Males must live alone
Two males in one tank will fight until one is badly hurt. One male per tank.
The aquarium · Time every day
Siamese fighting fish
Tropical fish · from Thailand
A small, jewel-coloured fish, deep blue and red, with huge flowing fins like silk.
- Size
- 6 to 7cm long
- Lives for
- 3 to 5 years
- Suits
- Beginners with one small heated tank
Drifts after you, fins trailing. Move your pointer and see.
Good to know
Six things about the fighting fish
It breathes air
It has a special organ that lets it gulp air from the surface, so it can live in shallow, still water.
A nest of bubbles
The male blows a raft of bubbles at the surface and guards the eggs in it.
It flares
Shown a rival, or a mirror, it spreads its fins and gill covers to look twice the size.
Plain in the wild
Wild ones are dull green-brown with short fins. The colours and long fins were bred in.
It knows you
Many learn to recognise their owner and come to the front of the tank.
The real thing
Photos of the fighting fish
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
Looking after one
It needs a heated, filtered tank of at least 20 litres with a lid, plants to rest on and gentle water flow. Tiny bowls and vases are not suitable.
Before you get one
A single betta in a proper tank is one of the easiest fish to keep, and one of the most characterful.
Keep going