Adding a to a Bowl Cleaning Your Fish Bowl Dirty fish bowls not only look bad, they or Aquarium Caring for Now it’s time to put your new Betta in are also unhealthy for fish. By following a their new home! Whenever fish are netted few simple maintenance steps your fish Your and handled, their protective slime coat is bowl will always look beautiful. The following steps are an ideal regiment for rubbed off. When adding fish to any keeping your fish bowl looking great. Betta aquarium, be sure to add additional water conditioner to help relieve stress. The best To keep your fish healthy, you should method to add new fish is to float the unopened bag of fish in their new home change at least half of the water in your for 10 minutes to allow the fish to adjust Betta bowl or aquarium every 3-5 days. Follow these easy steps: to the water temperature. Then, open the bag and gently release the fish into their 1. Fill a separate container with tap water. Mix hot and cold tap water new home. The bag water may contain fish waste (ammonia), so try to avoid until it is the same temperature as adding the bag water to the aquarium as the water your Betta is swimming in. much as possible. 2. Add a water conditioner to the tap water to remove the disinfectants that are toxic to your fish.

Feeding Your Betta 3. Remove half of the old water in It is best to feed your Betta only enough your fish tank. food that it can eat in one minute. Feed 4. Refill your Betta bowl to the usual your Betta once a day. Feed a floating level with the treated tap water. pellet specially designed to meet the nutritional needs of Betta fish. If food is Do right by your . sitting on the bottom of the aquarium or Do right by our environment. bowl, the fish have been overfed. Don't release unwanted .

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(ammonia) to build up to a harmful level, and is one of the major causes of fish loss.

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more males are placed together. Males are About What Else Do I Need? No other fish has increased in popularity Decorating your Betta home provides a very competitive, flaring their and faster than Bettas. Bettas are one of the hiding place for your fish during times of expanding their gills to show dominance easiest fish to care for. They come in a stress. You should only use decorations, in the presence of other males. This leads variety of colors, thrive in a small bowl, and such as gravel, ornaments, and plants, to torn fins and can cause extreme make great additions to most community designed for use with fish. A small plant, damage to both of the male Bettas. You aquariums. either plastic or real, will help to duplicate should never place two males in the same container. Male Bettas are only aggressive a more natural environment for your with other male Bettas, and not with any It is believed that Bettas were first Betta. other type of fish. discovered in over 100 years ago. In the wild, Bettas are normally found in Make sure to purchase aquarium cleaner still or very slow flowing waters with thick along with the container. Household vegetation. In the wild, they can be seen cleaning products, including soap, are nipping at the roots of plants to eat the harmful to fish. Preparing Your Betta’s New small insects, , and eggs of other Home fish. Because of this, it is sometimes In addition, you’ll need to purchase a Find a location for your bowl or aquarium believed that Bettas eat plants, but they are water conditioner, which will instantly where it won’t easily get bumped or be not herbivores or plants eaters. neutralize the chemicals in tap water, disturbed. The location should not be in making the water safe for your Betta. Tap direct sunlight or near heating or cooling One of the most unique features about water can be full of dangerous chemicals vents. Bettas is that they are “labyrinth fishes”. that can harm your fish, such as chlorine Labyrinth fishes have a unique ability to and chloramines. These are poisonous to Rinse and clean your Betta container with obtain oxygen from either the water or the Bettas. tap water and aquarium cleaner. Clean both atmosphere. To do this they periodically the inside and outside of the container, as swim to the surface and gulp air using a And of course, don’t forget the fish food! well as the decorations you have purchased. special organ called the labyrinth organ, similar in many ways to our lungs. This Prepare the water that will go into your unique feature allows Bettas to thrive in Betta’s new home. Bettas prefer a small bowls without any additional air Selecting your Betta temperature of 75 to 80 degrees pumps. Bettas are available in many different Fahrenheit. colors, with long sleek fins or very wide

crown tails. Take your time and select the Add the water conditioner, following the Selecting the Container fish that you like the best. instructions on the label. When you need to Bettas will thrive in a small fish bowl or add water to the container in the future, aquarium, but the larger the container, the Bettas make a great addition to any make sure to condition the water to ensure better the Betta’s fins will grow and , provided no other the water is safe for your Betta. Don’t ever develop. If you decide on an aquarium or male Bettas are added to the bowl or add tap water without conditioning first. larger bowl, the water will need to be aquarium. Bettas are also known as changed less frequently, and the Betta will Siamese Fighting Fish because of the have more room to swim around. aggressive behavior of males when two or