Betta Fish Tips

Betta splendens, the species commonly known as the Siamese fighting fish or betta fish, as many betta fanciers know, hails from rice paddies, ditches, small streams and other such areas in Asian countries like Cambodia and Thailand. These watercourses are in general very slow moving and in many cases can even be stagnant and choked with aquatic plants, fallen logs and other forms of debris. In addition, they can as a result contain less oxygen than other watercourses that run faster. Lastly, thanks to the fact that water is a universal solvent, such watercourses can also contain more waste material than faster-moving sources of water - making life in these places much harder than in others. These and other factors make these watercourses less hospitable than faster-running watercourses for fish such as bettas. Consequently, this is one of the reasons why bettas and other such fish are aggressive, because it is harder to eke out a living in such areas.

Betta fish are singularly aggressive fish, and as mentioned they are uniformly aggressive to males of their own and similar-looking species. The aquarist can test this aggression by placing two bettas in separate aquaria beside each other. They will invariably flare up and display to one another, and if put in the same tank will proceed to attack each other in an attempt to drive each other away. In nature this is done, as hinted in the previous paragraph, to protect resources such as a particularly good feeding or breeding ground, to prevent a rival male from stealing a female betta, or to protect a male's clutch of fertilized eggs.

Males also may, to varying degrees, be aggressive with females as well. Outside of the breeding season they will attack any females placed in the same tank with them. They will do the same even when considering a choice of mate; should the female be judged as unworthy of a male's attentions, she will be driven off. And even after successful mating, a male may turn on his mate and drive her away from the eggs (which many females may end up eating). In such circumstances bettas should be separated in order to prevent injury or death.

Columnaris is a pernicious disease of bettas and other freshwater fish. Caused by an opportunistic species of bacteria that is commonly found in aquaria, it is extremely contagious, closely resembles fungal infections, and can easily be fatal. Here's how to properly diagnose it and treat it.

Columnaris infections are yet another occurrence that can be exceedingly problematic as far as the betta fish is concerned. One of the worst things about these infections is that misdiagnoses are quite possible given that they so closely mimic fungal infections - and, moreover, they are not only very contagious to boot but are also hard to treat and can be fatal. But don't despair - treatment is hard but not impossible, and there are certain things that can be done in order to prevent Columnaris infections from recurring, or from happening in the first place.

Firstly, Columnaris infections are caused by a particular species of bacteria known as Flexibacter columnaris. As their name suggests, these bacteria are columnar or column-shaped in appearance. They are particularly widespread in aquarium water - practically any and every sort of aquarium environment contains at least some Columnaris bacteria. That said, however, they only usually become a problem if and when the fish that live in said aquaria are ill-maintained and stressed, poorly nourished and so on. Many bettas, which are kept in aquaria that are poorly maintained (e.g. whose water is not kept very clean and so on) often fall victim to Columnaris infections.

Symptoms of Columnaris infection

Columnaris bacteria can infect bettas through their mouths or gills, and especially via wounds - even tiny wounds. Bettas that have been infected by Columnaris bacteria and whose immune systems are not strong enough to fight them off can exhibit symptoms that in many cases can be extremely similar to certain kinds of fungal infections. These symptoms include:

- On the mouth: cotton-like white growths very similar to mouth fungus that may prevent a betta from being able to eat properly
- On the fins: tufts, sheets or strings resembling fungus; torn, ragged, red and/or bleeding edges
- On the body: Grayish-white patches similar to slime covering or fungus covering; gray or white spots that may develop into lesions that can become brown or yellow-colored
- On the gills: "fungal" growths that may impede respiration

However, betta enthusiasts need to note that Columnaris infections can often be internal. In this case, a betta will exhibit symptoms such as long, stringy feces with plenty of mucus, and may also exhibit a lack of appetite even if fed his favorite food.

Whatever the symptoms, Columnaris is a very contagious disease that, if improperly diagnosed and/or left untreated, can rapidly and quickly kill a betta and/or decimate a community tank.

