Sunny the Betta Fish and Betta Fish Care

We just bought a beautiful blue male Betta fish  the other day and we named him Sunny.  I thought he would be a great addition to our animal family and we could learn a little about Betta’s.  Here are a few highlights about Betta’s.    

Betta fish are sometimes called Siamese Fighting Fish but the more peaceful name of Betta seems to be the more popular term for these beautiful fish. 

Betta fish originally lived in  the shallow rice patties  and bodies of water in Asia.    They are quite territorial and can be very aggresive so one per pond was enough. They will puff or fluff out when they see another male and may fight to the death.  For this reason it is best to only keep one in a habitat  at a time.

Things to know about a Betta

• Betta’s are easy to care for and can provide a lot of enjoyment 
• male Betta’s are beautiful with full draping fins and bright colours 
• they like their special pellets  that are developed for them,  but only about 2-4 a feeding, twice a day, they can get very sick if they are overfed
• your Betta will enjoy fresh freeze dried bloodworms as a special treat
• Betta’s will look for you and will get excited, almost dancing, thinking it may be dinner time
• Betta’s breathe from the surface and will come up for their air. They have adapted from the droughts in the rice fields to be surface breathers
• they like clean clear water between 73-80 F
• remember to clean your Betta’s home once a week and pretreat the water with special Betta water conditioner you can buy at the pet store
• Betta’s do not need a large aquarium and are quite happy in a container 1-3 gallons and do not need gravel or an air pump
• if taken care of properly Betta’s can  live for several years and I’ve seen reports of up to 5 yrs.  
• Betta’s are peaceful to watch and can reduce your stress level, they know how to relax
• do you have any tips to add about Betta care?

We are enjoying Sunny and are learning a little more about him.  His color has changed quite a bit since we got him. When he arrived he was in a little cup with blue dye to enhance his colour. We changed this right away when we put him in his new home and his color went paler but then has come back to a rich beautiful blue.

I will write later about what Sunny had to say in an animal communication session with him.  Can you guess what kind of music he likes?  Maybe when he was at his breeders they played this type of music a lot.

If you would like to learn more about how a Betta can be a great addition to your family you can go to http://www.bettatalk.com  and  there is over 500 pages devoted to Betta’s.   This link is quite funny, it is of animated Betta’s and their point of view.  http://www.bettatalk.com/virtual_betta.htm

Do you have any Betta fish stories to share?