Recently i ended up buying a betta fish. These are normally known as fighter fishes or Siamese fighters. They look beautiful with long and delicate fins and are known to be aggressive if kept in numbers within the same tank. Hence if u step in any fish store you might see these stocked separately in small cups or bowls or even packed in plastic bags which are kept afloat in other tanks. I think this to be too inhuman where these fishes see a bigger tank outside their plastic film cages but can’t swim through. Don’t you agree?
Eitherways back to what i was saying, i bought one of these home. I have already got two tanks at my place with fishes that are incapable to be stocked together. And now i added a betta fish to this lot which again is a misfit in either of the tanks and hence now i own a betta in a fish bowl. I got it planning to give it away to a friend who wanted a fish herself. But now that i have had the betta with me for couple of days i am already too attached to give it away. I think that is what’s wrong with me. I hate to give away fishes. I once had to return a cichlid away because he was too aggressive and often ended up killing my other fishes. And after i returned him to a fish store, i cried. For a long time. Longer than i am proud of.
And now this betta! They are such brilliant creatures. They will come to the glass surface when u watch them. If you observe closely they have this innate quality of attachment with humans since they have been store bred for God knows how many generations. Additionally, they have always been kept seperated ever since they were still fry (that is kid fishes). They tend to forget that there are other fishes around. Hence even if you keep them in a community tank they will often settle down in a corner and flurry out as you approach the tank.
Bettas often come in red or blue tints. Sometimes you even find some with brilliant red and turquoise fins. Males are more attractive with flowing layers of fins while females are thinner and less extravagant. You can possible keep multiple females in a single tank but never think of stocking more than one male in a tank. Male bettas are aggressive. They will fight each other to death, hence the name Fighter. Better not keep a male and female together as well. Male bettas will tire out the female by continuously chasing them around the tank in order to mate.
But said all this, they are extremely pretty and are a good option for a beginner’s fish.
Gold fishes though assumed to be a best first fish, its a major misconception. Gold fishes cannot survive in a small tank for long. They need space to grow. They need colder water temperatures than what we have. They are ferocious eater, over-eaters even, and messy ones at that. Hence what mostly happens is gold fish owners often tend to overfeed them resulting in a dirty tank with massive amounts of ammonia which finally kills the fish. So if you have ever had a goldfish that died too quick, well at least you can console yourself that it was fated in the given wrong tank-wrong fish situation.
But bettas are different. They are prettier, friendlier, neater and most of all sturdier breed. They are fine in a small bowl although a 10 gallon tank would be the best. They are happier when kept alone and that is a plus as well since you can begin with one fish and know that you aren’t biting off more than you can chew.
So when you visit a fish store with the determination to buy yourself a fin-friend, i suggest you read up on your decision. Ask the store keeper but take my word for it and don’t go by their word alone. Check online for proper resources. I think www.fishlore.com and www.ratemyfishtank.com are best to give you any information needed. Again you don’t have to follow everything given on the site since its a bit American in its ways and well lets face it, we just do things differently back in India. But its definitely worth browsing through.
First fishes determine how long you continue this hobby. If you are successful in maintaining and managing your first fish and providing it a healthy life then you are definitely hooked to this hobby. If not, well you wont be the first who kept away their goldfish bowls post the flushing.
Here’s wishing all of you healthy fish-keeping!
