# Siamese fighting fish?



## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

Obviously I would only be keeping one so 

What size tank would I need? Not some tiny bowl as some people seem to think right
Temperature/pH etc requirements?
What to feed them?
Any other advice you can give on what they need


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## Jess2308 (May 12, 2009)

Oooh, i used to import and breed these, my favourite fishes in all the world!!

I used to keep my males in 5 gallon tanks (they were about £10 at [email protected] so not too much!) with good filtration. If you have a very heavily finned one its best to use an undergravel filter as they struggle to swim with very strong, powerful filters. I kept the Ph at about 65 and temp was about 25C, a lot of people dont bother with heat, but I have found they are likely to be healthier and live longer in a heated tank. Females I kept in a community tank with guppies and other peaceful fish.

I fed mine the betta biogold pellets, with live or frozen bloodworms several times a week, and live brineshrimp as well. Its best to get your own brineshrimp "breeding set up" going, its really easy to do and saves a fortune. I never tried to breed bloodworms though, I find them creepy :lol:

Although the males cant be kept with too many other species of fish, I always kept them with a couple of corys and maybe a baby bristlenose plec, something small that will fit in the tank ok! It just gives them a bit of company.

They are great fish though, I had about 30 males at one point. Such stunning fish and so much character!


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

Thanks for that. I want a male I thought you had to keep them on their own. Might have a go at breeding my own brineshrimp how much work are they to keep and breed yourself?


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## Jess2308 (May 12, 2009)

They dont have to be kept on their own as such, they definately cant be kept with other male fighters but with other peaceful fish that wont nip the fins they are absolutely fine  And also not with anything that looks like them, so male guppies with the fancy tailfins are a no-no as the fighter will attack  I had a couple of very peaceful males over the years that were able to live in a large community tank (not together, obviously lol), it depends on their temperment.

With the brineshrimp you just need to take a large drinks bottle (well cleaned out), cut the bottom bit off about 3-4 inches up and fill that with some gravel or something to weight it down. Then put the top into that bottom bit upside down so the lid is towards the ground. Then just fill it with water, put an airstone in it and add the brineshrimp. Leave it on a window or something and within a few days you will have some lovely BBS to feed to your betta  Dead easy :lol:


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

They sound easy enough to keep and so do the shrimp. Might see about a couple of corys as well


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## Jess2308 (May 12, 2009)

Fab, good luck! 

Theres some stunning ones on ebay but they are just so overpriced. I only used to charge about £10-15 for my imported ones. People are cashing in on the fact that theres fewer around these days...


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

There's an aquatics shop about 10 minutes away might go have a look at theirs see how they look, how they keep them etc. They're really popular in the US I don't see why they're not popular here they're so beautiful


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

I'm getting 6 females shortly, and they have a 10 gallon tank.  I'm going to get the from discountfish.co.uk. Males are beautiful, but I wanted more than one, so females it is


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

Tried to go look at some today but the place was closed I'll go see tomorrow. I want a male so I can cope with one


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