Does a particular website or store offer superb customer service? Reasonable shipping costs? A great selection of hard-to-find supplies? All of the above + more? Contribute ideas to add to our Links & Resources page. 

Comment below on your favorite fish and aquarium supply stores and/or websites!

Related posts:

1. What’s your favorite thing about bettas?
2. Aquatronics - The Fish Medication Company
3. Purchasing from a breeder, pet store, or as a “rescue”

Whenever I walk into an aquarium shop or pet store in my area I find many fancy finned male bettas that have always greeted me from the shelves and tanks.  But a rather new trend is that there are a fair amount of female bettas to select from as well.  It used to be that only one of the main stores in town even carried females and the pickings were pretty slim.  Now I’m seeing the stock consist of about 60% males, 40% females at all locations.  There are noticeable differences between male and female bettas, particularly in their appearance, but also the way that you house them.  Females can be kept in groups if an appropriate hierarchy is established and you have them in a large enough aquarium, while males need to be isolated.  Both genders are fascinating to keep in their own respect and I encourage you to consider those spunky short-finned females the next time you invite a new betta friend (or two, or more!) into your care. 

Related posts:

1. Keeping Female Bettas Together
2. Male vs. Female Bettas
3. Betta Care: Tank Mates

On the reefs in the Florida Keys, plenty of snorkelers and scuba divers take in the sights, and others fish with spear guns for sport. But a small third group collects blue-legged hermit crabs, peppermint shrimp and other invertebrates, not for food or fun, but for the aquarium trade…

View the rest of the article here

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3. Male Fish Becoming Female?

My love of creatures isn’t limited to fish and for as long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by turtles.  The Great Turtle Race is a nice event that was established to raise awareness of the endangered leatherback sea turtle and to help support research and conservation efforts.  This year 11 turtles will be tracked as they travel 3,700 miles through the Atlantic Ocean from Canada to the Caribbean.  These leatherback sea turtles are huge, spanning up to 7 ft long and 2,000 lbs.  They live to be an average of 45 years old in the wild. 

Organized by The National Geographic Society and Conservation International, you can watch the turtles’ progress, receive daily updates via email, learn more about the event, and test your turtle IQ at greatturtlerace.com.

Which turtle do you think will be the winner of this year’s race?
Check out the competitors here: Race Turtles.

Related posts:

1. If Bettas Could Talk: Mr. Turtle

Microsoft recently made the Windows 7 Beta available for testing.

When you first boot up low and behold, who’s the focus of the default desktop background? Why it’s a charming blue and red veil tail betta!

Beta edition of Windows with a betta feature front and center.

Beta…Betta. Hardy har har.

Of course any fish lover knows the actual pronunciation of betta and beta is different. Betta, the fish, is pronounced “BET-uh” while beta, the new test version of Windows, is “BAY-tuh”.

But kudos to the Microsoft developers for their “attempt” at humor, and for featuring our beloved finned friend.

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1. Building a Betta Friendly Community Tank

That’s right, the change of the season is a beneficial time to make sure your aquarium heater is still functioning properly and keeping the tank at the appropriate temperature for your fish. I know at my house the ambient temperature tends to drop in the winter, as it gets significantly colder outside. Brrr! It’s always a good reminder as I’m turning on the heat setting of our thermostat to check the aquariums to make sure those heaters are properly adjusted as the house temperature changes for the season. While most people’s room temperature stays fairly consistent year round, some folks may not keep their home quite as warm in the winter as it naturally stays during the summer season. There are also times in particular to pay special attention to if you need to readjust your aquarium heater setting. An example of this is if you have your thermostat programmed to decrease in temperature by more than 2 degrees while you’re at work to save on the heating bill. Is your aquarium heater turned up enough to accommodate this change? If you can, do a test run through the weekday program on a weekend day when you’re home to monitor the aquarium and adjust the heater, if needed. Just make sure to warn your other housemates to wear an extra sweater! Or perhaps you’re able to stop home during lunch on the first day to see where the tank temperature is in the middle of the day?

