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Betta Splendens


Spinalcore
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Common Name: Betta or Siamese Fighting Fish.

Scientific Name: Betta splendens.

Family: Belontiidae.

Distribution: Thailand, Malaysia, South East Asia.

Length: Males, 2.75 inches, females two inches.

Diet: Omniverous – a wide range of live foods, flakes, and small pellets are accepted.

Water requirements: Temperature: 75 to 80 degrees. Temperature is perhaps the biggest factor in thriving bettas, as they are accustomed to warm waters with low oxygen. Bettas possess a labyrinth organ that requires them to have access to water surface for their oxygen requirements. Hardness: Soft to medium-hard. pH: 6.0 to 8.0.

Lifespan: Two to three years is the expected lifespan of an average Betta.

Sexing: The most obvious ways to sex Bettas is by their fins and colouration. Fully grown males have very long fins as opposed to their female counterparts, whose fins are two to four times shorter than the male’s. Colouration for a male betta is usually far more brilliant in intensity than the females, which tend to be a bit more dull. Males’ bodies are much longer and thinner than the female’s. The female has an egg spot, and the male doesn’t. This is a speck that appears on the female's underside, between the ventral and anal fins. The males have a bigger membrane under their necks that is sometimes displayed during times of aggression and mating. Males flare and display at each other and show signs of aggression for one another. Females do not have this behaviour. Males will blow a bubble nest, and females do not.

Breeding: Bettas are a bubble-nester; keep multiple females for one male. Bettas will breed easily if kept in appropriate living conditions. The male wraps himself tightly around the female while she expels the eggs. He then scoops them up in his mouth and spits them into the bubble nest for further development. He then becomes the guard of the eggs and the caretaker of the fry. After egg fertilization, it is wise to remove the female and put her in her own tank because the male will become aggressive as he tends to the eggs and and the fry.

Description: Various colors, mostly shades of red or blue, but many color variations have been seen on the market in recent years. The males have long, flowing fins while the female displays much shorter ones, and in more pastel colors. The male betta is known for its fighting qualities and will exhibit aggressive behaviour with other males until one or the other either backs down to submissive position or is injured.

Behavior: Male bettas will fight other male bettas, a female he wants to spawn with, or even his reflection in a mirror. He spreads his fins out like wings and is known to dive at other fish into submission. He will nip the fins of other long-finned fish , but otherwise can be kept in most community tanks under peaceful conditions as long as there is only one male to several females. Females are far more tolerant and rarely display any aggressive behaviour.

Tank level: Bettas enjoy the middle to top levels of the aquarium.

Ease of keeping: Easy to intermediate, everyone should try at least one.

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