This is the supply list behind every guide on this site. These are the specific tanks, heaters, filters, food, and water care products I’d buy today if I were setting up a betta tank from scratch.
One honest note before the list. Every product here was chosen through my own independent research, against the same care standards laid out in the guides. I tried to pick products from brands that are readily available in most American fish stores or online, but no brand has paid to appear on this page or to be endorsed, and no brand had any say in what I picked. Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means that if you buy through one, KnowBetta may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
The Best Betta Fish Tanks
The best tank for a betta is a 5-gallon or larger with a long, low footprint; length matters more than height for a fish that breathes at the surface. Here’s why tank size matters if you want the research.
Aqueon Standard 5.5-Gallon
A budget classic, and the cheapest way to hit the 5-gallon minimum without compromises. The long, low footprint gives a betta the horizontal swim room they actually use (they’re surface breathers, so length matters more than height), and the standard size means lids, lights, and stands are everywhere. Buy a glass top separately; bettas jump.
Tetra Glass Aquarium 5.5 Gallons
Another tried-and-true brand that hits the 5-gallon minimum if you can’t find the Aqueon model in your local stores.
Fluval SPEC 5-Gallon Kit
Most 5-gallon kits skimp on exactly the parts that matter, but this is an exception: a sturdy tank, a usable light, and built-in filtration in one box. It needs one tweak for a betta. The stock outflow is strong, so turn the flow down or baffle it; strong current physically stresses long-finned fish. An elegant pick if you wanna get bougie with it!
Aqueon Standard 10-Gallon
If you have the counter space, A standard 10-gallon is often barely more expensive than a 5.5 (Petco’s dollar-per-gallon sales are famous for a reason), it’s noticeably easier to keep stable, and it keeps the door open for tank mates later. If you’re on the fence between sizes, take the 10.
Aqueon Glass 20 Gallon Long Tank
For a larger community tank, a 20-gallon is a classic pick. We recommend choosing the Long profile over the Standard or High to provide as much surface area as possible for your Betta fish, as well as horizontal swimming room.
The Best Heater for a Betta Tank
The best heater for a betta tank is a fully adjustable one sized at 3 to 5 watts per gallon, enough to hold a steady 77–82°F. My tank setup guide covers sizing and placement in detail.
Fluval P10 Submersible Aquarium Heater
From experience, an adjustable heater for a tank smaller than 10 gallons is a real tough find. There are a few highly-rated options on Amazon, but none of them are from brands I recognize, so I wasn’t 100% comfortable giving them my recommendation without trying them myself. When it comes to heating a 5-gallon tank, your better option may be to pick a slightly lower-power fixed heater, like this Fluval P10, as such a small water volume does not leave much room for error if the heater happens to overheat.
Fluval M 50-Watt Submersible Aquarium Heater
Suitable for tanks 10 to 15 gallons. Features a temperature dial that lets you set your tank temperature between 66-86 degrees. This one you might be able to find in your local pet store, but I find they tend to stock the ones for larger tanks more consistently, so check online.
Marina Floating Thermometer
Whatever heater you choose, add a cheap, separate thermometer like this one. Stick it at the opposite end of the tank from the heater and believe it over the heater’s dial. Heater thermostats drift and stick, and a two-dollar thermometer is your alarm system.
The Best Filter for Betta Fish
The best filter for a betta is a gentle sponge filter. Bettas are weak swimmers, especially the long-finned varieties, and strong current is a genuine physical stressor.
Hikari Bacto-Surge Sponge Filter
For most betta tanks, a simple sponge filter is the answer: gentle flow, excellent biological filtration, nothing that can shred fins, and it costs less than lunch. The Bacto-Surge is the reliable name in a category where most options are near-identical. You’ll need an air pump to run it, which brings us to the next item.
Tetra Whisper 10 Air Pump
Cheap, quiet for its class, and sized right for a 5 to 10 gallon tank, this is the pump that runs the sponge filter above. Grab airline tubing and a check valve in the same order; the check valve keeps water out of the pump if the power blips.
AquaClear 20
If you’d rather have a hang-on-back than an air-driven sponge, this is the one. It’s among the few small HOBs with genuinely adjustable flow, which is the whole ballgame for a betta. Run it on the lowest setting, and baffle the outflow if your fish still struggles against the current.
The Best Substrate for a Betta Tank
The best substrate for a betta tank is smooth, inert gravel or sand at about 2 inches deep: nothing sharp enough to tear fins, and nothing that alters your water chemistry. Rinse it before it goes in the tank, no matter what the bag says.
CaribSea Super Naturals Gravel
Smooth, inert, and the right grain size, so it won’t tear delicate fins or quietly harden your water the way limestone-based gravels can.
Aqua Natural Aquarium Substrate, Gold Pearl GravelÂ
2-4mm pebbles with perfectly round or oval shapes, another safe pick for long-finned fish.
CaribSea Super Natural Sand
The same inert safety as the gravel, in sand form, for a cleaner look. One habit to adopt: give it an occasional stir during water changes so it doesn’t compact into oxygen-starved pockets.
The Best Plants and Decorations for a Betta Tank
The best decorations for a betta tank are soft plants and at least one enclosed hiding spot. Research shows bettas in bare tanks display significantly more abnormal behavior, so décor is welfare, not aesthetics.
Java Fern
The classic beginner plant: real greenery without taking up a planted-tank hobby. It’s hardy, happy in low light, and needs no special substrate; tie or wedge it onto hardscape rather than burying the rhizome, and it’ll quietly do its thing for years while giving your betta broad leaves to rest on. It’s very easy to find in-person, as most pet stores carry it.
