Dustin's Blog — Bettas

Read Time: 5 mins Welcome back to the second installment of the aquarium history series (Check out the first on the history of fishkeeping and aquariums)! We'll dig into the history of one of the coolest and most popular fish species on the planet: the betta.  When, where, and how were betta fish discovered? Bettas are all over the world these days, but they're native to southeast Asia, originating in Thailand (fun fact: they're the national aquatic animal of Thailand). Thailand, previously called Siam, is where their history with humans began, as they were collected in shallow pools and pitted...

Read Time: 5 minutes Advice for Keeping Small/Nano Aquariums Nano tank in the cover photo scaped by Christian E. Velez.  What is a nano tank/How big is a nano tank?  Nano aquariums are exactly what they sound like: a growing field of near-atomic-sized fish robots that could be used to advance human evolution via shape-shifting and reinforced suits of flying armor. ...nah. It's just a small aquarium. That's basically it. As for how many gallons they have to have to qualify as a nano tank, depends who you're talking to. Some hobbyists say anything less than 20 gallons counts, though I've...

Read Time: 7 mins Bettas are one of the most popular aquarium fish out there. Unfortunately, they’re also one of the most notoriously badly kept aquarium fish out there. These myths are part of the reason for that. Welcome to Mythbusters: Dustin’s Fishtanks Edition (For a quick reference for best betta parameters, scroll to the bottom).  Myth #1: Bettas Like Tiny Tanks/Cups Verdict: Absolutely not.  Starting off with the biggest (or, maybe the smallest) myth, we’ve all seen the wall of betta cups. At best, they look bored. More often, it’s outright depressing. The reason they’re kept in cups is...