How to prolong your betta's fins

I have found that Pete's fins have been slowly worn away, from swimming along the glass of his tank repeatedly, Pete was trying to get at his food dish that I keep in front of his tank. After the container was covered with some paper, he almost instantly swam to the middle of his tank. hopefully, this should stop his fin wear and help him grow them longer.

Poor Pete

Poor Pete caught ick, it might have been the water, it might have been some leftover food, who knows. anyhow, I just removed him, put in 8 drops of quICK and put him back in again. The next morning, I walk into the the living room to find a very happy, and hungry Pete looking eager for his breakfast (thank goodness)

Bad idea

You know how in a post I put up earlier, I suggested that you should leave a plant floating in the tank, well make sure that it is a silk plant. The plant that I used ripped up Pete's fins pretty badly. I have since taken the plant out and started looking for some new plants for him.

best tank for your betta

In many pet stores, they show the bettas looking nice in tiny glass or plastic bowls. Many people think that a betta likes being in a small bowl. The thing is, betta fish HATE them, it will aslso shorten their life, with no space to swim, they get fat and die. The best you can do for them is to give them a large TANK over 5 gallons with a lot of decorations. Go with a tank that is wider than it is deep, betta fish require air to live and need to get it every couple minutes (tall tanks would restrict there time swiming on the bottom).

betta fish decorations

so far I have found that if you leave one plant floating in the center of the tank. Pete loves having it floating around his tank and swiming in and out. Another thing he likes is a backdrop I made for him with some bright magazine cutouts. he spends hors looking at it.

betta fish cruelty

I saw the most horrible thing in a large department chain store a couple days ago. In a tank with about 2 inches of water, there where two, tiny little female betta fish, about a month or two old. It took all of my will power not to buy them on the spot. Around them were little male bettas and a few females about the same age in dixie cups. How cruel for an animal to be treated like that. Sure bettas can live in little water, but why wouldn’t you give them the best environment possible to live in?
Here are just a few of the cruel tanks made to make the bettas look like a piece of art

betta fish tricks

Here are some of the things you need

A Betta fish (obviously)
non corrosive metal or plastic
a little time
food
a stick capable of holding food

One of the simplest ways to train your fish is with imprinting which involves an action and a reward. Example, put a ring in the water suspended by some string, then place a small piece of food on the other side. Hopefully the betta will swim through the ring to claim the food, after he has done this, give him the rest of his meal. repeat this for a while until you see that the fish will swim to the ring even with no food, now you just have to place the ring in the water. Only give the fish after he (or she) has gone through the ring.



After the fish can move through the hoop very well, you can stop training for a few days, make shure you still get the fish to swim though the ring every couple days to keep him trained for next time you have dinner guests.

After your fish can swim through the hoop, you can make the entrance smaller and the ring longer, now you have a tunnel! or you could add a row of hoops, you could make an obstacle coarse, the possibility’s are endless! you can also imprint the fish to a stick (no, not one you just find in the park, one made of non degradable plastic or non corrosive metal) by putting food on it and putting it in the water, the beta will see the food, see the stick, grab food from stick. do this for a few weeks until betta will swim to location of stick, ya now you can take your beta for a walk by putting the stick in the water and slowly moving it along so the beta will follow it.