Female fighters

Female betta fish are native to the warm, shallow waters of Southeast Asia including Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Growing to around 7cm in length, these vibrant, freshwater fish are extremely interactive. Females differ from males in that they are smaller and more compact, although wider in the torso to allow for enough space for their ovaries. They also have a small, white spot on the underside of their bellies which they use to lay their eggs. Betta fish require a tank size with a minimum of 20 litres for a single female. They thrive in planted tanks; plants can offer places for the betta to rest near the surface of the water as well as providing natural filtration of the water. Betta fish enjoy a very mild water flow in their aquarium as they are not strong swimmers. Try to avoid any sharp objects or ornaments in their aquarium as their fins are extremely delicate.

At Wirral Aquatics we do not recommend that male and female betta fish are housed together. The male betta will likely be violent and aggressive, the female may become stressed and it may well result in a fatality. For those new to fish keeping, we would recommend keeping one betta as a single specimen in an aquarium. Female bettas can vary in levels of aggression. More experienced fish keepers may keep sororities of female bettas in groups of four or more. It is important to note that this is highly risky as females bettas can tolerate each other but this can vary at any time. Female betta sororities require a great deal of research and scaping an aquarium to ensure that lines of sight are broken by plants or hardscape materials, they also require careful maintenance and observation. Female bettas in a sorority are at risk of being bullied, becoming stressed and ill.

At Wirral Aquatics we feed our bettas a range of protein rich foods, including EBO Pro Soft artemia, Pro soft Mussel and live foods such as daphnia, brine shrimp and blood worm.