THE BETTA PAGE
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Bettas are one of my favorite fish. These fish are one of the most colorful, graceful, and exciting. They are unique to most other fish because they have an auxiliary breathing organ called a Labyrinth.
Male Betta
These photos courtesy of Phil Lafferty
Click the link below to visit his amazing Betta site, but be sure to come back!
They only require just enough water to cover thier bodies to survive. In South East Asia, where they are native too, they can live in tiny pools of water made by the hooves of oxen. They actually jump from one to another. The betta can live in small containters or in a community tank. Because of the labyrinth, they can take gulps of air from the surface of the water and extract the oxygen from it. The males however, cannot live together. That is why they are called "fighting fish". The males will fight to the death. They spread thier fins in awesome displays of color and power when two males see each other. You can fool you Betta into thinking it is going to fight with another male by putting him in front of a mirror!! Be carefull when putting the a male in a community tank, other fish that tend to nip fins will love your betta. If your Betta's fins get nipped and torn, they are very slow in growing back, and are never as colorful as they were.
Feeding:
Bettas are carnivores by nature and love to eat a variety of live foods. Good live foods are bloodworms, brine shrimp, and tubifex worms. They also like those foods in the frozen form. It is best to feed your bettas good quality pellet and flake food designed just for Bettas along with the live and frozen food. Your betta will appreciate a variety in thier diet, and it will benefit their health.
Breeding:
Breeding these fish is reletively easy. The male builds a bubble nest and tends to the eggs until they become free swimming fry, which takes about three days. Then he is removed. To get the pair to spawn, put the male in a small tank with about 5-6 inches of water and a submersible heater set to 80 degrees. Keep the female in a small container next to the tank with the male so they can get used to each other. Then after he has built his nest, add the female. Watch them closely to see that the male is not too rough with the female. Once she is ready to spawn he will coax her under the nest and then wrap his body around hers to release the eggs. Then they will be fertilized and fall to the bottom. The pair will then put spit the eggs into the nest. Once that is done, remove the female or the male may kill her. As soon as the fry are freeswimming, remove the male so he don't eat them. There are commercial fry foods that you can feed them until they are large enough to eat flakes, or you can feed them finely smashed egg yolk.
More amazing photos from The Betta Cave
Red Crown
Young Bettas
bubble nest and betta gif created by:
