Buying a Betta

So you’ve set up a lovely tank, you’ve cycled it, and you’re ready for your new friend! The next question is where do you buy one from?

Where do I get a betta from?

Pet Shop / Aquarium

One option that is open to you is from an aquarium, or a pet store. Those with large fish departments are relatively likely to have betta fish.

A word of warning though – have a look at how they keep their betta fish before you really look at the fish. The reason is that you want to make sure that they’re caring for their animals before you get attached to any one betta that they have.

If you’ve read through the guidance on this site to set up a suitable betta tank, you’ll find that almost none of the places you’ll see keep their betta in those conditions. This is understandable, because betta fish aren’t usually at the store for very long before they are purchased, and to a commerical business, space is money. Because betta fish are so aggressive, either they will be put in a relatively small tank, or they will go in with community fish that are compatible with them. BUT, there’s a limit to what is acceptable for the short term.

NO CUPS!
- If you’ve seen betta being sold in those little plastic tubs that you could barely use to have a drink, you’ll know what this means.
- It’s cruel to keep any animal like this, even for a day.
One male betta per tank
- If somewhere is keeping more than one male betta in a single tank, either they don’t care about the welfare of the fish, or they have no idea what they’re doing.
- Even if they don’t fight, the stress would be very damaging for a male betta to be in the same tank as another.
Clean water
- Obviously the water should be clean – this isn’t always possible to tell, but if it looks like it’s not been cleaned in a while, that’s a bad sign.
Room to swim
- Even if they aren’t in a cup, that doesn’t mean any container is fine.
- They should have room to swim even if they’re only there for less than a week.
Heating
- The water must be heated, or that poor little fish is going be very likely to pick up illnesses and infections.

Consider all these things – and if you think that the conditions aren’t suitable, then don’t browse the fish. Maybe you’re thinking: ‘you mean don’t buy it, right?’. But the chances are that if you browse, you’re going to buy… someone will catch your eye!

If you’re wondering if it would be better to buy the fish to get it our of these conditions, this is a difficult one. If the store sells something, they’ll keep stocking it, and in this case, they’ll continue to keep their fish in terrible conditions. If nobody ever purchased a betta in a horrible cup, the stores would stop selling them in cups! It’s that simple, they just want to sell and they see their animals as stock.

Independant Aquarium Stores

In my opinion, this is usually the best option for getting a good quality and happy betta! Owners of independant aquarium stores are usually dedicated fish lovers, so they will take care of their fish – and they are also usually experts!

You can do the same checks as at big name pet stores if you like, but you’re much less likely to encounter unpleasant conditions at an independant store. What’s more, if you’re after a particular type of betta, it’s not that unusual for them to be able to order something in for you when they do their next orders with their suppliers.

The other benefit of an independant store is that if they’re close enough you can come back and browse again if you’re not sure who you want – and if you haven’t cycled your tank yet, they are usually happy to keep hold of the little guy while you get prepared! They will be knowledgeable and interested in making sure that you have everything you need to keep your fish healthy.

Independant Online Sellers

In most locations, if you’re after a female betta, or a particular coloured male, online sellers are going to be your best bet for finding one. Most stores of any kind stock males with their lovely eye-catching fins, and there’s such a wide range of betta colours out there, you’d need a store that only sells betta to have enough space for a huge range!

If you can, find someone based in your country so it’s less far for the fish to travel (yes, the fish will travel to you, more on this later!), and make sure that you’ve seen some reviews from former customers. Most of the online sellers I’ve seen have also posted photos of their set up, with huge rows of tanks so you can see for yourself how well they keep their fish.

You’ll usually find that they sell individual fish, rather than for example ‘teal veiltail’ and then they select one of many for you. There’s usually a video and maybe a few photos of that fish that you can browse, and then the seller will mail the fish to you.

You can read more at the link below about how to buy a betta online, but a responsible seller will put the betta you have purchased in a small bag with water and some air, then carefully pack it with as much packaging and protection as possible (and possibly a heat pack depending where you live). Then a fish turns up on your doorstep! I’ve had a lot of weird conversations with the postman about this…

UK Recommended Online Sellers

Guide to Buying a Betta Online

Which Betta?

This is a really difficult question. There are so many beautiful betta out there!

I suppose your first question is: girl or boy?

In terms of personality, all betta fish are generally intelligent, inquisitive and keen to interact with you. Female betta fish are less aggressive than the males on average, but they don’t lack any personality! It will probably come down to whether you would like a fish with long fins or short, because females do have shorter fins than men (although I’ve seen some that do almost look like a male with their fin lengths!).

Next question – long fin or short?

On the left is Feathers, a halfmoon plakat whose stunning teal blue on black colours and cute little snout I fell in love with! On the right is Puff, one of my earliest bettas who was a ‘mustard gas’ halfmoon and had the most delicate, gorgeous tail. These are also only two tail types, you have the pointed crowntail, veiltails, all sorts! I love a long and graceful tail, and yet I actually have 3 plakats at the moment! It’s hard to pick…

Colour is another difficulty, because you can find almost any colour in betta fish. Green is quite difficult (you would need to have what is called a ‘green alien’ betta, which is breathtaking) and purple is also very sought after, but you can get pretty much any other colour. They come in bicolour, a single colour, tie dye, marble, ‘galaxy’ or ‘koi’, and many more I can’t even remember…

How do I pick a Healthy betta?

So you’ve got some colours in mind, and you want to make sure that you’re going to pick a healthy little fella? Usually this isn’t too tough – and if you do those checks to make sure that they’re living in a healthy environment you’re likely to have a healthy fish too.

A healthy fish will be moving around, curious. They shouldn’t be entirely still for a long period of time, never leave the top of the tank, or never raise from the bottom. Betta sleep just like we all do, but they’re also nocturnal so should be fairly active in daylight hours.

Make sure that you see them move around and that their movement seems natural and easy – if they seem to struggle to stay afloat, or can’t get down from the surface of the water, they probably have a swim bladder problem, and that could be a symptom of something more serious.

They won’t necessarily be at their brightest when you see them, because they do change colour depending on how fired up they are. However, if they have ‘clamped fins’, that’s another warning sign that they are miserable. Here’s a really excellent image that shows what ‘clamped fins’ look like – basically their fins are thin and close to the body, like a folded fan. A happy betta’s fins will be looser and wider, even if they are a short-finned fish such as this plakat.

Finally, have a check of their fins and body to make sure that they don’t have any cottony growths or dark, curling fins. It’s possible they might have a notch in their tails or fins somewhere – this isn’t anything to be too worried about and betta fins grow back, so it also isn’t permanant.