Dennerle News

The beautiful, colorful Betta splendens, the Siamese fighting fish, is certainly one of the most popular ornamental fish. At Dennerle, we have intensively studied the special needs of fighting fish in order to develop not only suitable aquariums with the new Betta Range, but also a care series that meets their unique requirements.

In their country of origin, Southeast Asia, Bettas prefer shallow, weakly flowing or stagnant waters with dense plant cover. There, the strict loners occupy small territories; the females seek out the males only for mating.

Since Betta splendens are real fighters with high inner-species aggressiveness, they must be kept individually – especially the males can inflict serious injuries on each other when they meet or chase each other to exhaustion. Due to their susceptibility to stress, socialization with other fish is also not advisable – in a community tank, life expectancy can be greatly reduced. The keeping with snails and larger shrimps is usually unproblematic.

In 2022, a research group at the Institute for Biology Didactics at the University of Gießen, led by Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Ziemek, conducted an informative study on the appropriate aquarium size for male Betta splendens. According to this study, male fighting fish in a 35 L aquarium measuring 40 x 32 x 28 cm (the Dennerle Nano Tank) show the same behavior and activity as in a larger aquarium.

This has now also been scientifically confirmed: The 35 liter Nano Tank is ideal for long-term keeping of fighting fish. Locomotion, resting behavior, metabolic behavior, curiosity/play behavior and social behavior showed no differences to those of the fish in a larger aquarium. The Nano Tank’s filter, heater and lighting also proved to be excellent for keeping the animals.

As carnivorous fish, Betta in nature feed on insects, larvae, worms and small crustaceans. They do not eat fish. Conventional flake food is rather unsuitable for Betta: A high vegetable content can result in severe digestive disorders. In our fishmeal-free Betta Booster, on the other hand, insects and crustaceans provide a species-appropriate diet. A low vegetable content simulates the intestinal contents of the animals. The soft granules give the Betta a feeding sensation like in nature, and also minimize the risk of injury to the sensitive fish mouth.

The water additive Betta Care protects and cares for the mucous membranes, gills and fins of sensitive fighting fish with natural medicinal plant extracts, aloe vera, sea almond tree extract and dexpanthenol. It has a stress-reducing effect and stimulates the immune system. Iodine ensures healthy thyroid function.

Betta Water water conditioner with Fin-Care-complex not only protects the sensitive fins of Bettas, but also eliminates heavy metals and chlorine. This turns aggressive tap water into aquarium water suitable for fish and plants.