and the fish is active. If you notice otherwise, look for another store.

Other than stores, you can purchase Betta fry from breeders, but it’ll take some online research to find a good one.

The option we recommend is that you breed your own Betta fish.

This way, you’ll know that they’re healthy and well-fed. And since breeding Betta fish might not be common knowledge, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the process.

How to Breed Betta Fish

[FREE DOWNLOAD]: How To Avoid The Top 5 Mistakes New Betta Owners Make

The first step in breeding Bettas is to buy a breeding tank. Ideally, it should be a 10-gallon tank without any substrate. Then, you should get female and male Betta fish and ensure that your males are healthy and active with brightly colored bodies.

Next, add your females and wait about half an hour before adding the male Betta fish. The male will form a bubble nest at the water’s surface to attract the female, and then she’ll go over to him. After the mating rituals, the female will lay eggs, and the male will take them to care for them in the nest.

After this happens, you should take the female out of the tank and wait for the eggs to hatch. Once they do and the baby Betta fish start swimming, you can remove the male and raise the babies.

How to Make Baby Betta Fish Grow Faster

If you’re growing Betta fry for breeding purposes, you can fasten their growth through a few steps. First of all, Betta babies produce growth-inhibiting hormones (GIH) in the tank, which can slow down the fish’s growth rates. This way, you’ll keep the water clear of the hormones, and your Betta fish will grow faster.

You should change about 50% of the tank water every few days to fix this issue.

Secondly, feeding your Betta babies infusoria through an eyedropper for the first few days after hatching will give them all essential nutrients and help them grow.

After a few days of giving your Bettas infusoria, you can feed them newly hatched brine shrimp that you previously cultured at home or purchased. You can feed your Bettas shrimp multiple times in the same day or stick with two times a day but put larger amounts in the tank.

Bettas often start accepting brine shrimp nauplii at a young age, and it helps them grow quicker.

Thirdly, as your fish grow, it’s essential to upgrade their tank size. Small tanks cause fish stress, so they won’t be able to swim freely. Therefore, they’ll grow slower than average.

To avoid this, you should purchase at least a 10-gallon tank once your Bettas fully grow.

Finally, it’s better to separate Betta fish once they grow. This way, they won’t compete for food and will eat freely. More so, you’ll be able to monitor each one better to know which one is healthy and which isn’t.

Common Aquatic Diseases

Like all fish, baby Bettas are susceptible to getting many aquatic diseases. Most of the time, the diseases come from poor care for the fish.

For instance, if you forget to change the tank water and keep it clean, your fish will be more likely to get a bacterial infection. Likewise, if you feed your fish more or less than they should, they’ll have a higher risk of developing various diseases.

Bettas’ most common aquatic diseases are fin rot, Ich parasite infection, velvet infection, swim bladder disease, and dropsy.

Most of these can easily be treated by adding antibiotics or medicines to the water, but the success of the treatment depends on how early you discovered the disease. It’s easy to avoid these diseases if you maintain a clean aquarium and suitable water parameters for your fish.

Watch This!

Frequently Asked Questions

Are baby Betta fish aggressive?

No, baby Betta fish aren’t aggressive. They shouldn’t cause fights and clash with tank mates until they become adults. That’s why it’s safe to keep many baby Bettas in the same tank.

What are suitable baby Betta tank mates?

Baby Betta fish shouldn’t have any tank mates (except themselves). But once your Bettas fully grow, you can put some other fish in the aquarium like Cory catfish, Malaysian trumpet snails, Tetras, and Platies. Beware that if you put larger fish than Bettas in the tank, they might feed on them.

What is an ideal baby Betta fish body size?

The answer depends on how old your fish is. If your baby Betta fish is only a week old, it should be about 0.2 inches long. Once it reaches the one-month milestone, it should be 0.4. Finally, your Betta should be about two inches long after two months.

Conclusion

Keeping fish is an exciting hobby, but it takes effort and commitment, especially when raising baby fish. Raising baby Betta fish is much more challenging than keeping adults; they’re more fragile, require closer monitoring, and need more frequent tank water changes.

[FREE DOWNLOAD]: How To Avoid The Top 5 Mistakes New Betta Owners Make

Baby Bettas love feeding on live foods like brine shrimp and dried foods. More so, they require high temperatures, clean water, and small gravel in the tank.

Now that you know all about raising baby Bettas, you can maintain a healthy and colorful aquarium!

