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Keeping Goldfish -- continued from page one

Another great fish that's somewhat easy to care for is the betta or Siamese fighting fish. These are excellent bowl fish and do very well in the unfiltered environment of a clean glass bowl or container. The smaller the bowl the more water changes and cleaning will be required so be prepared for two water changes per week to keep the nitrites and ammonia down. To make the cleaning an easier process, leave out the gravel along the bottom as fish don't really have any use for it anyway. All a betta needs is a small plant, plastic or real and an aquarium ornament to hide out in (of course, don't forget the food and water).

Never put two betta fish together especially not the males as they will certainly kill each other. Be very cautious when putting a female in with a male because if she's not in the mood she can get quite aggressive. A beginner can stick with the solitary fish.
Betta's are peaceful despite the fight to the death attitude they have with each other. More experienced fish people can add a betta to a tank with other peaceful fish types like danios, minnows, guppies and plecos but caution is required as some of these may pick at the betta's ample fins causing injury. Betta's will eat baby guppies (guppy fry) so don't add the betta to a guppy tank if your trying to breed.

As I stated in the last article, this is very elementary information on fish care and you will need to find out more before you can safely bring fish home. Preparation is the key to success with fish so do a bit of research and gather all the tools necessary then bring home your fish and enjoy!

Jen MacDonald

Keeping Goldfish
by Jennifer MacDonald

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