Nitrite and Nitrate in a Betta Tank: The Difference
One letter apart and nothing alike. Nitrite must read zero, nitrate is managed with water changes. What each does and what to do.
A field guide for betta keepers · September 2026
Bettas are bred well
and kept badly.
We recommend the minimum conditions that keep a betta healthy, not the minimum that keeps it alive. Everything here runs on 4 tanks in Riverview, Florida, and is checked against veterinary and welfare sources.
Read the guidesIdentify a sick betta
Illustrative composite. Male bettas must not be housed together.
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Signs of a Healthy Betta: What Good Actually Looks Like
Most betta content describes what is wrong. This describes what right looks like, so you notice a change on day one instead of day ten.
How to Baffle a Filter That Is Too Strong for a Betta
Four ways to cut the outflow, from a free bottle baffle to a sponge over the outlet. How to tell the current is genuinely too strong.
Plakat Bettas: The Short-Finned Type That Swims Properly
Closest to the wild body plan, and the best swimmer of any betta type. What a plakat is, how care differs, and who should choose one.
Betta pH: Why You Should Probably Leave It Alone
Bettas tolerate a wide pH range and hate change. Why chasing a number with chemicals causes more deaths than the original reading did.
How to Acclimate a Betta Without Shocking It
Temperature first, then chemistry. The float and drip methods, how long each takes, and the shortcut that kills fish.
Sponge Filter or Hang-on-Back for a Betta?
Sponge for most betta tanks, hang-on-back if you baffle it. What each one actually does, what it costs, and how they fail.
Browse by topic
- Betta care basicsI have one. Now what?Everything a new betta keeper needs in the first month, and the myths that cause most of the damage. If you were sold a bowl and a fish in a cup, start here.
- Tank setup and equipmentWhat do I actually need to buy?Tanks, heaters, filters, lights and plants, tested on real setups. We never recommend a tank under five gallons, and we say when we have not personally run a product.
- Water quality and maintenanceIs my water actually safe?The nitrogen cycle, water parameters and testing, explained without hand-waving. Most betta deaths are water quality problems wearing another name.
- Feeding and nutritionWhat and how much do I feed?Bettas are carnivores, and most are overfed. We give portions as a countable number of pellets rather than a vague pinch.
- Health and diseasesSomething is wrong. What is it?Symptom-first identification and treatment, sourced to veterinary and welfare literature. We give honest prognoses, including when a condition is usually fatal.
- Types, behaviour and breedingWhat kind is mine, and what is it doing?Tail types, colours, and what betta behaviour actually means. Plus tank mates that work, and the ones sold to you that do not.
Start here, in this order
New keeper? Do these one at a time, not all at once.- Get the tank rightFive gallons minimum, and never a bowl. Everything after this is easier if you get it right first.
- Heat it and filter itBoth, always. Neither is optional for a tropical fish, whatever the kit box says.
- Cycle it before the fishThree to six weeks with the tank empty. This is the step nobody at the shop mentions.
- Learn the numbersAmmonia and nitrite must read zero. Almost everything that looks like illness starts here.
- Feed far less than you thinkTwo to four pellets, once or twice a day. It looks like nothing, and it is correct.
Already have the fish and no cycled tank? Most people arrive here that way. It is recoverable, and it is not your fault. How to cycle a tank with the fish already in it.
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