Bettas: What You Need To Know About Siamese Fighting Fish

Besides the kaleidoscope of colors that fighting fish come in, one of the most attractive reasons for keeping them is the little space they require.

Many people keep fighting fish in little glass containers at the office or home. As such, it is easy to make the mistake of thinking that fighting fish need little care or maintenance.

Only make fighting fish fight aggressively against one other, while female ones can be kept together in a large tank, where occasional squabbles ensue without fatalities. They can also be kept with other fishes in a community tank.

Feeding Your Bettas

Siamese fighting fish are bettas, and are carnivorous by nature, thriving on mosquito larvae and daphnia in the wild.

With mosquito larvae out of the question here, and live daphnia hard to come by, alternative live foods are tubifex worms and bloodworms, both of which are easily available.

Through nutritious, these worms often live in unsanitary and contaminated waters. If you feed them to your fighting fish, wash them first under running water for a couple of minutes until the water is clear and debris-free. This prevents your fish from getting sick through contamination or infection.

Good food sources like frozen blood worms and daphnia are also available. With progress made in processed fish food, you can train your fish to accept flake or pellet food. Feed your fish a variety of food for a balanced diet.

A general rule of thumb is to feed more frequently, but in small quantities. Also, do not throw handfuls of food in, as uneaten food decomposes and fouls the water quickly. Instead, place just a pinch of food in the water and water your fish eat. Feed no more than what they can consume in three to five minutes. This way, you’ll ensure that the food is finished fast and the water quality is not compromised.

Upkeeping Your Fighting Fish

Small containers or aquarium require more frequent water changes as the waste build-up is faster than in a bigger one.

Waste product in the form of ammonia is poisonous. If the small container does not have proper filtration, ammonia will not get converted to the less harmful nitrate as efficiently. Ammonia accumulation can be fatal, leading to distress and lowering natural immunity to infection.

Try to remove uneaten food immediately. If you do not have time to change the water regularly, remove the wastes daily. If the fish is inactive or the water cloudy, perform an immediate water change.

Common Diseases In Fighting Fish

Diseases common to fighting fish usually result from a lack of maintenance in their living quarters.

Signs that your fish is sick are listlessness, drooping fins, color loss, and abdominal swelling. These common symptoms indicate an internal bacterial problem, the result of deteriorating water quality causing the fish to be prone to opportunistic bacterial infection. Treat the fish quickly with a commercial preparation easily available in fish shops: it may be fatal once bacterial septaecemia sets in.

Common parasitic diseases are white spots or velvet caused by micro-organisms called protozoa which get embedded in the bodies of fish and derive nutrition from them. If the infection is severe, the fish may die. Signs to watch for are white spots or gold duct on the body, fish rubbing their bodies against the tank or décor, listlessness or appetite loss. These diseases can be cured easily provided treatment is early.

Prevention is better than cure. These common and prevalent diseases can easily be prevented through proper maintenance, care, and nutrition. Take proper care of your fighter pets, and you’ll be rewarded with beautiful, vibrant fish!

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