Last Updated: July 6, 2022

Baby Betta Fish Care Tips & Tricks

Betta fish are extremely popular pets due to their fantastic personalities and attractive physical features. Plus, they add a sense of elegance and style to any aquarium. But, there’s something even more magical about baby Bettas. After all, everyone loves babies, and baby bettas are so adorable. However, baby betta fish care is not easy. They require special care and attention than adult Bettas. In this article, we’ll discuss some baby betta fish care tips that you need to know before you adopt one of your own.

Grow them separately. After a baby betta reaches the fry stage, it is advised to keep it in a separate tank that can hold at least a gallon of dechlorinated water so that the fish can grow up in a peaceful environment. This baby fish should be kept alone until it reaches adulthood, to save it from all possible injuries caused by other aquarium inmates. Additionally, many bettas are aggressive, and even young Bettas will display aggressiveness towards other fish in the tank. Therefore, to ensure that they have a stress-free environment, it is best to keep them alone.

Supply various types of fish foods. A baby betta fish needs different types of foods for its healthy growth. Hence, the pet owner needs to provide living Grindal worms, Black worms, White worms, living or dried Tubiflex worms, and live or frozen Brine Shrimps as the first foods of this baby fish. In many instances, fish pellets will be ignored by your baby Betta, and they could starve to death without live food. If your baby betta accepts pellets, you must feed them small pellets or crush them up and then add them to the water. It is recommended to feed them a limited amount of food to ensure that you don’t contaminate their water and provide them with enough food but not too much. If you overfeed them, they can develop swim bladder disease and other ailments. Keep in mind that Tubiflex is the least messy food, and it does not make the aquarium too dirty. However, all the foods mentioned above are readily available online or in most specialty pet stores.

Maintain optimum temperature. The baby betta fish cannot thrive well in too cold or too hot water, as it is susceptible to temperature changes. It is best to maintain the temperature of the aquarium water at around 80 degrees F or 27 degrees C. Therefore, a small adjustable heater should be attached to the aquarium, to heat the water to this essential level of warmth. Colder water can make the baby fish ill with various ailments, like loss of appetite and skin diseases. If your baby betta is small, you can consider putting their tank or bowl in another more massive plastic tub filled with water and then only heat this water with your heater. This additional step will ensure that you can regulate the water without fear of harming your baby.

Replace tank water frequently. Keeping your baby betta’s water clean is extremely important. Therefore, you should change 100% of their water at regular intervals. We do this by adding some of the older water and gently netting the baby and putting them into a holding tank that has the older water.  Frequent water changes will ensure that your baby betta remains healthy. However, be careful to match the new water’s temperature with the old temperature when you’re changing the water so you don’t shock your fish.

We typically prepare the water for the holding tank about 24 hours beforehand. We also add an adjustable heater to and set it to the exact same temperature as the existing water that the fish is used to. Afterward, we pour a small amount of the newly conditioned water into the baby’s holding tank at small intervals. We do this for about 30 minutes so the baby has time to acclimate to the new temperature and water parameters. Then, we carefully net the baby and transfer it into the clean heated water.

Additionally, if any medication is needed for the baby betta, it can be added to this newly conditioned water. Finally, we add Indian almond leaves to the water to lower the PH. Keep in mind that frequent water changes are necessary to keep the baby healthy.

Add the proper filters. It is essential to use a high-quality sponge filter to keep the water cleaner for a longer time. The filter size depends on the size of the tank, and a sponge filter does not injure the baby fish even if the baby betta bumps into it while swimming. Other varieties of filters may not be suitable for a tiny betta fish that is so delicate. However, make sure that any filter you have doesn’t have a steady flow, as all bettas may be swished around or injured due to a fast-moving filter.

Add live or silk plants. Live plants are beneficial because they absorb carbon dioxide and provide oxygen and providing hiding spots, so your baby feels secure. Silk plants offer hiding spots, too. If you choose silk plants, make sure they don’t have any sharp plastic parts on the silky parts.

In conclusion, baby betta fish care is a bit more complicated than caring for an older fish. If you’re willing to follow the tips mentioned above, you can raise your baby into a healthy adult and ensure that it has a BETTA life!

 

 

90,000 how often do you feed the cockerel?

The Siamese fighting fish, or fighting fish, is a very popular fish for your home and is known for its beautiful fins and bright colors.

