Not Your Average Beta Fish Bowl

Sometimes the most interesting thing about having a Beta fish bowl is picking out the color of your fish, but when you take the time to be a bit more creative you can have a unique and more personalized fish bowl.

My seven year old daughter loves Beta fish and over the last four years we have had about four of them. She loves to pet them, feed them, watch them swim, and even help me change the water in their bowls. My daughter is very creative and, to her, a normal fish bowl is boring. When she came to me one day with an idea of her own one day: she wanted to give her Beta fish a new home by using one of my blue glass vases. I couldn't help but oblige - after all, a good idea is a good idea. Vases with a wide top can be a creative and fancy home for your Beta fish especially when decorated with some vines of ivy. Any glass or plastic container is suitable as long as it properly washed out and free of any debris that could loosen up over time and contaminate the water inside.

Decorations make your new fish bowl more stylish and suitable for your scaly friend. You can use a plant such as ivy that can grow in a bowl of water without the use of dirt. The ivy branches should be reach all the way down to the bottom of the vessel and should be secured in the substrate. Make sure that there is plenty of room for your Beta fish to swim around.

For the substrate normal gravel for fish bowls can be purchased at your local pet store, but there are always more creative ideas if you just put a little thought and time into your project. You can use gravel, large colored stones sold in pet stores, marbles, or any rock you find can be used as long as it is washed off properly before putting it in with your fish. It should be soaked for at least one night prior to adding to your new fish bowl to ensure that all of the loose sediment has been washed away.

No matter what you decide to use as a fish bowl, make sure that it will not be difficult to clean out when you need to do a water change. After a few weeks you will notice that the water in your fish's bowl has become yellowish, cloudy, or slimy; this tells you it's time for some new water. Remove the fish from the bowl and put it in a separate bowl of clean tap water that has been conditioned with a few drops of "tap water conditioner" and set your pet somewhere safe so it won't get knocked over. If you have cats, make sure to keep an eye on your Beta fish or it might not be there when you go to put it back in the bowl. I have had two of my daughter's Beta fish become lunch for one of my three cats.

Although they don't live for a long time, a Beta fish can be the perfect first pet for your child, as it was for mine. They learn responsibility and they also get the responsibility that comes along with being a pet owner of any age. So, not matter what decor you have in your home, you can always create a fish bowl that will coordinate with your style.