# Other Animals > Other Pets >  Betta care?

## Amy

Can anyone direct me to a page with actual good betta advice?  There is heaps of info on the internet, but I'm not sure what is actually good and what isn't.

EDIT - For the record, my prior experience with betta's is sticking them in a vase with a plant sticking out the top, whatever pellets I could find at the store, and a ghost shrimp or two in the vase.  Granted, that betta lived for 4 years, which is pretty good considering the conditions.  This time I'd prefer to give my betta a good life though.

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## Carlos

Keep mine in 2.5G tank with 0.5 in. deep natural gravel (not plastic coated) for hosting denitrifying bacteria.  A couple Anubias left floating in tank provide a place for Betta to rest and decor.  Do 25% water change once a week vacuuming water with small gravel cleaner and replace with same temperature dechlorinated tap.  Feed Hikari Betta pellets (4 or so) and a couple wingless fruit flies (from dart frog food cultures) daily.  That's about it  :Smile:  .

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## Amy

I did buy hikari after doing some reading, should be here in a couple of days.  I do not culture fruit flies, no darts here, anything else that will work?  I have freeze dried brine shrimp that I was going to "reconstitute" but have read conflicting information regarding that.  Judging by size charts, I would say the fish is 8-9 weeks old.

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## Carlos

Would skip the Freeze Dried anything; it's full of air pockets and gives animals digestive issues.  See if your local pet shop sells live black worms, frozen bloodworms (get them in cubes in case you are allergic to them like myself), or frozen daphnia.  Frozen items should be thawed out and then added to tank  :Smile:  .

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## Amy

Thanks Carlos!!  (S)he did eat some sprintails and the hikari got here today.  I will talk to the people at the fish store tomorrow when I get crickets  :Smile:

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## bill

Frozen bloodworms are excellent for bettas. Freeze dried, like Big C said, cause digestive problems. 


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## MatthewM1

B. latteralis nymphs make great betta food

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## Tongue Flicker

> B. latteralis nymphs make great betta food


even as nymphs, aren't they a bit too big for a betta's mouth? If not, then i may need to give it a try as well  :Big Grin:

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## Amy

I was having trouble getting him/her to eat until getting the frozen food the other day, she LOVED that.  Thank you so much for the suggestion.  The hikari (I bought the smallest pellets) are still too big for her to eat.  I crushed them up a bit and sprinkled them in and she still spit them out.  I guess it will be a diet of primarily frozen food!  Luckily, it's only one fish, so the frozen cubes last a while.

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## Amy

Also, how long will it take for a bacteria bloom to clear?  I used 50% already cycled water from a fishless plant only 3 gallon tank, 50% spring water treated with seachem prime, and a carbonless filter.  I took water to the fish store and they said it was perfect (didn't think to ask for the numbers, was just happy it was good) but the bacteria bloom is taking a while to clear.  I would say it's been 4 days and today it looks better than it did initially, but I've never had this happen before.  Read it was normal but how long should it be lasting?

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## Charc14

Ok, So this post looks a little older but, You could try Betta Fish and Betta Fish Care Here is the link.
It has a lot of good advice, but some of the people can be a little bit rough when it comes to tank size. I think one gallon is the minimum. I'm Charc14 on there too :P

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## Carlos

Bacteria/algae blooms take a while to clear out; even after the excess organic matter inflow is stopped  :EEK!:  .

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## Amy

The bacteria bloom seems to have contained itself to the wood I bought now.  I boiled it for about 3 hours (in attempt to get it to sink more quickly) before putting it in the tank.  

Thank you so much for the link, Charc!!

My fish seems to be doing well, if not overeating a touch.  So I will put a little less food in there.  Frozen brine shrimp is a hit but the hibachi pellets still mostly get ignored.  Fishy is still small enough that I have to break them up a little though.

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## Amy

Just wanted to put an update out here on this little guy.  Turns out that he's a male VT betta.  He started off mostly color-less with a bit of red on the fins, and is now a deep red color with flecks of blue on the fins.  He's very pretty!  I will have to get a picture up.  It's been fun watching him grow  :Smile:

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## Harry potter

**** Deleted Post Contents for Infraction****


DigitalPunk - Paul

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## Amy

Fishy is doing well!  I brought him to work today because new kitty keeps trying to eat him.  It's getting harder to keep her out of the room he's in, so better safe than sorry.  

I attached a picture of the first day I got him.  Here are some updated pics!  The water is a touch cloudy from changing the substrate from gravel to sand, the sand is settled now but it took a couple of hours even after rinsing it well.

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## Tappy4me

If you are on facebook, I am part of a couple of groups that have some very knowledgeable betta owners (and breeders) in them. I didn't see in the rules if we are allowed to post other websites on here, so if you are interested, PM me.  :Smile: 

Basic betta needs are that they need at least a 2.5 gallon tank with regular water changes. They are tropical fish and need water at least 78-80 degrees, so you will want a small heater. New Life Spectrum is a very good food, as are frozen bloodworms (freeze dried can cause bloat) once or twice a week. I prefer Golden Pearls for mine-they don't expand as much as most food, and are all in all very good. If you put live plants and a filter in your tank, the water quality will be even better! 2.5s can be hard to maintain a cycle, but a small filter is beneficial keeping a protein film off of the top of the water. The more live plants, the better!  :Smile: 

Fishy is adorable!

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