Minimum size
The minimum aquarium for keeping a betta is 12 liters. In a smaller container, the fish will feel bad and will live less than it should. It is also difficult to maintain a satisfactory water condition in an excessively small container. It is almost impossible to establish balance in a tank of less than 10 liters .
Your pet will feel very cramped in a small aquarium!
Aquariums with a volume of 10-12 liters are small and placing them in your home is no more difficult than a smaller container. The tank will maintain a stable temperature, and then the cockerel will remain quite active. When the fish is uncomfortable, it hangs motionless, resembling a rag. Such a pet cannot make you happy, while a fish that feels good holds itself with its fins spread and always looks smart. She swims calmly, decorating the aquarium with her appearance.
Description
The betta fish has its origins in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. There, these aquatic inhabitants live in small warm ponds. Therefore, the optimal water temperature for this species is 22-26 degrees.
The betta fish has an oval, elongated body, slightly compressed at the sides. Its length is up to 5 cm in males and smaller, up to 4 cm, in females. In terms of beauty and brightness, the “fabulousness” of coloring, they have no equal. At any turn, red, yellow, orange, pink, green colors sparkle and play, taking on all sorts of shades. The color of males is especially bright when they clash with each other.
The sex differences in these fish are obvious. The “boy” cockerel is slimmer, it is brighter in color, and its fins are much longer. Females are usually smaller and have shorter fins. The main difference between a “hen” and a cockerel will be the presence of a small white spot near the anus of a female individual - a “grain”. This formation is a bit like an “egg” coming out. It becomes clearly visible from the age of three months.
Ideal volume
The ideal aquarium volume for one betta is 20 liters. In such a container the fish will be comfortable, there will be enough space for planting beautiful plants and placing decorations at the bottom. There will also be no excess volume of water that will spoil due to lack of population in the reservoir.
Beautifully designed shrimp tank.
It will be much more elegant to decorate an aquarium than a smaller container. In a 20-liter reservoir, you can use plants growing in the ground and on driftwood, floating on the surface and in the water column. It will fit a small grotto or a beautiful shell. For inspiration, it is useful to look at photographs of shrimp tanks, which, with a volume of 15-20 liters, look very elegant. An aquarium with a cockerel is no worse than a tank with shrimp, if it is properly prepared and decorated.
Care and maintenance
Caring for and maintaining a betta in an aquarium is simple. It is necessary to feed the fish in small portions 2 times a day. The feed must have a fine fraction because... This fish has a small mouth. A large piece can cause your pet to choke or damage its jaw.
Water parameters for betta:
| Volume of water per individual | Temperature (C°) | Acidity (pH) | Hardness (mol/m³) |
| 4,5 | 24 — 28 | 6-7,5 | 2-15 |
The water in the aquarium must be well filtered and allowed to stand for 24 hours. If you don't have that much time, use a conditioner to improve water quality. Never place fish in distilled liquid. Because such water lacks all salts and minerals and the pet will die. It is advisable to maintain the water temperature using a special device. Because too low a temperature provokes illness. And high speeds up metabolism, thereby shortening the already short life of fish.
Aquasafe from Tetra can quickly turn tap water into fish-livable water.
In pet stores, these beauties are often displayed in 0.5-1 liter containers. What gives rise to the idea in the minds of inexperienced lovers that all kinds of vases, glasses, glasses and balls will perfectly cut this diamond. But, turning to the table, we see that the minimum volume of water for one cockerel is at least 4.5 liters. Unless, of course, you want the fish to be healthy and feel comfortable. Another argument against such vessels is distorted reality, because round walls will not allow you to fully enjoy the beauty of the cockerel. For fish, they will negatively affect the organs of vision, causing stress and illness. In addition, caring for a round aquarium is more difficult, because the curved walls can only be washed by hand, and installing the equipment is an almost impossible task!
An aquarium for bettas is preferably rectangular in shape.
If for some reason you still choose a round container, pay attention to the ready-made kits - a round aquarium + equipment. And read the rules for using round aquariums.
Having gotten to know the cockerels better, let's learn more about mini aquariums.
About the round pond
Beginning aquarists often start a round aquarium or a glass aquarium for their fish, which seems especially decorative. However, such a container for a betta is a serious mistake. Such a body of water is inconvenient not only for the fish, but also for the owner. It is extremely difficult to remove algae from glass. It is absolutely impossible to use a scraper for cleaning. In addition, curved glass disrupts visual perception, which is why you will no longer be able to enjoy all the beauty of the cockerel. It is inconvenient to arrange a background in this aquarium. It is practically not suitable for a round container, and this does not make it possible to create a complete aquatic world. It's just as bad for a cockerel in a glass as it is in a round tank.
Although round aquariums and glasses may look good, such a pond is harmful to the fish.
Today it has already been precisely established that life in a round aquarium has a negative effect on fish. Constant observation of the world distorted from behind the glass leads to the development of visual and mental disorders in the cockerel. In this state, the fish does not feel full. Using a round container for her is a mockery of the pet. Understanding this, it is naturally impossible to enjoy such an aquarium.
