How to Care for a Crowntail Betta

With their huge, ragged tails, crowntail bettas are a flamboyant variety of the already colorful betta fish. These fish are hardy and relatively easy to maintain in a home aquarium, although they are not as resilient as some of the urban legends about the fish suggest. A crowntail or any other betta needs a proper aquarium. It will not be happy or survive long in a vase or small bowl. However, with a suitable habitat and the right care your betta could live for three years or longer.

Things You'll Need

  • 10-gallon or larger tank with light, filter and heater
  • Gravel, rocks and aquatic plants
  • Nitrifying bacteria culture
  • PH, ammonia and nitrate test kits
  • Fish flakes
  • Live food
  • Gravel cleaner
  • Buckets
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Instructions

    • 1

      Set up a freshwater aquarium with gravel, rocks and aquatic plants. Introduce a culture of nitrifying bacteria and allow the tank to cycle for at least a week. This is essential to allow the essential aquarium microorganisms to become established.

    • 2

      Monitor the temperature, which should be about 80 degrees, and adjust the heater thermostat as necessary.

    • 3

      Test the pH of the water. Crowntail bettas in particular need a pH of about 7, or slightly lower. The water should be neutral or slightly acidic. If the water pH is high, you can adjust it with materials from an aquarium supply store. Peat moss as a filter media is one option. Another is blackwater extract.

    • 4

      Introduce the crowntail betta after the tank has been cycling for at least a week but preferably longer. Let the plastic bag with the betta float in the tank for at least half an hour before releasing the fish.

    • 5

      Feed your fish the following day. As a rule of thumb, only feed as much as the betta can eat within about five minutes. Feed your fish twice a day.

    • 6

      Supplement a basic diet of fish flakes or pellets with live food such as daphnia or bloodworms two or three times a week. Live foods supply additional nutrients, allow the betta to exhibit natural behavior and can enhance the color of the fins.

    • 7

      Perform partial water changes once a week. Remove about one-fourth of the water with the gravel cleaner and bucket. Focus on siphoning up debris in the water. Replace with fresh, dechlorinated water. You can dechlorinate tap water by leaving it in a bucket for 24 hours or by using a commercial dechlorinator from an aquarium supply store.

    • 8

      Test ammonia and nitrate levels in the tank once a week or every couple of weeks, before the water change. They should be close to zero. If levels start climbing, increase the frequency or amount of water changes.