Moonlight is our second female Betta fish for our fish tank. She’s small now, but we think she’ll plump up soon. Our first female Betta named Sparkles looked sick and pale when we first got her, but she plumped up, developed a blueish tint color, and enjoyed swimming through the then-accessory cave we had. We sadly lost her betta in October 2021 when our tank got infected with a disease, probably from a new fish from the pet store.
Except for aggressive male Bettas, female Betta fish can peacefully coexist with mellow tankmates. They’re slow swimmers and mind their own business. Moonlight, that’s our name for her, stays to herself and hangs around the rocks and leaves at the bottom of the tank. She hangs around with the catfish and lodges at the Spongebob’s house on occasion.
We were happy to give her a bigger space to live instead of the small plastic cup they live in at the pet shop. I thought she’d swim all over the 10 gallon tank, but she seems afraid of exploratory swimming. She needs time to acclimate! I’m pleased that she’s not nipping the other fish.
Facts about Betta fish: (from National Geographic)
- Also known as Siamese fighting fish
- Bettas are native to Thailand, Vietman, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and Indonesia. They live in shallow waters and in rice paddies.
- Since the 14th century, betta fish were bred specifically for their colorful fins and tendency to fight; specifically for Thai royalty. However, this kind of activity is now illegal.
- Males are aggressive and cannot be, should not be, kept with another male and may fight until one dies. They are territorial.
- Although there is a misconception these fish are easy to maintain, they need space and healthy habitat to thrive.
Thank you for visiting and meeting our new Moonlight! Have a great Tuesday and take care.
Categories: Aquarium & Fishkeeping
singlikewildflowers
Welcome to my blog! My name is Esther and I'm so happy you are here. I'm an avid nature photographer and a daydreaming thinker. My posts revolve around photos of nature's beauty, homeschooling adventures with my 2 kids, sporadic reflections on my child's heart condition, Bible reading reflections, gardening feats, and other mish mash things. Hopefully you'll leave encouraged, pensive, or smiling at the simple things of life. Thank you for stopping by and hope you'll find some interesting posts to read!
sing like wildflowers 
Sweet! I’ve thought about getting a fish or two for our granddaughter. We will see . . . . 😊
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If you’re getting just one fish, a male Betta would be great! They are more colorful and have larger, flowy fins. But males can only stay by themselves. They’re kind of cranky like that.
Another option would be neon tetras. They are small fish but they do like to school together. 4-6 of them would be great.
Platy’s are supposed to be nice, community tank fish too. Overall, if you just want one, a male Betta.
Sorry went on and on here! I hope you do.
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No apology necessary. You response was very helpful. Thank you. 😊
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You’re welcome!
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My son says that any single Betta would do…a male or female. Males are more colorful but he says the females also develop color after a while, not as vivid as the males though. He wanted me to add that for specificity. lol
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Great advice from your son. Our granddaughter is three and very much into colors so maybe a male might be better. Thanks to you both. 😉
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I think she’ll like a male betta! They’re a fun and inexpensive fish to raise. I would advise against a goldfish though. They poop a lot and need frequent water changes.
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Good to know. I had considered a goldfish but now I think we both would enjoy a make betta much more. You have been extremely helpful. 😊
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Love it! Bettas are so beautiful and have such a fun personality! I bred bettas in high school which was a fun experience. We often keep a male betta in our 10 gallon with our glo tetras and cory cats. But our last one died in November and we wanted to wait until after the move to get another…and then my parents bred their bettas so now we’re waiting for their…100 fry…to grow big enough we can pick one to bring home 🙂
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Oh my gosh!! You bred bettas?? That is so cool. We’ve had many failed eggs hatching scenarios in our tank. We see eggs, scrape them up, put them in another tank, and nothing happens. Recently our tetras seemed pregnant with swollen bellies and they were swimming weird too. This is weird but the next day one of the tetras died with the belly split open. It was sad to see. Still no idea what happened.
Anyhow, as for your parent’s betta fry…yay! If you can, take pictures of the frys. Hope you pick a nice one.
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I will get them to send me pictures! When we were visiting they were still too tiny to really get pictures of. I’ve only succeeded in raising livebearer fry all the way up. I’ve successfully hatched bettas and cory cats but wasn’t able to get them to grow up. My parents betta fry are almost a month old now. They started a brine shrimp hatchery right next to the tank and have been feeding them that and they are growing so…I think they’ll manage to raise them up…if they can find enough containers, they have to separate them all in another couple weeks or they’ll start fighting. 🙂
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Raising fry is a fragile endeavor! Raising any fry to live is a success. It is hard to raise them to live. We’ve watched many YouTube videos but it’s a mystery. They need to be fed a few times a day and need special food. It’s wonderful your parents have a shrimp hatchery. They know what’s up!
I told my kids and the first thing they said was, “how did they do it??” Good luck!!
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Betta fish are fun. We have had a few of them too. Moonlight is a perfect name for this beauty.
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I’ve been considering adding a fish tank to our home. After reading your post and all the comments, I’m leaning towards a male beta if/when we decide to go for it!
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Oh wow! I hope you do. Male bettas are colorful with long, graceful fins. For bettas, pet shops sell betta hammocks (a suction cup leaf that you stick on the side of the tank). They rest there; I thought it was a fluke but ours really did. We didn’t get one for Moonlight yet.
Let me know if you do! Would love to see pics of your new fish friend!
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The other day in my City’s Neighborhood Facebook Forum, people were complaining that the grocery store (it is big, almost as big as a Walmart), put their fish in little containers outside the tank. Now I rad this and I guess that is to segregate them from fighting bettas or for disease – interesting!
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If they’re in little containers, they’re most likely Betta fish. Because they’re territorial, they get aggressive. Usually, they should’ve had a sign above them or next to it.
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That’s interesting because people were disparaging Meijer (grocery store) for mistreating their fish. They were pretty incensed about it too.
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