Female Bettas usually present no real problem because you can keep them together in one large tank with filtration, plants and a heater. They can also get along with many other types of community aquarium fish. Remember not to overload the tank. About an inch of fish per gallon is still a good rule of thumb.

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Feeding your Betta is easy. A good quality flake like Omega is a good base. Give live brine shrimp and wingless fruit flies, (sold here), or live mosquito larvae for variety. There are a wide variety of frozen foods like bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphnia and mosquito larvae also available at most aquarium stores. We do NOT feed live black worms due to disease and impaction problems. Feed them small amounts once a day rather than one big meal. In the wild they hunt and eat a bite here and there as most animals do.

Although you will see male Bettas for sale in very small containers at the store, this is done for space efficiency. Bettas, like any other fish, enjoy room to swim and explore. The more room they have the better. Due to their inability to get along with each other in one tank, people resort to keeping them in small bowls or hexagonal containers sold for this purpose. This is NOT good for the fish. They need the temperature to be maintained at 80 to 84 degrees and room to move around and exercise.

One male Betta can be put into a community tank with slow moving, non-aggressive fish. Bettas themselves are slow moving and cannot keep up with fast schooling fish that just love to tear their fins apart. Otherwise, one male will do just fine in a two-gallon aquarium. Remember that they require a water temperature of 80 to 84 degrees and clean water. Some examples of good companion fish for them are Neon or Cardinal Tetras and Dwarf Gouramis. We like to have one small "Cory" catfish to pick up what the Bettas miss at feeding time.

We are currently exploring the possibility of keeping both male and females together in one very large heavily planted tank. This will result in some sparring and tearing of fins, but if they are kept together from a young age it seems that they work out their differences as they would in the wild. Of course if you have a fish you want to show you might have to keep them separate. But we think we might find that the fish spawn easier later if we don't artificially separate them the minute they become sexually mature.

This is just a theory we are currently exploring. We know that others are doing some of this also. We intend to experiment to see if Bettas can be kept differently than we now do.

Bettas can breathe air through their labyrinth gland as well as use their gills. A common misconception is that they don't need much water. This is untrue. They still need to be kept clean and have room to move. They are not real picky about water as long as it is around 80 degrees. They prefer 6.5 to 7.5 pH and slightly soft water. We use a quarter teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon and Black Water Tonic, with Nova Aqua and Amquel to condition the water.

Notes About The Betta Vase: Some things to keep in mind. There is nothing wrong with having a Betta in a large vase with a plant. What IS wrong are their instructions on how often to clean and feed the Betta. Bettas need variety in food and at least daily feeding of some kind of live food or high protein food source.

They will NOT do well just nibbling the plant. They also need at least 80 degrees or more to be happy, so if your room is colder than that you will need a 25 watt heater in the vase. Water changes still need to be done every three days or more often. As long as you do these things we have no objections to them. When you first receive a new fish, it is best to quarantine it for a week in a separate tank.

sources: http://bettafishcaretaker.com/