Friday, April 13, 2012

Acclimating Betta Fish Made Easy


INTRODUCTION: If you got a betta fish for the first time and you feel like you're already a pro since you've got the tank all set up, well you should be able to figure out the missing piece here.  You see setting up your tank is not enough to make sure your betta feels comfortable in his new home.  How you place Phineas in your tank matters a lot.  And this is serious. One wrong move could leave your fishy friend stressed out and sick.  Susceptible to any number of betta fish diseases.  And this is exactly why you need to properly acclimatize any betta to its new home.

The key here is to put the least amount of stress possible to your betta.  And this can be done by not simply dumping the little guy directly into the tank water.  You never do this.  You never want to simply release the betta from its pet store bag or cup directly into its new home.  Instead, let it float inside the tank for 15-60 minutes.  This allows the water inside the pet store bag to adjust its temperature and level with the tank water's temp.   The bigger the bag, the longer it needs to be floated.

That's part one of acclimation.  Part two involves adding water from the tank into the bag.  Some like to add a small amount of tank water into the bag every 5 minutes. This helps your male or female betta fish to adjust to the different pH and such of its new watery kingdom.  Failure to do this can be a shocking experience too.

Once you've let the bag float long enough or after the bag is half filled with tank water, it's time to release the fish into its private preserve.  Note you don't want to just dump the contents, fish, water and all in.  Reason being the water your fish was in may not be the best - which is putting it mildly.  Hopefully the water you are introducing him to is.  So rather than pollute the tank with tainted even toxic water, you want to extract the fish from the bag so you can dispose of the water he came in.

Obviously you can do this using a net.  But there is always the danger of your betta's fins getting damaged and you don't want that.  So a better option would be to scoop out the fish with your hand.  As much as possible, do not let any of the water in the bag get in the tank since the pet store water is home to many bacteria and who knows what that can make your betta really sick really.  (I mean you've seen some of the big box store bettas haven't you?) Just be sure to immediately dump the pet store water down the drain immediately after you've  transferred the betta into the tank.



Okay but what if the betta you got from the pet store was transported in a plastic cup rather than a plastic bag?  Would you still do the same thing?  No, not really.  Instead here are two different options you can choose from to acclimate the fish in this case.

First option is to gently transfer the betta and the existing water from the cup into your own say ziplock baggie.  Then repeat the acclimation process as just outlined.

Second option is to let your little betta male cool his heels in the cup.  Gradually add a bit of water tank water every 2-4 minutes and this whole process should take about 20-30 minutes. Then you may now remove Phineas from the cup and slowly release him into the tank.  Again, bring in the least amount of cup water into the tank. With this option it may take a longer while for the cup water to stabilize.

Another challenge you may come across here is how to let the cup float without tipping over.  Simple.  Place the cup in your net and use the net to support the cup.  It can be tricky.  But you should be able to position the cup in the net without having to hold it during the acclimation period.

CONCLUSION: Only then can you say that you're a pro in betta fish keeping once you've done all this.  Phineas will surely thank you for acclimating him to his new home.  Since you'll never know the stresses that come along.

No comments:

Post a Comment