BETTA CARE

When keeping bettas one of the most important things in my opinion is water quality. Bettas prefer their pH around 6.6-6.8 but a neutral pH of 7.0 is sufficient for them to survive. Also be sure to do frequent water changes (About1-2 times a week). When doing water changes, be sure to de-chloronate the water. I use a product called AmQuel.
Bettas are picky eaters. Once you feed them something for a long time they won't accept anything else. That is why you should rotate their diet. learned this fact the hard way. So you should feed them something like this: betta flakes in for breakfast, brine shrimp for lunch, and worms (tubifix, black, blood, gindal, etc.) for dinner. Be sure to feed your betta 2-3 times every day.
The next topic we are going to discuss is housing for your betta. All male bettas need is a simple one-quart jar, though it is best to keep them in a one- gallon container or larger. It is important to note that two males cannot be placed together in the same container because they will fight. You can The female bettas (and sometimes males as long as the fish are compatible, we'll talk about that later) may be kept in the average community tank. You can tell a male betta from a female betta by their fins. Male bettas have long flowing fins, except for the short-finned variaty. Females have short fins and have a small white tube that comes out of their stomach. This is their ovipositor (egg tube).
Now we will talk about the compatibility of the fish that can be kept with bettas. You should NEVER EVER keep bettas with fin-nippers such as tiger barbs. This goes for male and female bettas. It is also a bad idea to keep any kind of gourami with bettas. This is because they are related and will sometimes spar with each other.
Now we will discuss the common ailments of bettas. I personally have not encountered too many betta sicknesses. For now I will just talk about ick, fin damage, and popeye. Ick is a very common sickness in all fish. It is a parasite. The signs of ick are white spots that look like granules of salt covering the fish and jerky swimming movements. There are many treatments for this ailment on the market today, but I think the best method is prevention. There are also many ick prevention chemicals on the market these days. I prefer these to the ick cures. I use Aquari-Sol. You should keep ick cures handy anyway just in case. Keep in mind that ick is CONTAGIOUS!
Fin damage can happen at any time. I have found that the best way of healing damaged fins is with a dried banana leaf. You can find banana leaves at most oriental stores. What is done is you place the dried banana leaf in the jar with the injured betta. Then wait about a week. Your betta's tattered fin should look quite good. If the fin wasn't damaged too badly it should look like it was never injured. The banana leaf mearly helps speed up recovery. It is not at all necessary.
You should use a comercial antibiotic if it is bacterial fin damage. You can tell it is bacterial if you betta's fins appear to be rotting away without any apparent reason. Finally I will talk about popeye. Popeye is an external bacterial infection of the eye. If your betta has popeye its eyes should look cloudy or are protruding. Use a comercial antibiotic. The antibiotics that I use are Mardel Labratory's Tetracycline Tablets. I've heard that Mardel Laboratory's Maracyn-Two works just as well, but has more uses than just treating the above ailments. Both of these are very common products.
Well I hope you found this section to your liking.

Feed the betta!