First time Betta Mom :)

[simplykayla76]

Hi!

First time Betta Mom here! I brought home a red male betta today :) Haven't given him a name yet...
His little home is a 2 1/2 gallon rectangle aquarium. I need to add some more gravel and decorations. I have one small fake plant in there now. Going to walmart tomorrow to buy him a heater :) Hooded lights are so hard to find for his house ...so I was wondering can I just get a desk lamp to shine on him?

Looking forward to learning all I can to give him a good life :)

[thekoimaiden]

Welcome to the forum and the hobby! It sounds like you are on a great start with your little boy. Be sure to get an adjustable heater as the preset ones don't always keep the temp where you want it. Also snag a thermometer while you are there. The glass ones (as opposed to the strip ones) are the best. Thermometers are the only way to tell the temp of a tank. When you look for fake plants, try to get as many silk ones as you can because plastic plants are known to cause fin-tearing issues. Male betta also like caves, so if you see something that would make a great cave I'm sure he'd love it.

For lights, a desk lamp is fine, but betta don't actually need lights. The reason we have lights on our tanks is so we can see our fish better. Just make sure that his tank has a top because betta are jumpers. I've had two of mine take a swan dive out of their homes.

EDIT: Opps! Didn't see your other thread. I'll just paste my answer there as the mods will likely close this thread.