How to Take Care of Your Siamese Fighting Fish (Betta Fish Care Guide)

This is a first in what I hope will be a series of videos focusing on one particular species of fish. In this video we will be looking at the Betta Fish, or as it's also known, the Siamese Fighting Fish. This video covers how to keep them, where they originate from, the various types that are available and how to breed them.
In 2010, I decided to have a go at keeping these fish, despite the bad reputation these fish had at the time. My first betta was a blue and red Veiltail. The more fancy varieties weren't really available in the UK at the time but they soon would be. I soon realised that these fish weren't as aggressive as they were made out to be and it got on with all of the fish my in tank. Which included various tetras, snails and minnows. Around two years later I decided to get my second fighter, also a veil tail (vt), but this one was just light blue. I also found a female, a dark blue colour vt. I researched breeding them and had success on the first attempt. There were 200 babies, roughly half were light blue, half were dark blue, nothing in between, although some had a bit of red mixed in. Interesting there were more females to males. Once the males started to fight, I knew it was time to move them on and I sold them to a local pet shop. The pet shop explained that there were many other types and if I bred some of those, they could offer me more money. I was hooked at that point and decided to spend some of my profits on importing two pairs of halfmoons. One orange, one red. I managed to breed the orange, but the reds just didn't seem to work out. I learned that some betta pairs, just don't get on and no matter how hard you try, they won't breed. It was very interesting. After that I continued to breed fancier and fancier fish, but I found that the fancier they became, the fewer babies I got to reach adulthood. With the added colour and elaborate fins, the cost was that they were weaker fish genetically. I attended several shows in the UK which were professionally judged. I took home awards for my fish which was between 2015-2018. It seemed that Siamese Fighters had peaked in popularity around this time and slowly became less popular over the coming years. The popularity of the fish was down to the scarceness of the fish and everyone wanting what they can't have, but as more fish entered the country and people began breeding them, there was suddenly a glut of really really nice bettas that had been bred in UK waters. The population of fishkeepers bought them and the novelty seemed to wear off. The fish were easy to buy now and that seemed to make it less of a trend. But these things come and go, now there's a lull in popularity, less people will breed them and so the demand will go up because nobody can get hold of them anymore. Perhaps the Betta will have it's day again!