Betta fish or Siamese Fighting is one of the most popular aquarium fish and it is relatively easy to care for because they need little space without high requirements with regards to water quality. Betta fish also has bright coloration with high fins probably the main reason why they are commonly sought after especially the male bettas. Over 100 years ago aquarists in Asia began breeding Betta fish to emphasize color and finnage and the results of those efforts are readily seen in the beautiful variety of today's Bettas.
Betta splendens is often referred to as Fighting Fish. Watch out for those betta fish sold by pet stores, which have already been injured due to fighting since it has been bred over the years to be both colorful and combative, especially towards other males. Another thing, which you should take note is that, betta fish is very prone to dropsy, a fish disease which appears like a small bump or swelling in the abdominal region of the fish and is usually fatal.
Another guide to use when selecting your betta fish is to look at the fins. Normally, betta fins should be fully wide open and spread out even as it stays idle. There must not be any holes or torn fins which should be a sign of injury caused by nibbling or fighting with other fish. The Betta should be housed with peaceful fish that will not nip at the Betta's glorious, flowing fins. Look out for presence of white spots, which could be fish ich and observe carefully towards the end tail of the fin, to see whether the fin is thinning or loosely attached in strands. This could be sign of fin rot taking place whereby the water quality is deteriorating
Betta is a very aggressive and considered a solitary fish. That means no other fish should be placed together in the same confinement even with other betta fish as well except during breeding. If there are other betta fighting fish bowl beside - usually covered on the sides - you can try to remove the cardboard separator or divider to observe the response with the other neighboring fish.