To treat a betta that has come down with a Columnaris infection, a betta enthusiast first needs to lower the temperature of the tank to around 75 degrees Fahrenheit to retard the progress of the disease. Some of the water should be changed, especially if it is dirty, and some salt can be added to the water as well. An enthusiast can make use of chemical treatments that include such substances as copper sulfate, and/or or antibiotics like terramycin or acriflavine. Terramycin can also be used to treat internal infections for fish that continue to eat; food can be medicated as per manufacturer's instructions.

Prevention of Columnaris infections is straightforward. While it is not feasible to aim to eliminate Columnaris from an aquarium altogether, bacterial populations can be managed and bettas can be kept healthy as well. Avoid stressing fish and feed them a proper and well-balanced diet. Ensure topnotch water quality and aquarium cleanliness at all times. Always make sure that aquarium accessories such as nets and tubing are kept clean as well.

Stress is as potent a problem of betta fish as it is of people, and environmental stress is one of the kinds of stress that bettas suffer most from.

What is environmental stress?

Betta enthusiasts know full well that , Just as in humans - those who are "stressed out" and thus fail to adjust to situations causing them stress very often end up sick as a result - constant stress can be detrimental to a betta's health. So it is truly in enthusiasts' best interest to eliminate any stress their bettas may be suffering from.

The textbook definition of stress is "the failure of an organism to adequately and appropriately respond to threats, whether imagined or actual and/or physical or emotional". As far as bettas are concerned, stress in the betta context has to deal with a betta's exposure to a wide range of possible threats or stressors, including but not limited to environmental stressors. These stressors, as can be inferred, are nearly always beyond the ability of many a betta to adjust to, and as a consequence upon being exposed to them a betta may exhibit such symptoms as loss of color and/or appetite, changes in behavior and so on, and may eventually develop any of the betta sicknesses and even die. In nature, a betta can swim away from these situations (or at least attempt to)s, but that is impossible in a betta enclosure.

Examples of Stressors

Experts say that bettas are extremely susceptible to environmental stress - more susceptible than many other common aquarium fish. Environmental stressors are very often to blame for high levels of betta stress. Dirty aquarium water is one of the most significant stressors of betta fish because said water contains high concentrations of waste materials like ammonia - many of which are leached into the water from the fish's waste itself. Secondly, dirty water often becomes a breeding ground for bacteria, fungi and so on, many of which can infect a betta and bring about various diseases and conditions.

Another example of a common environmental stressor is water that is either too warm or too cold. In their natural habitat, bettas thrive in water that is around 75 degrees or warmer. Keeping bettas in water that is too cold or too hot is another way to stress them out.

Thirdly, bettas do best in water that is not too vigorously aerated or is not otherwise made to move too rapidly. In nature they live in habitats where the water is most often slow moving or even still. This is why a betta does best in an aquarium where the water is moving a bit slowly.

Lastly, not only should a betta owner do his or her best to maintain aquarium cleanliness and other conditions according to what's been discussed, he or she should also make sure to keep everything consistent. Constant, frequent changes in these conditions can also expose a betta to stress.

Countering Environmental Stress

So what remedies can betta owners resort to in order to counter environmental stress? An owner must seek ways to keep a betta's tank water clean without constantly changing the water or aerating it too vigorously. An excellent filter setup (one that does not incorporate a powerhead or other such device) can really make a difference.

First off I have to say that prepared food isn't always markedly inferior to live food in many ways, and in some ways it may even be a better choice. Firstly, in terms of nutritive value, it may be true that nothing beats live foods like microworms or Grindal worms or green water, and that baby bettas fed these foods will really grow large, lively and healthy. Plus, live foods stimulate the "hunter" instinct in betta babies, as these fish are hunters in their natural environment.

However, many prepared foods, most especially the ones that have been formulated by expert companies, are really quite nutritious themselves. Secondly, feeding some live foods may bring about some nasty side effects; certain problematic organisms like predatory insects, diseases and so on may accompany wild-collected live foods, and can sometimes lurk even in containers sold by live-food professionals. This is of course not a problem when buying processed food (although of course one has to watch out for contamination or spoilage).