Settling the aquarium
After purchasing a home pond, you need to decide which underwater inhabitants can be kept in it. Only certain types of fish can be placed in a glass aquarium, since due to its specific shape there is a limited amount of oxygen in the vessel, and light is refracted in a special way. Glass aquariums will cause stress and deterioration of health in freedom-loving specimens. For example, you cannot keep a goldfish in a glass - it requires a lot of space and dense vegetation.
Profile containers for cockerel
Please ensure that the volume of this container is sufficient.
There are also special aquariums on sale that are specialized for keeping bettas. This aquarium has a lamp on top that provides the most advantageous illumination for exotic fish and plants. Here you need to choose a rectangular aquarium of sufficient volume. You can sometimes find large betta tanks that come with partitions into sections so that several males can be kept in one tank. This illuminated aquarium is convenient, but due to the sections it does not fit into any interior.
Aquarium decoration
For comfortable keeping of fish in a glass, the following devices are placed in the tank:
- filter;
- compressor;
- lighting lamps;
- heater.
Due to its compactness, it is difficult to place the equipment in a reservoir, so it is attached to the lid of the vessel. All appliances must be designed for a wine glass-shaped container only. To avoid mistakes, you need to learn in advance how to install a filter in a fish aquarium. The same applies to the installation of other equipment.
Decorating an aquarium with vegetation requires care and precision. Planting a large amount of greenery will not work, so experienced aquarists advise planting a couple of living plants that do not require rooting in the ground. The rest of the tank space is filled with artificial algae and decorations. The basic principle of choosing decorations is minimalism, otherwise the aquarium inhabitants will not be visible. You can also make a small grotto for an aquarium with your own hands.
What equipment is required
No complex expensive equipment is required for the aquarium in which the betta lives. This also makes the aquarium fish widespread and popular. For convenient maintenance, only a siphon for cleaning the bottom and a feeder are required. A compressor is not needed for a betta; you can do without a filter if you change the water weekly and clean the soil. A heater is purchased only if it is impossible to maintain an even temperature in the aquarium due to the fact that temperature fluctuations often occur in the room where it is located.
The same as with any other fish. The frequency of water changes for a betta is once a week. ¼ of the total volume is replaced.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Bettas
(
Betta splendens
) are small aquarium fish with an unusual appearance and a very hot-tempered and aggressive character.
The natural habitat of the betta fish is warm, fresh, slow-flowing or stagnant reservoirs, ditches, and streams in southeast Asia. The average life expectancy is approximately 2 - 3 years
.
Males
(
cockerels
) are distinguished by their bright colors and lush long fins. Due to its cocky character, the betta is also called the betta fish. Fighting males are distinguished by aggressive behavior towards each other. Therefore, two male bettas should not be kept together in an aquarium. They are also not entirely friendly towards other inhabitants in the aquarium.
Females
(
chickens
) are smaller in size by about a centimeter - they are 4 cm in length, not so bright in color and do not have lush fins and tails. But by nature they are calmer and friendlier.
The betta fish does not present any difficulties in keeping, does not require special knowledge or experience, is unpretentious in food, and is excellent for beginners. You can keep your betta in privacy to avoid collisions with other fish. They tolerate loneliness well and can live in a small aquarium.
Plastic or glass
In addition to glass containers, you can also buy plastic ones. It is lighter and does not break. At the same time, the walls of such an aquarium are inferior in transparency to glass. The plastic can be scratched during cleaning, causing it to become covered with a milky white mesh. Therefore, you need to take care of it carefully. Do not forget that plastic containers are more expensive than glass ones.
Buying a plastic container is justified if there are small children in the house who can break the glass, or very active animals that can also damage the glass container . You can use a soft sponge to clean a plastic product, but scrapers are not suitable for such a tank. This makes caring for it somewhat more difficult.
Starting an aquarium for bettas made of glass or plastic is carried out as standard. Before the fish settle in, the water must sit with the plants and go through a cloudy phase.
What advantages and features does an aquarium glass have?
To prepare an aquarium in the shape of a shot glass or glass, environmentally friendly plastic or acrylic glass is used.
Among the advantages inherent in a glass container are:
- Increased strength.
- Environmental cleanliness.
- Practicality.
- Easy to clean and handle.
- The presence of transparent walls.
When using an aquarium in the form of a glass, you should remember certain limitations:
- The amount of substrate at the bottom is limited. Therefore, only certain varieties of shady plants and algae can be planted.
- The height of the water column significantly exceeds its width.
- Due to the spherical shape of glasses and glasses, all elements are distorted.
Among the features of such containers are oxygen deficiency and limited movement. Therefore, not all fish take root in such tanks. There are several aspects to consider before choosing which phenotypes to stock and keep.
What to choose
When getting a cockerel, you should definitely decide which product, plastic or glass, will be more convenient in a particular case. You should not have round aquariums, so as not to spoil the life of your pet. An aquarium with a waterfall will also be harmful to the fish. If it is not possible to purchase a container of at least 12 liters for the fish, you should not get a betta.
If you want to keep several cockerels, you can decorate a divided aquarium very beautifully.
If you don’t want to install a classic rectangular aquarium, you can buy a square, panorama or polyhedron, but only with smooth (not convex) walls. In a panoramic plastic tank, the corners are rounded, but since the rest of the glass is mostly straight, this does not harm the pet.