It is extremely important to feed the betta with the best diet according to its needs, because the diet is different from the diet of ordinary fish commonly found in homes. It is best for the owner to first study the fighting fish, in particular what to feed it and how often to feed it, before buying one for their aquarium.

Let's first get a brief idea of ​​the needs of a fighting fish. In the wild, fighting fish feed on insects and insect larvae. It is a carnivore that feeds on food rich in protein. The main diet of the male betta should consist of high protein pellets, which are readily available in pet stores. There are also pellets for other types of tropical fish, so it is important to choose the right pellets for feeding bettas. Properly selected granules and fish flakes for fighting fish are essential to give your fighting fish the right nutrients. Bettas should be fed in the correct amount. In special cases, frozen foods and freeze-dried fish foods such as brine shrimp or bloodworms can also be given. However, you should be aware that fighting fish can go 14 days without food, so remember not to overfeed them.

Betta fish may sometimes skip a meal once or twice, but this is nothing to worry about as tank conditions may not be suitable for a betta. Also, as a fighting fish ages, it is normal to see them eat less food. A fighting fish can eat frozen food and pellets for its entire life, as well as occasional treats of bloodworms and brine shrimp. Fighting fish need to be fed at least twice a day. An infrequent meal caused by a large meal can lead to overeating of a fighting fish. Failure to maintain aquarium quality along with overfeeding can cause a dangerous gastrointestinal illness that can even kill your pet betta. Betta fish must be kept between 75.2 and 82.4 F (24-28 C) (like their wild counterparts) to have an optimal life without food-related illness. The cockerel lives best in these conditions. If necessary, it is better to take the betta fish to the veterinarian.

Feed the fighting fish twice a day at intervals of six to eight hours. If the temperature is slightly warmer or the cocks are currently breeding, the ration can be increased up to three times a day, taking into account the health of the cocks. Fish sometimes prefer live food, but this should not be given regularly. A baby fighting fish needs more protein in its diet. Baby bettas can be fed fish food intended for fry of any breed, not just betta food. The diet should be divided into small meals three to five times a day.

If you liked this article, why not also read the answers to the question of how often to feed the fish and when do catfish spawn here on Kidadele?

How many pellets to feed the fighting fish?

Pellets are the main diet of your cock-fish, and the choice of quality determines what you feed your cock-fish. The ideal fighting fish pellets contain fewer fillers and higher quality ingredients that improve the protein and nutrient content of the fish. Some fish pellets even increase in size after contact with aquarium water.

Expandable pellets are best soaked in water before adding them to the pet aquarium. This is important to do before feeding, as some fighting fish attack pellets as soon as they are added to the aquarium. This is similar to the attack of the betta on the food of insects and insect larvae, which the betta lives in the wild. If the owner is a natural beginner, it is better to give pellets as the main diet for tropical fish. However, most fighting fish will not like fish flakes as they sink to the bottom of the tank and look like their waste. Pellets also sink to the bottom of the tank like flakes, but look more like the insects that cockfish eat in the wild. About four to six pellets per day should be enough to feed a fighting fish.

However, the amount of pelleted food depends on the manufacturer and should be checked before feeding the fighting fish to avoid overfeeding the fish. Young fighting fish require less pellets in their diet and gradually increase the amount of pellets as they mature for a healthy lifestyle. Having reached the end of their lives, a fighting fish may stop eating food altogether. When choosing pellets, look for the right ingredients to give your fighting fish the maximum amount of protein and nutrients. The best pellets will contain brine shrimp, bloodworms, or other types of fish that roosterfish eat. The fighting fish container must be replaced every six months. Betta fish can also eat dried pellets, so they don't need to be pre-soaked. However, it depends respectfully, on the brand.

What can you feed a fighting fish?

Betta's ration should be mixed with different types of food depending on her happiness. Being natural carnivores, fighting fish will eat all packaged fish food, frozen food and live food.

As we have already learned, pellets make up the bulk of the diet of fighting fish. However, bettas are more prone to live food, so it's best to give them treats for their health. However, bettas eat on the surface, however, even if your scales should sink, the betta will catch the flakes on their way to the bottom. Live food to be given to your pet may contain bloodworms and brine shrimp. Daphnia is another tiny planktonic crustacean that can be given to fighting fish as live food. Insects and insect larvae can also be given to the pet, as this is similar to what cockatiels would normally eat in the wild.

