Top 10 Tips To Make Your Betta Fish Happy
You love your betta right. He is your special little pet and you want to do everything you can do to make sure he is happy and healthy.
Well, we’re here to help you accomplish that here are
10 things you can do to make your betta fish happy!
Keep them Warm
There’s a misconception that betas are perfectly happy at room temperature, plain and simple: it’s not true.
Betta’s are tropical fish that will thrive in temperatures of 80 to 82 degrees.
Can they survive at 72 degrees? sure, but will they be happy? absolutely-not, think about it?
You’re used to being in a room that’s 70 to 74 degrees, right, you’re comfortable with that temperature and you’re used to it. Think about how you would feel if it just dropped to 62 degrees, you’d be fine for a while and then you’d be like it’s getting chilly in here, at those temperatures you would start to slow down and get a little sluggish.
Your immune system would drop in you’d start getting sick all the time. It’s true, but it wouldn’t kill you.
Well, fish are the same way if their temperatures are too low. They’ll be moving slow, they’ll get sick all the time, and, generally, be miserable for sure. It won’t kill them, but it’s not very nice.
Dim The Lights
Betas are sensitive little things and they don’t like a lot of light in their tanks. This is why you see a lot of betta tanks that don’t even have any lights on them at all.
In tanks that do have a bunch of light, a lot of times, you’ll see them hanging out behind decorations or even hiding.
The number one cause of fish Disease or death is stress and too much light can certainly be something that stresses out your betta.
When you go shopping for a light for your betta tank. Look for one that has a dimming feature. They cost a little more, but it’ll be a huge help.
If you’ve already got your light and you feel like it’s a little bit too bright, there are a couple of things you can try.
Our favorite strategy is to use plants like banana plants or swords that have large leaves. These do a really good job of allowing shade, while still allowing light to come through, but the easiest way is always going to be using a dimmable light.
If you haven’t purchased your light yet and you’re looking for a new one, make this your number one priority.
Adding Tannins to an Aquarium
Adding tannins to an aquarium isn’t exactly a new thing. People have been doing this forever, but over the last couple of years, it’s become really popular for a few different reasons.
First, tannins will lower the pH in the water and make it more acidic for the fish that require it. Tannins are also known to help fight off bacterial infections in the fish.
I don’t understand the science behind it, but it’s a pretty well-known fact. The last thing is tannins will also color the water and give it that darker look, almost like your fish is swimming around in nature. John can’t stand this look because he says it looks dirty, but I like it, this coloring of the water does two things.
It makes it look natural in my opinion and, since the water is darker it will dim the light a little.
Give Them a Treat
It’s a well-known fact that shrimp is one of the best sources of nutrition for almost all fish, more specifically brine shrimp.
Brine shrimp have been around in the hobby for as long as we’ve been keeping fish in glass boxes, fish breeders use freshly hatched baby brine shrimp to feed their newborn fry that aren’t big enough to fit larger foods in their mouths and, brine shrimp is an ingredient in tons of fish food out there.
The reason it works so well with our fish is that they’re a great source of protein, so they make your fish grow big and strong.
Brine shrimp are also known for bringing out some of the best colors in your fish, not just Betta’s but almost all fish, not only is brine shrimp great for your fish, but they also love it.
It’s one of those foods that almost all fish will go crazy for it’s, not the cheapest food out there though, so it’s probably going to be something you’re not going to want to feed to your fish all the time, but a few times a week give your Betta some frozen brine shrimp, call it a treat if you want, they’ll love it.
Get Then Some Friends
If you are new to Betta’s you might be thinking that these are fish that like to only be by themselves, but that is not true. You see them in cups at the store and the employees tell you they have to do it that way because if they’re in tanks together they’ll kill each other, I mean they’re called Siamese fighting fish for a reason right.
But the truth is Betta’s do like tank mates, just not other betta’s unless, they’re females, but that’s a whole other topic.
We’ve currently got Betta’s with white cloud minnows, Harlequin wrasse Boras, bristlenose plecos, and Cory catfish, but there are several other options.
