Commonly known as Bettas, Siamese Fighting Fish are incredibly beautiful and sturdy fish, and they are one of only a handful of freshwater fish having the same vibrant coloring as saltwater fish.

Not only are they beautiful while swimming gracefully through the bowl, they are also easy pets to take care of. Bettas are the fish that you see sitting up on shelves in the tiny plastic containers at your pet store; testimonial to how durable these fish are. That, and the fact that they don't need tons of water or a fancy filtration system in order to thrive --- just clean water, restrained feeding, and a somewhat regulated temperature, and all three are easy once you know what the rules are.

Now, believe me, if caring for a Betta involved anything approaching chemistry, calculus or geometry, or if it were a colossal hemorrhoid, I would not do it. I'm all about big reward for little effort, and as far as I'm concerned, these fish are it.

I've made a shopping list for you to the right.

Once you have purchased everything needed to care for your betta, you are ready to get started.

1. Always rinse any new aquarium items (rocks, canister, and plants) really well using lukewarm water, before placing them the aquarium.
2. Add the water conditioner to both bottles of water (you need to read the instructions carefully to find out how much conditioner to put in). Shake them well, then I pour the conditioned water into the canister, leaving enough room for the water that the Betta came in and a couple of inches of airspace.
3. Let the temperature of the water in his container acclimate to the water in his new home, as temperature fluctuations can cause illness. I did this by placing his original container inside the new container and let him float around in there for several hours. Remember that the fish needs access to air, so you need to make sure that the container does not sink and fill with water, trapping him in there. The irony here is that your fish will drown in he doesn't have access to air.

Remember, it is imperative that the water that the fish is swimming in becomes part of the new environment because it contains essential bacteria that the fish needs. This is one of the secrets to keeping your betta healthy, first when you set up the aquarium, and later when you do water change-outs.

Water Changes

1. Change the water every two weeks. As you can imagine, this is a fairly traumatic thing for the fish, so I've regulated the food so that it doesn't have to be done very often. I try to work it out so that the betta's feeding schedule matches his water change schedule so that I can feed him right after I change the water. This tends to take a little bit of the edge off of his grumpy-water-change mood. Other than that, it's no big deal.
2. Fill the container you purchased him in with the old water.
3. Then remove the plant and catch him (gently) with the net and put him into his original container and set him aside. Be careful here, as you don't want to injure your Betta.
4. Next, scoop out another cup of the original water and set it aside, then I add water conditioner (according to the manufacturer's label) to the room temperature tap water you've been storing in 1 gallon bottles.
5. Next, pour out the remaining water and rinse the rocks using the strainer and tepid water - remember, hot or cold water can heat or cool the rocks.
6. Then, put the rocks and plant back into the canister along with the original water you reserved (which contains necessary bacteria) and the conditioned water, leaving a couple of inches of airspace at the top.
7. Last, slowly tip the plastic container so the Betta (and his water) can swim free. And that's it.

The first rule for feeding is don't over do it.

Now, I don't know about you, but that kind of thing always bothers me. I mean, it falls into the land of 'don't over-tighten, don't over-mix, or use sparingly. I mean, how do you know if you've crossed the line between the dreaded 'over' and 'just right,' if you don't know where the line is? It always seems somewhat subjective, doesn't it? Well, I'm going to demonstrate 'just right' for you here. Here goes. Just right is this much:

This is how much I give my fish every day. The weird looking white thing is a piece of freeze-dried brine shrimp; the apparent triple-fudge-brownie in a Betta's food lexicon. Now remember, their stomachs are approximately the same size as one of their eyes, which makes it easy to overfeed them, causing injury to their swim bladder. Plus, the uneaten food causes bacteria build up in the aquarium, leading to skin diseases.

The thing to remember about these fish is that they are accustomed to tropical temperatures, so they will enjoy water that is about 75 to 80 degrees.

They also don't like temperature fluctuations, therefore I keep the canister away from windows, sunny or otherwise, to avoid too much direct heat or cold, and I definitely don't keep it anywhere near any central heat and air registers where the water can get too cold or too hot.

My last piece of advice is to resist the temptation to get your Betta a 'friend,' real or imagined.

I did read somewhere that although Bettas don't really want other fish in the tank with them (it is no kuh-winky-dink that they are named 'fighting fish') they do get lonely on occassion.

In the article I read, the author suggested propping a mirror next to the bowl so the Betta can see himself, and in so doing, he will believe he's having company.

The one (and only) time I ever tried this, my Betta swam over to the mirror and puffed himself up all huge, with his gills sticking out every which way. No kidding, he looked really mad. It was when he started saying stuff like "Yo, Fishstick, you want a piece of me?" that I yanked the mirror away and never did it again. Okay- I'm kidding about the Fishstick part, but the rest is true.