Best First Fish — Bettas or Goldfish?

by me on January 10, 2011

If you are a young person, or a parent with a child that is just crazy for fish, you are probably wondering what would make a good first fish. Both bettas and goldfish are an excellent choice, but the two fish have slightly different needs which might influence your decision.

Really the most important deciding factor is which fish the child (or you) wants. If she is wild for blue and has seen a lovely blue betta in the fish store, giving her a goldfish (even if it was easier to take care of, or if you have experience with goldfish) is going to be a disappointment. And because so much of the success of the “first fish” depends on how well it is cared for after the first week, getting a fish the young person does not really, really want is going to quash their enthusiasm from the start.

Before I go to further, here’s why goldfish and betta fish are good starter fish.

    They tolerate less than perfect water
    They can be overfed without dying immediately
    They do not need big fancy set ups
    They are inexpensive
    They are pretty and active fish

The big difference with betta fish and goldfish is heat. Bettas really must be kept warm (78-80 degrees) and goldfish are best between 68-75 degrees. So, in terms of warmth, goldfish are more adapted to the heat range of most houses.

If you are really terrified of a child getting into trouble with a heater (though there are some very safe options available now… MUCH better than the hand-burning, broken glass options of 10 or 20 years ago), a goldfish might be the better choice.

But goldfish have a drawback. They are “messy”, which means you will either need to set up a filter and pump in their tank, or you will have to clean the water out every 2-3 days. A betta fish in a 5-10 gallon tank can stay clean for a week or more. So there is maybe a bit more work with goldfish.

It is pretty much a wash between the two fish, but if I had a five year old, I think we would go with a betta fish (they are more colorful, and seem the have higher initial survival rates, too). I would probably get one of the rubber-covered paddle heaters for the tank, even though I am a bit concerned about whether they are good for the fish (heated plastic releases toxins…) but I would be good about water changes and I’d rather risk the health of the fish than having hands get burnt. I might also put a ground break interrupter on the outlet, if I had a child that was really interested in electricity. Yes, modern parents… paranoid as all getout.

To minimize cleaning I would probably get a five to ten gallon tank, and I would buy just one other fish to keep with the betta — a cleaner fish. These guys will keep algae down a LOT, and they are great backup in case someone decides to overfeed the fish.

Finally, betta fish live about 2-3 years. The first two weeks in their new home is the most likely time they will die, so keep a close watch for fuzzy spots on their body and get them treated fast.

Goldfish, on the other hand, have been reported to live as long as 44 years. Clearly that’s not average, but a really well-cared for goldfish definitely has a shot at seeing ten years of age. Most of the ones I’ve known last about 5-6 years. If you have a five year old that can keep a goldfish alive until the child is ten, I recommend they go to vet school.

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Common Betta Fish Behaviors

by me on December 22, 2010

If you have never had a betta fish, or you have never had any kind of fish at all, it can be really hard to know what is normal and what is not. Here are some common things betta fish do.


1) They blow bubbles.

This is a good sign. A male betta blowing bubbles on the top of the tank is actually building a bubble nest. This is mostly to raise young bettas, but can also just be a sheltering instinct. Healthy bettas will blow bubbles, and sometimes quite a lot of bubbles. Do not get too worried if you mess the bubble nest up when you change the water, though. Making a new nest gives your betta something to do.

2) Occasional laying on bottom is OK.

Bettas do rest sometimes. They may choose spots in the tank to rest on that are not on the bottom (like on a plant leaf, or on part of the filter tubing). So long as your betta moves when you approach the tank, or that it spends at least 3-4 hours a day idlying swimming around its tank, then you are fine. Remember, too, that betta fish really do need tanks that are two gallons or larger. If you’ve got your betta in one of those awful little tanks that are barely bigger than a McDonald’s soda cup, there’s no room for him to swim around.

3) Swimming up to the bowl when you come in the room.

Again, this is good, healthy betta behavior. Do not interpret it as your betta needing to be fed though. Bettas need to eat once a day, and not much more. Ever. It is actually a good idea to not feed your betta one day a week to give their digestion a rest.

4) Displaying or “flaring” their gills.

When a betta spreads its fins as wide as possible and extends ts gill covers out so as to look larger, it is “flaring” or displaying. If you want to spice things up for your betta a bit, put a mirror next to his tank for a few minutes a day. He will think it is another betta and get all excited, trying to pick a fight with his image. Just do not leave the mirror in view for more than 5 to 10 minutes, though, or he will get stressed and be more likely to get sick.

Do betta fish sleep?

Betta fish do not have eyelids so they can not sleep the same way we do. They do take naps by resting or lying on the gravel or by hanging motionless in the water. Their swim bladder lets them maintain this position while they sleep.

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Overcrowding = more than one inch of fish per gallon of water

March 16, 2010

It is hard, but refrain from overcrowding your tank. Overcrowding is defined as putting more than one inch of fish per one gallon of aquarium water. Some people quibble with this old rule, saying it doesn’t take into account the weight of the fish, which is a more accurate read on how much waste load [...]

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Betta Fish Ich – How to Diagnose and Treat It

March 8, 2010

Ich is one of the most common aquarium fish ailments. It is so common that many pet stores put a squirt of anti-ich treatment into the water when they bag fish. Goldfish are notorious for getting ich, but betta fish get it just as often. Fortunately ich is no big deal: It is easy to [...]

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Betta Fish Tank Filtration

March 2, 2010

This is a walk-through of the basic techniques around aquarium filtration and how they apply to betta tanks. This information also applies to community tanks of all kinds, but is more focused on freshwater than saltwater tanks. Filtration is optional for a single betta bowl If you have just one betta in a bowl or [...]

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Betta Fish Companions

February 15, 2010

If you have enough space in your betta tank (like more than five gallons – ten is better), its pretty natural to want to add some more fish. While bettas are territorial, and they may fight with any fish you put into their tank, some fish make much better (betta?) companions for bettas than others. [...]

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Lighting for Betta Bowls and Tanks

January 31, 2010

Lighting doesn’t make sense for a simple betta bowl. Some people do put their betta bowls under table lamps, or use clamp lights. If you want to add a light, that’s fine. The only need for it would be if you have plants that require brighter light that indirect sunlight. Amazon swords, for example, will [...]

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Quarantining new fish for community tanks

November 27, 2009

After all the work you’ve gone to to create that special environment inside your tank, don’t muss it up by adding a sick fish. Here’s the rub: all new fish are potentially sick fish. Even if they look great at the pet store. Enter the quarantine tank. This is a small tank kept in addition [...]

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Culling Fry

November 23, 2009

This is a very tough part of breeding bettas, and a very good reason not to breed them in the first place. With each average betta spawn being 500 young fish, even modest culling means you’ll be killing 250 little betta youngsters. Even keeping 250 is difficult, because you’re going to have to house, feed [...]

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Raising Fry

November 19, 2009

Feeding – micro worms and baby brine shrimp Fry need to be fed constantly. This is their primary need at this critical time. And its hard to feed them compared to feeding adult fish, because they are so tiny that most food won’t fit in their mouths. Most breeders feed new fry freshly hatched brine [...]

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