BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish New Betta Fish

That's great that you sterilized your set-up for your Betta Fish. You just have to be sure it is all completely rinsed off in clear water so there is no soap residue or anything else on the set-up so that any substances don't get into your fishes' water and effect your fish negatvely.

Yes, that is always a good sign that he is making a bubblenest. Yes, if there's a female next to him in another bowl, that would be more motivation for him to make a bubblenest. He's a happy camper.

I was wondering what was the end result of your Betta bowl set-up not having the snap-on lid to keep the kitties out should they try to "pet"your fish as you said. So, now, with a male and female betta fish next to each other in separate bowls and the male getting all excited and building bubble nests, as you say, it would be good to have vented lids on each Betta habitat. Bettas are jumpers and the male, for example, could feel determined enough to attempt to jump into her bowl. This could be disastrous because he could accidentally jump onto the bookshelf and die being outof the water or he could make it into her bowl and kill her since mating Siamese Fighting Fish can be tricky.

Did you upgrade both Betta fish to their own 5 gallon tanks?

In answer to your question about wondering if Betta fish might refused being upgraded into a larger tank; it is better to gradually introduce them into a larger tank. I discuss this in my book that is for sale here at the Fish Site at Bellaonline.com where you order the E-books.

First, you can upgrade your Betta Fish from your 1 gallon tank to a new 2 gallon tank. After your fish gets used to that, you can upgrade him to a 3 gallon tank and so on. Sometimes, like you said, Betta Fish are not as "low maintenance" as people say, but, they are so worth it!

The name of my E-book is "The Importance of Clean Water For Betta Fish". It was written in response to many emails from my readers about sick fish. The problem they all had in common was the water quality. Once again, as you said, Betta Fish are not necessarily as "low maintenance" as people say, but, as I strongly feel, they are very worth it!

Well, as far as over-planting, Bettas have those beautiful, long, flowing fins, so they need room to swim... also, they need access to the surface of the water in order to breathe air through their labyrinthe organ on top of their head, so if there were so many plant leaves covering the surface of the water, that wouldn't be good for a Betta.

BettaSafe is a good water conditioner, and you don't have to always use the same kind. If it's working fine, and your fish is fine, then keep using the same water conditioner, and all things being equal, your fish will get better. On the other hand, if your fish is getting worse, just change one thing at a time to help your fish maintain his current state of health. This way, you can start to eliminate possible reasons your fish is sick or figure out which thing it is that is causing him to be sick.