One very popular fish is the Siamese Fighting fish, commonly known as Betta fish in Australia. They can easily be identified with their 180 degree (sometimes more) finnage. These beautiful fish thrive in small planted tank with minimum filtration but can survive in a small jar as well (provided you do a weekly water change and do not overfeed to keep good water quality)
Are they good community fish?
The fish is, but not the finnage! While the fighter fish may not attack other fish unless they are spawning, their lovely flowing finnage are a delight for fish that nip at fins. Common perpetrators of this are obviously Tiger Barbs and also Neons and Cardinal tetras.
Can I keep 2 males in a tank?
Males typically display a highly territorial behaviour and will start to squabble for hierarchy. Therefore you may need to keep them in separate tanks/jars or place a divider in the tank.
Do I need a heater for them?
As fair number of my customers happily keep their fighters in glass cubes or jars with no heating (or even filtration) and they do survive for most part, especially in through most NSW winter days. However, these are tropicals and to keep your fish happy they do require a temperature of over 18 degrees Celsius. At Blacktown Pet & Produce we stock Nano heaters that maintain the ideal temperature for your fighter fish.
Betta fish are easy to take care of and if you follow a few simple steps can be a beautiful addition to your home. We stock Half-Moon fighters of beautiful colours as well as Crowntail fighters along with Betta fish food, heaters, small jars/cubes and tanks.
