My bettas are lazy. I have them in a big ang, a large squat bowl, that has rocks and plants in it. They are all sisters who grew up together so they all get along, no need to separate them. All they do is sit around, literally sit, on the rocks and plants. The only movement I get out of them is when feeding time comes and they all swim over to gobble up a variety of little delicacies I have for them. But I've been told I'm not taking good care of them if I let them be lazy. And in truth, they do look a little fat to me. So what have I been instructed to do? Give them a work out - it's time to work those bettas!
What's this betta-cise routine supposed to do and what exactly is it? Turns out it's not just about slimming down and dropping a few fractions of a gram off your chubby fighting fish. The claim is that conditioning will make your betta fish not only have good shape, a nice betta figure so to speak, but also have improved color and be livelier. And just like people, the better the condition the better the sex, uh, breeding that is - we want our bettas to have lots of betta babies if we are a betta breeder.
The conditioning of your bettas is supposed to start when they are still young. I'm a bad parent I guess because I didn't do that. But my most recent betta fish are all females and this conditioning program is for males. It goes like this.
While still minors you should separate the male bettas into their own containers and drop in an Indian Almond leaf. That helps prime them, toughen their skin and develop their colors. Feed them once a day at the same time every day and keep them in a shady area. After about a week or so move individual males to their own new larger container of 20 liters or more. Give him a rest for a couple of days in the new tank, then add some small female bettas along with plants and places for the females to hide. The lone male should start to take an interest and begin chasing the females around after a couple of days. Keep an eye on him and don't let him chase the females for more than about 30 minutes each day. Separate them again to keep things under control. After a week of this the male should be feeling pretty strong and confident. You should notice him swimming faster than the first days with the young females.
All that chasing of young females should have resulted in your male betta becoming a big strong stud. Now it's time to really entice him with a female that is ready for mating. Prepare another tank with some plants and introduce a female with a belly full of eggs and then add the male. He should immediately begin flaring and showing off to the female. Monitor the action, don't let them actually mate, and then remove the male after about five minutes. Sure, this is a terrible tease for both fish, but it prepares them for real mating in the not so distant future.
Now it's time for some laps for our male betta. Put him in a round container and swirl the water. He will naturally swim against the current. Only a few minutes at a time is enough and stop as soon as he appears to tire and doesn't swim against the current any longer. Be careful not to destroy his confidence by overtiring him or overpowering him with too strong a current. Male bettas have fragile egos, you know.
The last recommended training is to regularly harass your betta fighter by splashing around with the betta scoop in his tank each day. Actually, your intent is not to harass but to get him used to the scoop and the water movement so he is not afraid of it. He may even start to attack it when he realizes it can't harm him. It's another way to make your betta active, not lazy like mine.
Mark George is an American expat who has been living in Thailand for more than six years. He's not working, but enjoying a (very) early retirement. He has taken an interest in many of the unique things about Thailand, including the famous Siamese fighting fish known as beta splendens. For a look at some prize winning half moon betta fish take a look at the slide show at Siam's Best Betas
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