If natural live food is not available for your pet, you can also buy frozen or freeze-dried food. Both live and frozen food can be found at any pet store near you. Freeze-dried or dried betta food should not be used regularly as it lacks the essential beneficial nutrients needed to keep your bettas naturally healthy. This food can even cause constipation and other digestive problems. Bettas can be fed 0.06 oz (1.7 g) of live food daily. Cockerels can go without food for two weeks, but after that they die of hunger.

When should bettas be fed and at what time do they eat?

Bettas should be fed small meals daily in the aquarium to maintain a healthy feeding schedule.

Males can be fed two small meals daily; once in the morning and the second at night should be enough. The interval between each feeding should be 12 hours, so keeping this value will be a good idea for a healthy lifestyle. This will help maintain the feeding schedule for the fighting fish. You can also let your betta fast for a day every two weeks. This helps keep the digestive tract clean and eliminates health risks like constipation. However, the number of meals per day will be higher for male bettas as they need more nutrients to grow.

Two or three pellets in the morning and the same amount in the evening are sufficient for fighting fish. It is extremely important to know not to overfeed a fighting fish. Their stomach and digestive tract are the same size as their eyes. Overfeeding can lead to health problems, as well as filling the aquarium with waste when the fish refuse the extra food.

What can you feed a fighting fish other than fish food?

The health of a fighting fish depends entirely on what it eats and the condition of the aquarium in which it lives. The fish food available at your nearest store should be perfect for your fish, but it's important to mix it up occasionally for a more balanced diet.

Instead of fish food, there are many options for feeding fish, both herbivores and carnivores. Some alternative foods other than fish food are green leafy vegetables, seafood, egg yolks (hard boiled), rice, peas, or pasta. These human foods may be beneficial to fighting fish. Let your fish sample flies and worms as well as earthworms from time to time. Earthworms provide the fighting fish with the necessary nutrients and completely saturate it. However, meat should be avoided as it contains fibers that cockatiels may not be able to digest. The fats present in meat are also not suitable for fighting fish. If you run out of fish food, feed your betta shrimp, fish, or worms. You can also give mosquito larvae, as the fighting fish loves them. Soft vegetables such as peas are rich in nutrients and can be given by boiling, removing the outer layer, and cutting the peas into small pieces.

How often do you feed a baby cock fish?

Betta fish fry should be fed plenty of food to compensate for their growth. However, be careful not to overfeed your beautiful fish.

In addition to breeding fish, young fish need food filled with more protein and fat than adults. Two to three small meals a day should be good for babies. Overfeeding is unhealthy as it can cause bloating and constipation. It is better for children to give a mixture of different foods, including worms and pellets. The best pellets will have fewer fillers to help keep your fighting fish healthy.

Here at Kidadl we have carefully prepared a lot of interesting family facts for everyone! If you liked our suggestions on how often to feed bettas, why not take a look at why fish die when they are taken out of the water, or Betty Facts.

How to take care of an aquarium fish cockerel?

Nevada 1976 0 Comment

The Siamese cockerel is an ornamental type fish from the macropod family, it has stunning corrugated tail and fins, and is distinguished by its rich color. Aquarium fish "cockerels" are called fighting, and for good reason: their males are really belligerent and aggressive towards each other. For this reason, the simultaneous keeping of several males in a home aquarium becomes unacceptable. For these purposes, the owner needs to purchase a large oblong-shaped aquarium so that the “dominants” can painlessly divide the territory.

In nature, the species is distributed in calm and stagnant water bodies of Asia, which are not distinguished by purity and abundance of oxygen. Therefore, fish require traditional atmospheric air to breathe.

Siamese cockerel fish care has some specific details, which we will tell you about in this article. Going to the pet store, you should be prepared in advance for the reception of a new family member in your home. Treat the arrangement of his home with due responsibility.

History

The existence of the Siamese betta was first known around 1800. The inhabitants of Siam noticed small fish that were distinguished by very aggressive character traits, constantly bullying each other. And since there was little entertainment at that time, they began to be used for fun - fish fights. Initially, specimens had shorter fins and an unremarkable brownish body. Ancient breeders, crossing wild organisms, selected the best fighter fish suitable for spectacular fights that were popular at that time. They called this breed "Poster" (Pla Kat), which means a fish that bites.

Starting from the end of 1840, the fish began to explore Europe, thanks to the king of Siam, who presented several collector's items to Dr. Theodor Cantor from Bangkok. After 9 years, Dr. Kantor, improving the characterological features of the obtained fish, assigned them the Latin name Macropodus pugnax.