Secondly, even though the aforementioned and other kinds of live foods may indeed be simple to raise, they are still not as convenient as the various kinds of prepared food. Store-bought prepared food simply has to be opened and fed (although it may require special storage to enhance its shelf life). In all fairness, though, prepared food that one has to prepare from scratch may be rather more complicated than certain kinds of live food.

Buying prepared food

Those who are looking to pick up prepared food for betta fry can check to see what is available in local stores. Many will sell liquid fry food (sold in bottles with eyedropper-style openings), which makes excellent food for very tiny fry. Flake food for baby fish can also be bought; these flakes are exceedingly tiny and almost powdered and can thus be easily consumed by baby bettas that have grown a little larger.

Making your own prepared food

Those who need to feed their little bettas but have nothing at hand can try feeding them pulverized high-quality flake food for adult fish. This food has to be crushed or rubbed to a very fine powder in order to make it suitable for the tiny mouths of baby fish.

Another sort of prepared food that is quite suitable for baby bettas is hard-boiled egg yolk that has been mixed with a little water and crushed or squeezed through cheesecloth. This is perfectly suitable for even the youngest of bettas, once they have reached the free-swimming stage, and will be readily consumed thanks to the fact that it is very similar to the yolk that they consume immediately after hatching.

These and other sorts of good prepared food can be an excellent alternative to live food to help betta fry hit the ground running and get them started on living long and happy.

Daphnia or water fleas are aquatic crustaceans that are found in a wide variety of environments, from swamps to lakes, rivers, streams and ponds. Daphnia are very small, ranging from 1/50th of an inch to ¼ of an inch or so, and are usually translucent.

Daphnia make excellent food for many animals - from fish to amphibians and so on - thanks to the fact that they are an excellent source of protein and vitamins (especially A and D vitamins, though they also contain B and C vitamins), as well as fats and carbohydrates. In addition, as Daphnia naturally occur in fresh water, they can stay alive in an aquarium until fish can and will eat them - no risk of overfeeding and/or of the Daphnia dying and fouling the aquarium water. This means that Daphnia can be fed to fish as often as an aquarist wants. Lastly, Daphnia require the presence of plenty of algae in the water, which means they can be fed in combination with green water - another kind of food excellent for baby bettas.

Raising Daphnia

Daphnia are exceedingly easy to raise. An aquarist needs to use at least a 10-gallon aquarium for this purpose, and it must be kept in either an area that gets plenty of sunlight or a fluorescent light. The rule of thumb is that enough light needs to be provided in order to cause the formation of an algal bloom, or green water. So the first step is to "make" a quantity of green water that is so full of algae that it is difficult to see even two inches into the tank.

The next step is to "seed" the tank with Daphnia. It's always best to get some live Daphnia from an existing culture. Collecting from natural watersources is possible but not always best, because an aquarist may inadvertently collect predators such as dragonfly larvae, which may eat betta fry. Just add in as many Daphnia as possible and wait three or four days for their number to increase (this will become evident when the water begins to clear).

Daphnia are greedy and will consume a great deal of microorganisms or even food material such as milk powder, vegetable matter, egg yolk and other rich substances. So even if the water starts clearing, an aquarist can always add these substances to it to ensure that the Daphnia are well fed.

Lastly, watch for signs that a culture is in trouble - such as decreasing yield, clearing water and/or especially a strange or bad smell. If that happens it may be time to start a new one (for this reason it may be best to have more than one culture going at any given time).
Feeding Daphnia is simple. Just collect the Daphnia with a kitchen baster or a very small net, such as that used to collect brine shrimp, and feed to your baby bettas.

Some aquarists would say that bettas being the hardy fish they are, it's possible for betta fry to be maintained in just about any kind of aquarium, even one whose water is not kept as clean as it can possibly be. Doing so, I hasten to inform my readers, will result in high mortality - even higher than normal (it is apparently normal for as much as 80% to 90% of a betta brood to die before reaching maturity, and experts say that those raising betta fry risk even higher mortality rates than this if they do not do their best to keep the water clean). Young fish are extremely vulnerable to bacterial and fungal infection and sensitive to water quality issues such as high ammonia and nitrate levels and so on.

