Our cats used to LOVE the 'fish flavored' water out of the betta bowls!! Sadly, the bettas passed on to that great fish pond in the sky -- so we just have regular water now!

I have a Betta at work in a teeny tank nestled among my plants so that the plant light keeps the temp pretty constant. He does fine with a weekend fast every week. He only eats when I'm at work. He sure doesn't let me forget on Monday mornings, though. He stays pretty agitated until I break out the Betta flakes!

I've been relying on "evaporation power" to keep my tank's water fresh...it's so dry he's been losing 3 inches of water ever 4 days -_- no cloudy water though I have been cleaning out the yuck at the bottom....

I never wanted a betta in the first place (not a fish person) I won him at a fair (I did NOT realize the prize was a fish...I thought it was the big playboy pillows lol). He's in a 2.5 gallon right now which I'll be upgrading to a 5 gallon when I shift my snake and roaches up a size to give him more surface space.

Uh....ROACHES???????

Reminder to self: decline invitations to dinner at Jamies!

Water condition has to be really bad to kill a beta they actually breathe air from the surface, as far as letting the water evaporate and then adding, that comounds toxic chemicals over time because the nitrates and ammonia dont evaporate just the water.

You guys that like bettas might like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv6JZ6LObug

I made it a few years ago from a thread on a fish forum of people posting pictures of really cool bettas they'd seen on Aquabid. My favorite is at 43 seconds in.

Bettas are simple to care for but if you get a 10g or larger tank their personalities realy start to come out. 10g tanks are cheap too. Mine were in the $5-10 range. You will pay more for some betta "tanks" that hold literally less than a cup of water. You can also have a lot of fun with decorations. Floating plants like duckweed or frogspawn are available for free or a couple dollars in most places and bettas like having the overhead cover.

Let the tank water level go down a bit and then you can feed small flightless fruit flies or pinhead crickets. It's lots of fun to watch and very healthy for the betta. The maggots out of the fruit fly culture are good to feed too. A few larger shrimp(ghost or cherry shrimp adult size) make for an interesting companion and they help keep the tank muck down. Some bettas will pester the shrimp but most just ignore them or follow them around.

I miss having fish. Obiviously I can't have any here but I had them in the barracks for awhile.

Thanks for all the info Cathy!!!! Fantastic.

 Quote: cathy goessman

You guys that like bettas might like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv6JZ6LObug

Holy cow!! These certainly aren't the normal bettas you find at the fish store, are they?? Absolutely stunning. I used to hold a small mirrow up to the side of my betta's tank every so often just to "get his juices flowing" - very entertaining! Love the littel bubble nests the males blow... very cool fish.

Wow! Those are some fancy Bettas! I like the red, white and blue at 1:06-7. I saw a Betta hammock at the store last night. Think I'll go back and get it for Mr. Fish.

I have been thinking of ordering a betta from Aquabid for a while. I can't keep the little guys from the store alive and I would love to set up a heavily planted 10 gallon for one stunning specimin.