How Long Do Plakat Bettas Live?
You might have heard about keeping wagers for the fighting fish named Plaket bettas. So, people often wonder about the lifespan of Plaket bettas which tend to fight to the death. Hence, a common question may pop into your mind- how long do Plaket bettas live?
The average lifespan of Plaket bettas ranges from 3 to 5 years. The care level, predation, and other environmental issues can affect the lives of Plaket bettas. Since these Plaket bettas involve in frequent fighting to protect their territory, their lifespan becomes shortened.
In this article, I’ve shed some light on the average lifespan of Plaket bettas, differences in lifespan among wild and captived Plaket betta, and factors affecting betta lifespan. So, you must not miss this article if you have a plan to keep Plaket Betta as a pet.
What Is The Average Lifespan Of A Plaket Betta Fish?
The total lifespan of a Plaket betta depends on several factors. Your Plaket betta can live a longer life depending on the care level and how well you can fulfill their requirements.
The average lifespan of a Plaket betta is within 2-5 years. However, you should not expect from this range that your Plaket betta can live only 2 years. Besides, the lifespan of these Plaket bettas varies due to their habitation.
How Long Do Wild Plakat Betta Live?
It’s pretty common to predict that wild bettas tend to live a shorter lifespan than captived betta. Wild Plakat bettas can have an average life expectancy of 2-4 years.
As mentioned before, Plaket bettas are popular as fighter fish. Due to having strong bodies and bad temperaments, the wild Plaket bettas tend to involve in frequent fighting. In consequence, many wild Plaket bettas lose their lives in the early periods of their life.
Besides, predation is a big factor to decrease the lifespan of wild bettas. Since wild habitation is a hostile place for Plaket bettas, many wild bettas can’t survive longer because of their predators. In addition, predators are stressors for Plaket bettas.
Also, wild Plaket bettas do not get proper oxygen in their polluted environment. Sometimes, food is scarce too. Considering all of these factors, the wild Plaket bettas can not reach their highest lifespan in the maximum time.
How Long Do Captived Plakat Betta Live?
The captived Plakat bettas can have the luck of living a longer lifespan than the wild bettas. If you take proper care of your pet Plakat bettas, these bettas can live up to 5 years or more. It is entirely depended on how well you can take care of your pet Plakat Bettas.
Although their wild habitations tend to be polluted, the captived betta can not live in a polluted tank. You must fulfill their basic requirements in captivity.
In addition, the captived Plakat betta does not have the fear of predation and scarcity of foods. The owners must be trying their best to meet all needs of their captived Plakat bettas. As a result, the lifespan of captived Plakat bettas is longer than that of wild Plakat bettas.
Do Male Plaket Betta Live Longer Than Female Plaket Betta?
The answer is no! Although the average lifespan of male and female Plaket bettas is almost the same, the male bettas die first. However, the difference in lifespan isn’t much.
The female Plaket bettas tend to live a few months longer than the male bettas. Biological differences and immunity play significant roles in the longevity of female Plaket bettas.
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How To Prolong The Lives Of Plaket Betta?
Your care and decisions can keep a great impact on the longevity of captived Plaket bettas. To gain a long company from your betta, you can take the following steps in concern. Let’s check out 11 of the following ways to prolong the lives of Plaket lives.
1. Pick Up The Healthy Plaket Betta
If you choose an unfit Plaket betta to keep as a pet, there will be less chance for their longevity. Besides, genetics play a good role in the long lifespan of these bettas. That’s why you should choose a healthy Plakat betta at the beginning.
For this, you need to check several things. You should notice whether the chosen Plakat bettas have any injuries or scratches. Besides, cloudy eyes are a sign of poor health. In addition, you should notice whether your Plakat bettas have clamped fins and tails.
If your chosen Plakat betta hides in a corner, there must be something wrong. A healthy Plakat betta should swim actively. You can also check whether the Plakat betta responds to you. When you bring such a healthy Plakat betta, proper care can prolong its lifespan.
2. Choose A Right Aquarium
You might know that wild Plakat betta are used to living in polluted environments. Due to evolving themselves in those habitations, the wild bettas can survive in shallow water and low-oxygenated areas. But, you can not keep a pet Plakat betta in such poor condition.
Many beginners want to keep their Plakat betta in a small bowl. If you want to prolong the lifespan of your Plakat betta, you must keep the betta in a right-sized aquarium. In case of adding tank mates for Plakat betta, you should think of adding additional space.
The thumb rule is to consider a 5-gallon space for keeping one Plakat betta. When you keep your betta in a small tank, the water quality becomes foul soon.
A large tank will ensure good water parameters, enough space to hide and play, etc. In consequence, your Plakat betta can live a few more years.
3. Install A Filter
In the wild, Plakat betta tends to live in water areas with gentle currents. So, installing a filter with the correct current is essential to control the stress of Plakat bettas.
Normally, the tank water will get foul due to the biological wastes of Plakat Betta. Besides, the leftovers and rotten leaves will add ammonia to the water. This ammonia will turn into nitrite that is toxic to your Plakat bettas.
That’s why you should adjust a strong filtration system with a gentle current. A good filter will help your Plakat betta save you from stress. As a result, your Plakat betta may live for a long time.
4. Maintain Ideal Water Parameters
Another secret to prolonging the lifespan of Plakat betta is to maintain ideal water parameters. Since your Plakat betta spends its life in the water, keeping ideal water parameters should be your main priority.
Your Plakat betta can survive in poor water quality by evolving itself. But, these bettas can not thrive in a tank with poor water parameters. To keep your betta hale and fit, you should know the ideal water parameters for your Plakat betta.
Let’s check out the following chart mentioning the ideal water parameters.