Anubias
Nearly indestructible. Like java fern, it attaches to rocks or driftwood instead of planting into substrate, tolerates low light, and grows thick, sturdy leaves that bettas love to perch on.
Java Moss
The easiest plant in the hobby. Drape it over décor or let it carpet a corner: it thrives in almost any conditions, gives your betta soft cover to weave through, and absorbs a bit of ammonia as a bonus.
Marina Naturals Silk Plants
If live plants aren’t happening, go silk, not plastic. Marina’s Naturals line is soft enough to pass the test that matters: run pantyhose over any decoration before it goes in the tank, and if it snags the fabric, it will snag fins too.
Zoo Med Floating Log
Every betta needs at least one place to disappear, and a tank with nowhere to hide is a stressed fish. This floating log is the rare hide your betta can use right at the surface, where they naturally hang out. A plain terracotta pot from a garden store does the same job down below for a few dollars.
Zoo Med Betta Hammock
A suction-cup leaf that sits just under the surface, right where bettas like to rest between trips up for air.
Water Conditioner, Test Kit & Water Change Gear for Bettas
Betta water care comes down to three products: a conditioner for every drop of tap water, a liquid test kit, and a siphon for the 20–30% weekly water change that my cleaning guide walks through.
Seachem Prime
The conditioner for every water change you’ll ever do. It neutralizes both chlorine and chloramine, it can temporarily bind ammonia in an emergency, and it’s so concentrated that one small bottle lasts most of a year on a betta tank.
API Freshwater Master Test Kit
The hobby standard, and the kit we reference throughout my guides. Liquid tests beat strips on accuracy, and it covers everything that matters in a betta tank: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH.
Aqueon Mini Siphon Vacuum
Nearly any small gravel vacuum works, and Aqueon’s is cheap, simple, and everywhere. Together with a dedicated bucket, it makes weekly water changes a five-minute job. The bucket rule is the part that matters: fish-only, always. Soap residue from a household bucket is a fish killer.
Tank Cycling Supplies
Every new tank needs to grow nitrifying bacteria before a fish moves in, a 3-to-8-week process that the cycling guide explains step by step. These are the supplies that make it easy.
Fritz Fishless Fuel
A pure, dosable ammonia source for fishless cycling, so you can feed the bacteria precisely instead of guessing with decomposing food.
Fritz Turbo Start 700 Freshwater
Live nitrifying bacteria for freshwater tanks, from the same company as the fishless fuel above; the two pair naturally for a faster fishless cycle. A starter is optional and helpful, but not magic. You still test your way to a cycled tank.
Tetra SafeStart Plus
The bacterial starter you’re most likely to find on a big-box shelf. It does the same job as the Fritz starter, so grab whichever is easier to get; either can cut real time off a cycle.
Kordon AmQuel
For fish-in cycles. An ammonia-binding conditioner temporarily converts ammonia into a less harmful form while the bacteria catch up, which buys your fish breathing room.
API Ammo-Lock
The same ammonia-binding job as AmQuel, from the maker of the test kit above. Stock one or the other before starting a fish-in cycle, so a bad ammonia reading never catches you without a response.
The Best Betta Food
The best everyday food for betta fish is a high-quality pellet or granule with animal protein as the first ingredient. Bettas are carnivores, and grain-heavy tropical flakes don’t cut it; the full breakdown is in my betta nutrition guide.
Fluval Bug Bites Betta Micro Granules
My favorite everyday staple. It’s insect-based, with black soldier fly larvae as the first ingredient and 45% protein, which is exactly what a carnivore needs, plus shrimp meal, stabilized vitamin C, and beta-carotene for color.
NorthFin Betta Bits
The marine-protein-heavy option. Whole Antarctic krill, herring, and sardine meal are the first three ingredients, with 45% protein and a strong 16% fat profile, plus spirulina and astaxanthin for color support.
New Life Spectrum Betta
Krill and squid lead the ingredient list, backed by astaxanthin, spirulina, and marigold. Bettas can’t make their own red and orange pigments; they eat them. If your fish is looking washed out, this is the staple to try.
Fluval Bug Bites Betta Flakes
The rare flake that’s actually built for a carnivore, with black soldier fly larvae and herring meal up front, 46% protein, and krill, shrimp, and salmon oil for marine fats. If your betta simply prefers flakes, this is the one.
The Best Betta Treats
The best betta treats are whole freeze-dried or frozen prey: bloodworms, brine shrimp, and daphnia, fed a couple of times a week at most. The full treat reasoning is in my betta nutrition guide.
Hikari Bio-Pure Freeze-Dried Bloodworms
Bloodworms are the closest thing to what bettas hunt in the wild, and freeze-dried skips the parasite risk that comes with live food. Hikari’s Bio-Pure line is the standby. Give these to your fish a couple of times a week, not daily.
San Francisco Bay Brand Freeze-Dried Bloodworms
The same treat from another trusted name, and often the one actually on the shelf. Between this and Hikari, buy whichever your store carries.
Hikari Bio-Pure Freeze-Dried Brine Shrimp
Small crustaceans are part of a wild betta’s natural diet, and brine shrimp adds a second texture so the rotation isn’t all bloodworms.
Zoo Med Betta Dial-A-Treat
A three-compartment dial with bloodworms, daphnia, and mysis shrimp, so one purchase covers a full treat rotation. Daphnia is a particularly useful one to keep on hand; it’s the gentle fix my guides suggest for a constipated, overfed betta.
New Tank Setup Checklist
Shopping for a brand-new setup? Print my free new tank setup checklist first and take it to the store for quick reference guide on the go.
