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Article #301: Aquarium Supplies Part 1 - My First Experience With Bettas

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Keeping fish as pets takes more than just my pleasant surprise they got along
feeding them and changing the water every pretty well.
once in a while. Sadly, many people However, that little jar was kind of
aren't aware of that and they just buy small for a pair of fish although they
aquarium fish because they're attractive. got along. So, we decided to move the
After a short while the fish start to get fish to a much larger plastic container.
sick and die one after the other, and the Later I added a couple more females so
newbie would lose interest in the hobby that it became sort of a betta community
and give it up all together. tank.
Basic knowledge of fish keeping, together Being fascinated by the beauty of the
with the right aquarium supplies, is male bettas, I bought a couple more and
crucial to the livelihood and longevity put each in individual jars. I fed them
of your fish. It's important to maintain dried food and occasionally bread.
the optimum living conditions for your However, I fed them too much. The water
fish and other living things you may have would become cloudy fast from fish waste
in your aquarium if you are to enjoy them and uneaten food. So, I completely
for a long time. changed the water every other day. I
To illustrate this, I shall share with would fill up the jar with new water
you my own experiences when I got started right from the tap.
with this hobby for the very first time As you might guess, the fish didn't last
as a child. The first experience was with very long. After only a few months they
bettas and the second with goldfish; two started to get sick and eventually one
different kinds of fish with different after the other died.
requirements. Dirty water, untreated new water,
My first pet fish were a pair of bettas fluctuating water temperatures, and
(a male and a female) which my mom bought trauma from being moved frequently during
me because she knew that I liked fish and water changes were some of the factors
felt sorry for me because a toy fish was that contributed to the fish's low
all I had. resistance to diseases.
We put the bettas in a small plastic jar Although it's acceptable to keep bettas
with a floating live plant. The male was in relatively small containers without
aggressive. He continuously chased after aeration, it would be much better to put
the female and attacked her until she was them in a tank of at least 2 gallons, and
full of bruises. One night, running out you would still need to observe certain
of place to hide, the female desperately basic things such as not feeding them too
jumped out of the water onto the floor. much and setting aside new water to
Fortunately I was nearby and was able to equilibrate the temperature and remove
save her. chorine prior to water changes.
My mom then suggested that we separate I was only about 10 years old at the time
the fish. So we put the female in a and didn't know anything about fish
different jar. However, I felt that the keeping. Neither did my mom. Also, back
female was lonely. So one day I asked my then there were very few books about
mom if I could buy another fish. There aquarium fish and the aquarium supplies
was a beautiful green male betta that I were not as sophisticated as they are
decided to buy. today.
At that time I didn't know that bettas Today, there are plenty of good books and
were fighting fish and that the males magazines as well as web sites about fish
would fight with each other. So at first aquariums. So, if you're serious about
I decided to put the new male in the same taking up this hobby, you should start by
container as the first male. I knew the reading a few of them and gain the basic
first male was aggressive and I just knowledge before you even buy your
wondered how he would react toward aquarium and fish.
another male. In the next article you will learn what
To my amazement the two males fought with happened when I tried to keep some
each other and there was no sign that goldfish, also with very little
they would stop. After a while I got knowledge. In the mean time I invite you
worried. I didn't want any of them to die to visit my web site (see below) to learn
so I finally separated them and put the more about aquarium fish keeping.
new male together with the female, and to






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