# Betta Age and Size



## Purple7 (Jun 13, 2008)

Hey, I just got a halfmoon betta male named tsuki and i love him so much! He seems helathy, energetic and friendly but i'm a bit concerned about his size. he seems a bit shrimpy (he's barely one inch) and seems considerably smaller than the other bettas i've seen for sale. I'm wondering if his age has something to do with it. How can you tell how old he is and how do i make him grow?[color=violet 

by the way, how do you post pictures?


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## okiemavis (Nov 10, 2007)

Welcome to FishForum!

His full finnage will probably be developed by 9-12 months, does he look like he's not fully developed? That will give you an idea of whether he's fully grown or not. Some bettas are just smaller than others, and if he's active and healthy I wouldn't worry about it.

The best way to make him grow is to take good care of him. Feeding him more will make him grow faster, but you also need to make you're not making his water dirty by doing so. If you have a well sized tank with proper heating and filtration you'll be able to feed him as much as he can eat in 1 minute 2-3 times per day. Make sure you vary his diet with flakes, pellets, live food and also plenty of vegetable matter. Too much meaty stuff will make him sick!

Here's a link to the info on posting photos, we'd love to see some!
http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=18043


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## Purple7 (Jun 13, 2008)

his fins look okay, i didn't include the fins in his size but they're also about an inch. i would send a picture but i don't see an insert picture button on here. i see a tab that says Img* but all it does is write [/img] on the message and nothing else. nothing i clicked on says browse for pictures. 

Anyway, at what age to bettas usually reach adulthood and max size?

I do feed him a variety of flakes and bloodworms twice daily and sometimes a snack in between and clean his tank regularly. Thank you so much for the info!!! :lol:


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## Meatpuppet (Mar 1, 2008)

are you trying to upload pics from bettafish.com? only fish forum.com has the pic feature. so you have to be logged into fishforum.com

for the max size question ive had bettas grow from 1.5 inches to 3 inches. so i guess it depends...


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## okiemavis (Nov 10, 2007)

9-12 months is when they reach sexual maturity/adulthood. You can tell they have reached that age because of how developed their fins are. Fish actually never stop growing, but they will slow down when they get older.

The link I gave you in my other post has all the information you need on uploading photos.


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## bettaboy (May 22, 2008)

No, no, no, and no. and some more no.


Bettas reach sexual maturity at 3 months, and this is also their sexual peak. After 7 months of age, its very hard to breed a betta.

They oh so inconveniently develop their full finnage at 8 months. Ever notice how pet store bettas have big fins? Cause their old.

And asking how to make a betta grow is like asking how to make a human grow. Well, how do you do it? The fact is, time will grow things, theres no magic pill that will make your betta huge. And why would you want a huge betta? There are serious health risks when betta's fins get to large, which are extremely noticeable in halfmoon males when the weight of their fins is simply to great for them to swim to the surface for air. or swim at all.


So count your blessings. your going to have a good friend for a long time >


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## okiemavis (Nov 10, 2007)

Really, that young? I was under the impression that bettas had to be at least 5 months. 6-12 being the optimal age for breeding.


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## bettaboy (May 22, 2008)

3 months is when the males are fresh, full of testosterone, strong, healthy, and young.

For females, 3 months is when they are fresh and healthy, and also when their body produces the most eggs.

6 - 12 months is when the males start loosing their sexual drive, and the females stop carrying eggs with them.


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