Categories | Features |
---|---|
pH | 6-8 |
Temperature | 75-86 degrees Fahrenheit |
GH | 3-4 |
KH | 0-25 |
Ammonia | Less than 0.5 ppm |
Nitrite | Less than 0.5 ppm |
Nitrate | Less than 20 ppm |
5. Add A Heater
If you keep your Plakat betta in cold temperatures for a long time, you may gamble with the life of your betta. The immune system of betta fish becomes weak for staying in cold water. In consequence, your betta fish becomes susceptible to diseases that decrease their lifespan.
That’s why you must maintain the ideal temperature range for the longevity of your Plakat betta. You might know that Plakat betta prefers the temperature range of 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit. If you live in a cold country, you must add a heater to prolong the lifespan of your Plakat betta.
6. Provide High-Quality Foods
Since your Plakat betta is a carnivore, you should feed them a high protein-based diet. A high-quality diet can make the immunity of your Plakat betta strong. As a result, your Plakat betta may not readily fall into diseases.
Besides, you should feed your Plakat betta in the right quantity. If you do not feed your Plakat betta over 7 days, it will become stressed. Not to mention, stress is a crucial factor to enhance the death of betta fish.
If you want your Plakat betta to live long, you must provide high-quality foods. You can offer your Plakat bettas live prey. Besides, you can feed them brine shrimp, mosquito larvae, bloodworms, earthworms, daphnia, wingless fruitflies, etc.
Also, there are several types of commercial betta pallets and flakes. These pallets are high in protein. If you want to know about a suitable betta pallet, I’ll recommend the Xtreme betta pallet.
Make sure to maintain a diet from where your Plakat betta can have 30% crude protein. That’s why you can also feed dried and frozen foods your Plakat betta. These will boost the health of your betta by fulfilling the needs of minerals and proteins.
To increase the betta appetite, you should add variation to your betta diet. So, your Plakat betta can receive different types of nutrition. Another insect-based pallet that you can try is Fluval Bug Bites Tropical Formula.
7. Do Not Overfeed
If you do not rectify your mistake of overfeeding, your
Plakat betta will die soon. To prolong the lifespan of your Plakat betta, you should practice the habit of feeding foods in the right quantity.
Sometimes, Plakat bettas may eat more even if they are full. Overfeeding can lead to obesity. On the other hand, your obese betta will face lots of health complications. Gradually, your Plakat betta will die.
You might also know that uneaten foods will add ammonia and nitrate to the water. In consequence, the decaying leftovers can cause toxicity in your Plakat betta tank. If you want to prolong the lifespan of Plakat betta, you must stop overfeeding your betta.
However, your Plakat betta may not have the same appetite to finish all foods. In such a case, you must remove the uneaten foods.
8. Keep Safe Décor Items
To create a comfortable habitation, you must add décor items to your Plakat betta tank. These bettas tend to hide in those corners whenever they feel stressed or exhausted. That’s why it’s pretty significant to choose safe décor items for your Plakat bettas.
Sometimes, wrong décor items can be responsible for the death of your Plakat betta. These décors may have sharp edges. If your Plakat betta gets cut, the wounds may make them weak.
Some Plakat bettas may not have strong immunity to recover from injuries. To prolong the lifespan of your Plakat betta, you must keep safe and non-glazed objects.
9. Keep Compatible Tank Mates
When it comes to the Plakat betta, selecting compatible tank mates is a must thing for their longevity. In the wild, a large number of Plakat bettas lose their lives due to involving in fighting.
If you do not repeat such a mistake, you must be careful about choosing tank mates for your Plakat bettas. Generally, the aggression becomes intense when you add multiple male Plakat betta. So, it’s a big no to keep two male Plakat betta together.
If you want to keep a small group of female Plakat betta, it’ll be safe. To prolong the lifespan of your Plakat betta, you should add peaceful bottom-dwellers in the tank. Such as peaceful barbs, Ember tetras, larger tetras, Clown Pleco, Gouramis, Cory catfish, snails, etc.
10. Handle Your Plakat Betta Safely
Some beginners try to handle or touch their betta often. But, aquarium fish aren’t meant to be petted. Handling can remove the natural slime coating of your Plakat betta.
Besides, your Plakat betta may consider it a threat. Due to holding hands, your Plakat betta may become stressed. It can lead to the death of your Plakat betta.
Like all fish, these Plakat bettas have sensitive skin. While handling these bettas, there can be transmission of bacteria, germs, and other unwanted microorganisms.
To ensure a longer lifespan, you should not handle your Plakat betta frequently. If necessary, you must take precautions to handle these bettas safely.
11. Keep A Lid On The Tank
It’s a basic instinct among Plakat bettas to jump out of the tank. Plakat bettas stay near the surface of the tank. So, these Plakat bettas often try to jump out of the tank due to stress or catch prey.
As a result, your Plakat bettas may become injured. Because of falling over the hard ground, your Plakat betta may die. If you want to save your Plakat betta from such accidents, you should keep a lid on the tank.
But, keeping a lid over the tank isn’t the ultimate solution. You should find out why your Plakat betta wants to jump out of the tank. Otherwise, your pet Plakat betta may face an early death. For details, you can check out this write-up: why is my betta jumping out of the tank?
Final Words
I hope you got a clear idea about the lifespan of Plakat bettas and how to prolong their lifespan. There’s another fascinating betta fish with high-grade coloration. If you want to keep Hellboy Betta as a pet, the following article may help you with its care guide.
About Author
Hello, I’m Muntaseer Rahman, the owner of AcuarioPets.com. I’m passionate about aquarium pets like shrimps, snails, crabs, and crayfish. I’ve created this website to share my expertise and help you provide better care for these amazing pets.
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