Freshwater Tropical

Betta Splendens Care Guide

Betta Basics

Betta fish are native to the rice paddies, marshes, and flooded fields of Thailand and other areas of Southeast Asia. These warm, shallow, low-oxygen waters may stretch out for miles and the water is dark with tannins from leaf litter, wood, and other botanicals.

Minimum tank sizes in captivity:

Treating Alkalinity Problems in Aquariums and Ponds

Alkalinity is a measure of the water’s ability to buffer the pH to provide stability and avoid rapid changes in pH that could adversely affect the health of the animals in the water.  It is one of the more important but most often overlooked parameters to monitor for healthy water quality in a system.  Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is the compound that has the most effect on alkalinity, but sodium, bicarbonate and other compounds play more minor roles.  Good quality kits are available from companies like Salifert and Red Sea to test alkalinity by adding drops to the water sample in a test tube.