This means that a setup whose water is stagnant - poorly aerated, unfiltered and the like - a setup which adult bettas may be able to tolerate to a certain extent thanks to the fact that bettas evolved to survive in stagnant water, is extremely unsatisfactory for betta fry. So it's best for those trying to raise baby bettas to make sure that the water is as clean as can be - and other things as well.

Take note, however, that filtration and aeration mechanism should only be made use of when the fry are free-swimming and swimming strongly. When the fry are newly hatched and still in the bubblenest, water agitation may destroy the nest despite the best efforts of the father - and the baby fish may die.

Many filtration options can be availed of by those raising baby bettas. Two of the best for many reasons are the external canister filter and the overhead box filter. They can be relatively inexpensive, are quite efficient, can very easily be cleaned and fixed up should their filtrate require replacement, and are power-efficient as well. One just has to make sure that the slits of the filter inlet are not large enough that the baby bettas can get sucked in. As for aeration, it's vital as well as a well-aerated aquarium has adequate oxygen, but take care that it is not so violent that the fry will become agitated and they might find it hard to eat or rest. (Powerheads are thus out of the question!)

Undergravel filters will of course work only if there is sand, and it may not be good to add sand to a tank for baby bettas because sand is something else that may need attention - adding too many variables. Plants may help give the fish a sense of security by serving as hiding places, but it may be best to use plants in tiny pots to avoid having to put in sand. (Consider, however, that if you have to medicate the tank, you will need to remove the plants.)

Lastly, the size of the "nursery" aquarium is important as well. I recommend that it be no smaller than 10 gallons but no larger than 35 - water in a smaller tank would be easily agitated even with a small filter, and a non-invasive filter would have trouble keeping a larger aquarium clean enough for the fish.

Betta parasites aren't completely alien to the fishkeeping world. As a matter of fact, just about every parasite of a betta fish is also a parasite of common aquarium fish! This is definitely a good thing, as if and when your betta suddenly gets parasitized-or if a parasite just starts rearing its hideous head-then it won't be so hard to find the medicine you need to get your betta well again. Parasites run the gamut from external ones like fish lice and various copepods and anchor worms to internal ones like roundworms and the like.

Firstly, when picking bettas, what you want to do is to try to avoid choosing the ones with parasites. There are certain things to watch out for in this department. A fish that is parasitized may look unhealthy and/or may not be acting right. For example, a betta that is parasitized by intestinal worms will often exhibit a big swollen belly that will be larger than normal. Sometimes you'll be able to spot a parasite that is visible on the outside of your betta, like a worm or a louse or something (although you might have to look really hard to see it). They are visible though, and may sometimes even be moving, like fish lice (which usually look small and dark). Anchor worms usually put out thin anchor chain-like threads, thus their common name.

Behavior can also clue you in. Bettas usually hang around the center of the tank-rarely at the bottom, because they have to surface occasionally for air and all that-and of course when they are placed close enough together that they can see each other, they will flare up and display their fins and gills and all that. A betta conversely, that is always gasping at the surface or is hiding away is not healthy and should be avoided. A betta that is rubbing itself along the bottom or sides or plants or décor can be irritated and trying to dislodge some sort of parasite.

If a fish doesn't act normally, he may well be sick or even dying. It may be the kind thing to take him home, but in most cases-unless of course you are an expert at betta care-there will be precious little that can be done about the betta.

Of course you may not be able to tell at all if a fish does have parasites, and in that case you may very well end up buying one and taking it home, and may not find out that it is sick until several days or months later. As mentioned earlier, you can always make sure to buy medicine to treat whatever it is that is ailing your fish (okay, make sure to diagnose it properly, the wrong meds may kill your fish-might be best to bring it to an expert).

As a precaution, when you take your betta home for the first time, it may be safest not to add any of the water that he came with to the new tank. Place him in a treatment tank that's got the proper amount of medicine like methylene blue in order to try and kill any parasites that may be on or in him. Put him in his proper tank after a couple days (this period will depend on what medicine is being used).