Get Them a Bigger Tank
You’re walking through the aisles at the pet store, and you see all those cute little tanks advertised as the best home for your betas. But are they? NO
Will they survive in a small 1-gallon tank? well yeah, But this post is about what will make your beta happy.
Will your beta be happy in one of those little tanks? Oh god, please! No! and don’t believe all this nonsense you hear about betas being raised in mud puddles, don’t buy into stuff like this ……. Well, the fish was in a cup at the store, so he’s a lot better off now than he was.
Betta’s are no different than any other fish.
If you want to make them happy, put them in at least 5 gallons, but just like all the other fish bigger is always better.
Add Some Live Plants
Live plants in a betta tank make them happy for a couple of reasons.
The first is it gives them something to swim through which keeps things interesting and gives them something to do instead of just swimming back and forth all the time, and the second reason is, all the natural benefits that live plants add.
Plants help to absorb nitrates in your betta tank, so not only does it give them something to play with, but it’ll help keep the water healthier for them too. It’s a win-win the tank will look prettier, the water will be healthier and your betta will feel safe and cozy.
NO Sharp Decorations
When you think about betta fish, what’s the first thing you think of?
Half of you probably answered beautiful colors, while the other half thought about the incredible flowing fins, they’re so well known for.
Some Betta’s have some amazing long and sometimes even fluffy fins, they’re almost like little pieces of art, something that a lot of people don’t think about are things that are in your tank that could damage those fins.
Let’s face it, fish can’t control those long fins. So it’s really easy for them to swim through something really fast and rip those fins to shreds if you’re not careful with the type of decorations you put in there with them.
When you’re, buying, decorations, or picking out the perfect rocks. Look for sharp edges and things sticking out that could grab on to those fins whenever the betta swims by, trust me it feels pretty bad to have your fish all ripped up, and knowing it’s your fault, look for smooth decorations or rocks it’s that simple.
Proper Water Flow
Water flow is very important when you have Bettas, why? well, Betta are not strong swimmers, they have long beautiful fins, they come from calm waters and where do you buy them?
Well, you buy them when they’re in a little cup, depending on how long they’ve been in that little cup, they probably haven’t gotten much exercise lately, so if you take the betta from a little tiny cup that has no water flow and put them in a tank with like heavy water flow, that won’t be good at all.
What, if you put a betta in a tank with heavy flow, what happens? Well, the betta will become fatigued, it could become stressed and sometimes they will start avoiding going to the top of the tank.
That’s not good because, as you may or may not know, a Betta takes oxygen from not only the water but also the air. So what do we do?
Well?
The first thing is with hang-out back filters. You can just adjust the flow, that’s an easy fix, usually.
The second way is, I would say almost all of our tanks that hold Betta’s we have like the all-in-one nano tank and it has a very high flow coming out of that return. What we need to do is put a little piece of sponge, we virtually cover it and a baffles the water and it slows it down, which helps out a lot.
The last thing that you can do is you can have tall plants or tall decorations and it kind of blocks the water and slows down the flow.
Remember you don’t want to completely kill the flow, you just want to slow it down. So it’s nice and calm, remember: calm waters equal a happy betta.
Places to Hide
This one is kind of like the segment on plants. The thing is some people don’t want to mess with plants because they think of it as more work. If that’s you, I understand, I love live plants, but I get it they’re not for everyone, no matter what you’re decorating your tank with, think of hiding places giving your betta a place to hide doesn’t have to be somewhere where you won’t see them.
You can create little caves or a space under a piece of driftwood. This is going to give your fish somewhere to retreat to if he or she is spooked or feels scared, for whatever reason just remember, no sharp edges. Let’s keep your betta in one piece.
Conclusion:
The above content provides some tips on how to make your betta fish happy. By ensuring there are no sharp edges in the tank, providing proper water flow, and giving them places to hide, you can help your betta fish feel comfortable and safe in their environment.
Keeping Live Plants (Java Moss & Ferns) in Your Betta’s Tank