Betta fish is a beautiful fish. Betta fishes come in various shapes, sizes and colours. Depending on the breeds, betta fishes come in all kinds colours. Hence, if you are keen in betta breeding, you will be delighted to know that you have a wide range of colours to choose from. The length of a betta is usually about 7cm. Female bettas are usually slightly longer than the male ones. It is interesting to note that the fins of some male bettas are the same length as their body.

Bettas belong to the category of labyrinth fishes. They have a labyrinth organ that allows them to breathe air. Although they also have gills like other fishes, they are not able to get sufficient oxygen from the water through these gills. Thus, they need to come to the surface of the water to obtain oxygen from the air. Due to this fact, having access to the surface of the water is critical to them.

Believe it or not, exercise can help a betta maintain good health and live longer. Bettas living in betta bowl have less space to move around than those living in a tank. For those living in a betta bowl, due to space constraint, they tend to move around less than those living in betta fish aquarium.  With less exercise, these bettas have a higher chance of becoming obese or developing degenerative betta diseases which may in turn lead to early death. Thus, we can conclude that bettas living in a large betta tank will have more exercise, be healthier and have a lower chance of developing betta diseases. The advantage of a betta living in a wild environment is that it has more opportunity for exercise as it needs to search for food and escape predators. So, if you can try chasing your bettas around the betta fish tank more often, this may help to prolong their life!

Unfortunately, betta fish life span is not very long, as compared to other fishes in general. If you provide good betta fish care, its life span may range from one to three years. Sad to say, many bettas die premature deaths due to sickness or poor betta fish care.

As seen above, bettas are colourful fishes which belong to the group of labyrinth fishes. They need oxygen from the air to survive as well as exercise to maintain good health. Proper betta care is important to prevent betta diseases. Hope the above information can help you know more about betta fishes and also help you decide whether to keep one as a pet! Please visit Betta Fish website for more information.