Any temperature change (even for the better!) in your tank should be gradual, so start by only adjusting your heater one click or 1-2 degrees at a time, wait for an hour to see the change and then assess how to proceed from there. Repeat as necessary, keeping the temperature adjustment process slow and subtle as you go.

As a reminder, bettas are tropical fish that are best kept between 78-80 degrees F. A betta that is too cold may have a lack of energy, clamped/tight fins, and/or faded color. They are also much more prone to illness and may display other signs of poor health.

For more information on keeping your betta warm view the following articles:
Betta Care: Tank Temperature
Heating Options for Small Fish Tanks 

CMOS is a betta I adopted a few winters ago. He lived in a cold unheated tank in a warehouse before I inherited him. He was not doing so well when he arrived to me — clamped fins, pale color, very lethargic. However, his energy level noticeably increased and his color became much more vibrant once I had him in a properly heated home, as seen in this picture.

Related posts:

1. Heating Options for Small Fish Tanks
2. Betta Care: Tank Temperature
3. General Steps for Illness Prevention

You’ve got a bowl or bucket of dirty water from cleaning your fish tank. What will you do with it? Well, that’s a silly question for most, as it’ll likely be washed down the drain. But why not put it to another use to water your patio plants, flowers, or vegetable garden? The water is perfectly fine for watering plants, plus it has nutrients in it that normal tap water is lacking (think fish waste and debris in the tank).

So next time you’re cleaning your fish tank, think twice about pouring that dirty water down the drain! Your plants will thank you and it’s an easy way to save a little bit of tap water.

Related posts:

1. Betta Care: How to Perform Water Changes
2. Community Tank Head Count
3. Betta Care: Water Conditioners & Additives

What’s your favorite thing about bettas? Maybe it’s the way they look, act, swim, or flare?
Submit by comment below!

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1. What’s Your Favorite Place to Buy Fish Supplies From?
2. Betta Care: Common Activity
3. Hikari Micro Wafers: fish food for bettas and small tropical fish

One visual support effort that caught my eye was as part of California’s annual Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup, over 8,000 kids gathered this summer to remove litter and create impressive aerial artwork in recognition of World Ocean Day, as part of their environmental education.

Check out the aerial art created over the years at oceanday.net: Welcome to Ocean Day!

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1. Download: Betta Coloring Book Sheets for Kids

Hikari Micro Wafers are a nice option. They are smaller than the usual pellet and fish such as Tetras can even eat them.  I feed my Harlequin Rasboras these a few times a week and they eat them in one bite and never spit them out (which can be a sign the food is too large).

While they do sink, it isn’t as quickly as some other foods and it gives the top dwelling fish a chance to eat them.  The micro wafters that do make it to the bottom are enjoyed by various types of Cory Catfish in my tanks.  I’ve never seen a betta that wouldn’t eat this type of fish food either.

Some of the benefits of feeding your fish Hikari Micro Wafers include:

• Promotes superior growth and overall health
• A miniature (micro) wafer developed specifically for most tropical fish to easily devour — designed for all small and medium sized tropical fish especially tetras, livebearers, Cichlids and Catfishes.
• A complete and balanced combination of premium proteins
• Contains Vitamin A, C, D3, E
• Rich in Spirulina and Astaxanthin to promote vivid coloration
• Expect improved water quality over flake feeding

Guaranteed Nutritional Analysis
Crude Protein 44% min
Crude Fat 8% min
Crude Fiber 2% max
Moisture 10% max
Crude Ash 13% max
Phosphorus 2% min

As always, remember variety of a few different types of food in your fish’s diet is important to keep them healthy.  View other ideas of what to feed your betta or tropical fish, and the pros and cons to each type of food: Betta Food: What to Feed Your Fish

Recommended Supplies:

Related posts:

1. Betta Food: What to Feed Your Fish
2. Feeding Gel (or frozen/live) Food to Bettas
3. Betta Care: Food Basics