ABOUT US:

My name is Tim Arndt. I'm affectionately known as BettaPapa by some of my friends. For over twenty years now, I have been keeping and breeding Bettas. In my capacity as a college professor, teaching courses in Aquaculture, I enjoyed assisting hundreds of students to be successful in breeding these fish. As a result, I have come across just about every problem you can imagine and I've answered thousands of questions so fire away... e-mail me lots of questions!

I have taught college-level courses on Fish Diseases, Water Quality and Filtration, Genetics and Breeding, so I can direct you to find a solution to probably any problem you might come up against.

I don't think that there is a better fish that you could have in your home. Their space requirements are small, they take readily to many different types of food and they contract very few diseases. There are basically three main reasons why people are attracted to the hobby of keeping Tropical Fish:

1. The fish have long, flowing, beautiful fins.

2. The fish have bright, vivid colors.

3. The fish display interesting behaviors and attitudes.

The betta has all three of these desirable attributes, but in addition, the males are fierce protectors of their territories and such devoted fathers to their fry. I think that every classroom in the world should have an aquarium with a pair of these fish in just to demonstrate good fathering techniques to children.

Here at AlphaBettas we are dedicated to help you be successful with these fish too. From supplying top-quality fish with potential to reproduce, to on-going support via email, we are committed to helping you in any way that we can.

My fish room is the ultimate in simplicity. I have no systems because systems fail. Systems also house diseases and parasites and they are nearly impossible to disinfect properly. I like to keep it simple. I breed my fish in 5 gallon aquariums and I jar my young ones in upside-down large pop bottles with a stand pipe in them so I can drain the wastes out effortlessly every day if I want to. You will find a detailed set of instructions on how to build my simple jar set-up on the Breeding page... just click on the button entitled BREEDING found at the top or bottom of this page.

Most important to me are the things that I learn from keeping these amazing fish; things about God, life, creation and nature, and things about people. There doesn't seem to be a day goes by that I don't learn something new.

I guess the best part for me though is when a new batch of young fish is developing and changing almost daily. I especially enjoy watching their colors develop. Soon, their fins start to lengthen and finally their attitudes become evident.

Such a tiny fish and he thinks that he rules the world…trying to take a strip off of any other male that dares to come close. It is so enjoyable trying to guess which ones will be the best in form and colour. Also, watching for new forms and gene mutations to show up is part of the fun too.

Problem solving is a blast too. It might include designing and building a new device for photographing the sub-adults or figuring a better system of lighting.

Why can't everything be this much fun?

E-Mail any questions you might have to this address: bettapapa@sympatico.ca

Happy Betta Keeping!!!