The Siamese appeared in Paris in 1892, in Germany four years later. Then, in 1910, the Siamese fighters end up in San Francisco, USA. It was in America that Locke received a breeding variety of Betta cambodia, the length of which is within 5 cm. Then he also bred a new color variety of the fighting fish Betta splendens, the color of which varied from gray to light olive, with dark stripes, the location of which is vertical or horizontal, depends on the mood of the fish. The body is covered with cycloid scales, the fins are short, rounded. The abundance of various color and veil variations have gained immense popularity among professional and amateur aquarists.

Outwardly, the Siamese is similar to the common macropod, but exceeds it in brilliance and unusual color. A variety of colors play on the surface of their bodies, depending on the degree of illumination - pink, blue, green, yellow or red highlights shimmer and play like the northern lights.

Males acquire the greatest brightness during the breeding season or when dueling with other males. Female bettas look much more modest compared to males, equipped with small fins.

In recent years, breeders have pleased the appearance of females as attractive as males, with longer fins.

Prominently pronounced stripes of a dark shade, which are characteristic of male Siamese bettas, running along the body, are barely visible in them, and are completely indistinguishable in excellent specimens.

Care

Take care of a decent arrangement of your future home in advance. In nature, these Asian fish live in rice fields. Therefore, the container should not be too deep, but at the same time spacious. The optimal volume of the aquarium for a cockerel is 25+ liters.

Pay attention to accessories and decorations:

Thermostat. Caring for the fish "Siamese cockerel" involves heating the water to 25-27ºС. If your room is cool, a heating element is literally necessary, otherwise the pet may freeze;
Filter. This is a familiar accessory device with which every aquarium is equipped. Make sure that the filter power is optimal for the selected breed. The cockerel is a fragile creature, so many connoisseurs advise giving preference to sponge filters with protection from damage to the fins;
Water quality. Any owner of fish knows that the quality of water must be at its best. Fighting fish are capricious creatures, and their fins can be damaged even from inadequate habitat quality;
Stones and decorations. Choose aquarium "furniture" with smooth outlines, without sharp corners and protrusions;

Plants. Avoid artificial decorations made of hard plastic to protect the fish from mechanical damage;
Mirrors. They can provoke an increase in the brightness of the color of the fish, since the reflection will be regarded as the appearance of an opponent. However, you need to be careful: such manipulations can lead the pet to stress;
Living flora will be your best choice. Bettas prefer large leaves for sleeping, and live plants oxygenate the water, preserving its beneficial qualities for a long period.

Equip your aquarium with a dividing wall if you plan to have two males. Females of individuals can live together in small groups - up to five representatives. A female and a male cockerel can also demonstrate their fighting abilities to you on each other, so study all the subtleties and aspects of breeding the breed in advance

Breeding

 Technically, breeding males is not difficult. But since many forms and colors of the cockerel have been bred, you need to be very careful in choosing pairs. The colors are more or less simple - the harlequin color dominates, the red color and the Cambodia color also dominate. Pure black cockerels are sterile when bred together. With forms more complicated - you should not cross between short-tailed and long-tailed individuals, crown-tailed males and veils, veils and halfmoons, deltas and crown-tails.

In general, it is better to breed males of the same shape among themselves, otherwise you will get something in the middle mixed, such males look unattractive, so it is better to respect the work of the breeder. It is very important not to breed those males that are overly aggressive and kill females during spawning and poorly care for eggs. If a male cockerel eats eggs over and over again instead of caring for them, you should not plant him and raise fry on his own, because this means that his instinctive parental behavior is violated and his descendants may inherit this violation. Do not breed fish with behavioral problems. Pairs must be selected according to color, shape of fins and correct behavior.

For spawning, a pair of fish is placed in a separate aquarium with a volume of 20 liters with shelters and a bunch of floating plants such as naias or hornwort to shelter the female. You also need a heater. The water should be half fresh, half from an aquarium with bettas, it is advisable to put half an almond leaf. Before spawning, the female and the male are kept separately and fed with live food for two weeks, the age of the cockerels at the time of spawning should be at least 6 months, the female should have a visually swollen belly from caviar.

