Betta tanks – Wonder In Nature

There is a lot of controversy surrounding Betta and the correct size tanks. I have kept Betta for 20 years, in this time, I have been exposed to all the different ways and arguments either way.

I have also owned 12 different male Betta in this time and can tell you that they all have slightly different personalities and different things suit different fish.

Minimum tank size

As you can see from these images of my current boys, Spectrum and Obsidian, they are not in bowls. They are in 20 and 30 liter tanks with heaters, filters and bubble stones. This is the absolute minimum I would keep my Betta fish in.

Why not a vase or a jar?

Contrary to some information out there, Betta fish don’t live in puddles in the wild. They can SURVIVE in puddles when the water levels are low, but this isn’t their ideal environment.

As with all my pets, I want them to THRIVE, not just survive.

Further to this, Betta are from a tropical environment, they need to have a heater to keep them at tropical levels. A jar with no heater can get cold at certain times of year and is therefore, not ideal for a Betta fish.

Filtration

Betta, like all aquatic creatures, thrive in clean water. They don’t like strong flow and being thrown around their tanks, but they do like to be clean. My boys both have hang on back filters to give them more tank space, and I have positioned a piece of driftwood or a rock near the inlet to reduce the flow.

These little tanks also have a number of plants, both in the tanks and emerging from the top. This aids in the filtration and keeping the nitrates down.

Tank mates

If you look closely you will see that there are Cherry Shrimp in these tanks. These two boys are not aggressive towards the shrimp. Particularly Spectrum is so gentle, he will let the shrimp take food from right next to him and just watch them.

Spectrum was in a community tank previously with a number of other fish and didn’t attack anyone. He was only moved into his own tank because the community was moved to a tank that was way deeper and he started to struggle to get to the surface.

When I moved him to the smaller tank, he started biting his own fins. I tried everything I could think of, until as a last resort, I added Cherry Shrimp as tank mates and he stopped biting himself. I realized that he had been lonely in a tank by himself after being in a community tank.

As I said at the start, all fish are the same. Captain Jack is a Betta we tried in a community tank that very quickly showed that he is not suitable for any tank mates at all.

He bit chunks out of the guppy tails and chased everyone around.

He was moved to a smaller tank on his own and lived out his life in a 30liter tank happily.

Personalities

Betta fish are very intelligent, they recognize their owner and can learn to communicate with you. I had one Betta, Bluebell, who would only eat if I fed him. I went away for a weekend, and he refused to eat when his care taker tried to feed him, until I came home and I fed him.

They are also able to learn where their food is and to communicate with you via coloured paper for yes and no.

My boys both have little Betta logs, they know I will feed them in those only. If I walk past to see them and they swim straight to the logs, I know they are telling me they’re hungry. If they don’t, I don’t feed them right away. I give it a little time and go look in at them again, if they’re in the logs, they’ll get fed then.

I taught them this by only putting food in the logs from day 1. It only took them a couple of days to work out that the food will be there, not elsewhere in the tank.

After a week of feeding them in the log, I started not giving them food right away if they weren’t in the logs. Again, it only took a couple of days to learn what I was asking them to do.

Take away

Betta are beautiful fish, but they are still FISH, not decorations.

Their lifespan is 2- 5 years and are often 6mo to 1yo when you buy them from breeders or pet stores.

If you want your Betta to THRIVE, not survive, it needs a proper tank with filtration, heating and aeration. A vase or a jar are not suitable homes for Betta fish, no matter how beautiful they look.

They are living creatures and should be treated as such.