The Pretty Fish with The Hard Reputation! (Siamese Fighting Fish)

Member Name: angeelu

Product:	Siamese Fighting Fish
Date:	06/03/04 (6772 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful looking fish, Easy to keep, Will mix with other community fish

Disadvantages: Aggressive towards other fighting fish, Prone to fin-nipping from other fish

The Siamese Fighting Fish, or 'Betta Splenden' to give it its posh name, is a beautiful breed of fish. There are so many variations that each one is unique.

The fish itself...
A Siamese Fighting fish will typically grow no longer than 3" long from nose to the start of its tail. The picture on dooyoo shows a male Fighting Fish - these are instantly recognisable by their long flowing fins. Different varieties of fish will have different types of fins, but in general, the male will have a long flowing tail, and fins, that are smooth around the edges. The female is very similar in body shape to the male, however they lack the pretty flowing fins and tail - their's are much shorter, and shaped more like your average fish's fins!
Colour-wise there's plenty of different colour combinations. Siamese Fighting Fish come in a whole range of colours from deep scarlet reds, to iridescent blues, purples, black, white, and all the colours in between! There are many breeders who work on creating new and unusual looking Fighting Fish by cross breeding different coloured fish, and fins with different shaped fins. The most common Siamese Fighters tend to be mainly blue or mainly red in colour, although males often have tinges of different shades or colours within their fins.
This breed of fish originally originated from South East Asia, in Cambodia/Thailand. They live in the wild in shallow rice paddies and ditches around the edges of the rice fields! Seems like an unusual place to find such a tropical looking fish!

The Name Suggests Aggression? Do They Bite or Something?!
Siamese Fighting Fish are actually quite peaceful fish. Female betta's will normally live together quite happily. The males, however, need to be kept on their own - when more than one are kept together they will fight, and are quite happy to fight each other to death. Seems strange to think of fish fights, but they can get quite aggressive
! This isn't to say that female fish won't fight with each other - they occasionally do, but in general they are fine kept together. It's also very difficult to keep a male and a female together - again, they will fight, so should only be brought together when breeding.
Siamese Fighting Fish are fascinating in the way they show who's boss! They do what is known as 'flaring'. Imagine gills on the side of a fish's head... now imagine that these are actually more like flaps - when they are down, the flaps stay flat to the fish's body, when they are up, it's almost like they are on hinges, and the stick out from the body of the fish creating almost a big collar! This is what it looks like when a Fighting Fish flares! This collar extends almost all the way around the fish's head and looks very impressive. A fish will flare when it sees a rival, for example another male fish, or when it sees a potential mate - in the first instance it's as though it's making itself big and scary to attack the other fish, and in the second it's showing the female how great it is! If you've got a Fighting Fish and haven't seen this before, try holding a small mirror to the side of the tank - the fish will catch the reflection and flare at it. I have read that this is actually a good way of choosing a male fish when you're buying one. One that reacts to the reflection and flares is normally one that is healthy and responsive, one that doesn't react could possibly be ill as this could be a sign of lethargy that is caused by poor living conditions or illness.

So, If You Want a Pretty Fish It Has To Live On It's Own Then?
Not at all! Betta Splendens will happily live in a community tank (this is an aquarium that has been set up with 'community fish' - community fish are those that are happy to live together with other species and are generally peaceful and unlikely to be aggressive to oth
er fish). It's important that, if you are thinking of getting a Fighter, that you ensure you don't have any fin-nipping fish in your tank. Most good aquarium stores will be able to advise you on the types of fish that tend to be fin nippers, but in my experience I have found that fish such as tiger barbs and black widows will happily munch on other fishes fins, as will fish such as polypterus. Even fish who are not typically fin nippers may take up the habit once they see the Betta swimming about!

Where Do They Like To Live?
You might see Siamese Fighting fish kept in small containers on their own, as opposed to being in a properly set up aquarium. Because of the type of fish these are, they will live in these conditions, however they won't thrive, they are much happier and likely to survive when in a better environment. They are best kept in water that is between 24C-29C. They are a labyrinth fish, which means that they breathe air as opposed to breathing through their gills like a typical fish - this means that they must be able to reach the surface of the water. They often swim towards the top of the tank, so it's good to have either some tall plants in your aquarium that they can still take shelter in when they're up at the top, or to have some floating plants. Male fish will often create bubble nests in plant foliage at the very top of the tank, or in an area at the top of the tank. They do this by blowing lots of tiny bubbles - these groups of bubbles are then intended for the female fish to lay their eggs in if the fish were breeding, as they are then protected by the bubbles!

What Do They Eat?
They are a carniverous fish. Most will happily eat tropical fish flake food (as this is meat based), though they will also enjoy live food such as blood worms and daphnia. Many shops sell particular brands of food aimed just at this breed of fish, however personally I don't think this is necessary - particula
rly if you are keeping your Fighting fish in a community tank, as I doubt the fish will all make sure they're eating the food intended for them if you sprinkle a variety in the tank!

Where Can You Get One?
Most shops that sell tropical fish will sell these. They are normally priced in the region of £5.00. If you're an enthusiast and confident in your ability to look after tropical fish properly, you may be able to purchase a more fancy finned and rarer coloured one from aquarium specialist, though obviously you would pay more for a rarer fish.


These fish are easy to look after and make a beautiful eye-catching addition to your aquarium. However, should you notice that your fish starts to look ragged around the fins it is either being nipped at by other fish or may have caught a disease such as fin rot - it is important that you either move the fish to another tank to prevent the fin nipping problem, or that you treat it for fin rot if you identify it has the disease in order to stop your fish from becoming stressed, which could possibly lead to its death. In conclusion, I would certainly recommend introducing a Siamese Fighting Fish to your tank if you currently have a peaceful community tank set up.

I would award the Betta Splended 4 stars, as although they are a pretty looking fish and generally mix well with other community fish, they are not the most easy of tropical fish to care for in terms of preventing fin-nipping etc. * * * *

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