Maximize Betta Fish Life Span
You are probably wondering “How long do betta fish live?” Your betta fish will live up to 6 years, if you provide the right environment for it to live and grow in. It is common for most betta fish to live 2 or 3 years – especially in the United States, mostly because of the conditions they live in, or because their nutrition is less than optimal.
Female bettas typically outlive the males by a couple of months. When you get your betta fish from a pet store, it is probably already about 6 months old, and considered to be an adult at that point. The breeding background of the fish will play a large part in how long it will live. If you get it from a professional betta breeder, it will likely have had a good environment, a good diet, and proper medications – and it will probably live longer because of it.
Don’t make any of the mistakes that I did when I had my first betta fish. I thought I knew what to feed “Buster” but I was totally clueless about how to take care of him! I did some things right with Buster, like conditioning his water the right way….but I also did some bad things….like feeding Buster live food and flake fish food!
Buster ended up getting sick and it took a while for him to get better. I found out through this experience that feeding betta fish the wrong food will shorten their lives, and that is the last thing I wanted!
To increase the lifespan of betta fish, you must provide the proper care for your pet.
Here is a brief summary of what you should do to properly care for your pet, which could dramatically extend it’s life:
• Feed your betta quality food (such as brine shrimp, bloodworms, and betta fish food)
• Feed your betta the correct amount of food, usually the amount it can eat in 5 or 10 minutes
• Keep your betta fish bowl or aquarium clean. It is best to remove and replace the water from a fish bowl twice a week, and once a week for an aquarium. Be sure to condition the water every time.
• Keep your betta fish warm – they love it between 70 and 80 degrees, and 78 is perfect.
• Give them a large fish tank to swim around in. Bettas with a larger tank, around 2.5 to 3 gallons, will survive much longer than bettas in a small or medium size bowl. The difference can be dramatic, a lot of times they will live nearly 2 or 3 years longer.
I cannot overstate how important it is for your betta fish to have a good environment. The 2 main parts are clean water and adequate living space. Bowls that are smaller than a beach ball will shorten the life of your betta fish. You need to also clean the fish bowl regularly. You should change the water in a beach ball sized bowl twice a week, and if the tank holds more than 3 gallons, you can change it once a week.
Other factors that will have an effect on the lifespan of your betta include whether or not it is in a tank with other fish, how large the fish tank is, and whether or not there are plants in the tank.