Fish are not fed in the spawning grounds. The male usually immediately builds a foam nest (from air bubbles and saliva) on the surface of the water or under an almond leaf and invites the female to the nest. Spawning is colorful - the rooster inflates the gills and spreads all the fins, showing off in front of the female, then he hugs her with her fins and bends, squeezes the eggs out of her, simultaneously fertilizing her (males with especially magnificent fins sometimes cannot do this), after which the pale female slowly descends to the bottom, and the male collects eggs and places them in the nest. White caviar.

After spawning, the female must be removed, otherwise she may eat the eggs. The male takes care of the eggs and the nest, corrects it, removes spoiled eggs, and in a day transparent larvae with a large yolk sac hatch from the eggs. When in a couple of days the larvae turn dark (or if the parents are light, then the larvae are also light), and switch to a horizontal swim, the male needs to be transplanted, turn on the compressor and start feeding the males. The most suitable for this is a adjustable infusoria - a shoe, after 3 - 5 days they switch to feeding with brine shrimp nuplia, they are easy to remove at home. At this point, you can already change the water, carefully changing it with a narrow hose, trying not to suck the fry into it.

The water to be added must be of the same chemical parameters and temperature. After 2 weeks, you can add a microworm, later microplankton, a grindal worm and a chopped tubifex. In a month and a half, you can give finely crumbled dry food, and then small bloodworms. The fry grow quickly, if they are not sorted, then they themselves destroy the small and weak. On dry food and food such as boiled egg yolk, it is more difficult to raise fry, since water quickly deteriorates from such food, and fry are more likely to eat live food. As soon as it becomes possible to separate the males from the females, they are seated, the females can be raised in one large aquarium, but the males need to be seated in separate glasses with lids. It is better to feed males in such containers with bloodworms, change water daily at 50% of the volume with fresh water of the same parameters and temperature.

Betta fish compatibility

Bettas are lively and cocky pets who find it difficult to get along even with their own kind. The male will never be able to calmly endure the existence of another - constant fights will begin. However, this does not mean that these fighting fish must live alone. Other residents of the spacious aquarium will help to recreate the animal's natural habitat and improve its well-being.

It is very important to choose the right neighbors with whom the cock-fish will easily get along. Species whose representatives are quite peaceful and do not have large (more than 5 cm) body sizes are well compatible with bats. These include guppies, swordtails, neons, gourami, cardinals and speckled catfish.

Don't add fin-pinching fish, such as pygmy tetradons, to bettas. However, the batts themselves do not mind biting off the “robe” of beauty competitors. Aquarium bettas sometimes take veil fish of other species for representatives of their own, so they rush to the attack.

Also, bettas should not be kept together with large predators. Cichlids, astronotuses, polypteruses - they all often take small fish for food, and a small cockerel with its large fins will become the subject of aggression in the first place.

It is best to introduce fish into the aquarium from a young age. In this case, they will be able to get used to each other, there will be much less fights and skirmishes. If the neighbor of a fighting fish dies, you should not add another fish in the near future - the betta can score it.

Two or three females can be shared with one male aquarium betta to make him feel calmer. Make sure they have enough space in their home for bat girls to hide in. The fish will feel at ease in a spacious tank (volume more than 50 liters). If there are a lot of decorations and plants in the aquarium, then there will be no territorial disassembly between its inhabitants.

Feeding

 It is not difficult to choose food for betta, these fish have a good appetite. If the bettas are kept in large aquariums, any complete fish food or special betta food will do. Feeds such as Tetra Min, Tetra rubin, Sera san, Tetra Betta are suitable. Also, bettas eat frozen food well - small and medium bloodworms, coretra, daphnia, moina. Chopped seafood is also suitable for them - shrimp, mussels, squid. Wild bettas do not always eat well industrial feeds and it is good to feed them with live feeds - daphnia, bloodworms, koretra and tubifex.

If the betta lives in a small aquarium, then it can be fed with live bloodworms, so it is easier to keep the aquarium clean. For weakened fish, bloodworms are also the ideal food due to their brightness and mobility. Although live foods are best for bettas, they are not easy to feed. First of all, in order to prevent the infection of fish with parasites and not poison them, you need to buy such feed only from trusted sellers, it is important to bring the feed home, keeping it alive, not to freeze or overheat. At home, they need to be washed and stored in special cuvettes with daily water in the refrigerator. If it is impossible to provide all these conditions, then it is better to give preference to frozen feed, not forgetting that during transportation they should not be thawed.

How long they live (disease prevention)

Cockerel fish live relatively short time - 2-4 years. In order for your pet to feel good and look beautiful, you need to pay attention to how the fish feels.

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