My boyfriend and I purchased our first betta fish this week, and after reading more on housing them I realize what a bad decision it was to go with the pet store's advice and house him in a 2.5 L bowl. He has a plant in there with him, and we are feeding him frozen blood worms. He is very active and building bubble nests everywhere, but I am concerned about keeping him in a bowl. We are unfortunately students and don't have a great deal of money, is there any larger tanks and heaters that any of you recommend that are less expensive?? I am planning on saving some money and purchasing him a new tank for Christmas. I was also wondering what would make a good cover for a bowl until we make this upgrade because I am very worried about him jumping (we have become quite attached!! ) Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
The bowl will be fine until you get some money. I would worry more about getting a heater, I'm not sure what you would use for the bowl. However, I'm sure someone will step up.
Petco, and some other pet stores sometimes have a Dollar per Gallon sale. That's usually when I snatch up a tank. You can also use a plastic tank called a Kritter Keeper.
For the cover, I think using serane wrap with a couple small slits in it would be fine.
My boyfriend and I purchased our first betta fish this week, and after reading more on housing them I realize what a bad decision it was to go with the pet store's advice and house him in a 2.5 L bowl. He has a plant in there with him, and we are feeding him frozen blood worms. He is very active and building bubble nests everywhere, but I am concerned about keeping him in a bowl. We are unfortunately students and don't have a great deal of money, is there any larger tanks and heaters that any of you recommend that are less expensive?? I am planning on saving some money and purchasing him a new tank for Christmas. I was also wondering what would make a good cover for a bowl until we make this upgrade because I am very worried about him jumping (we have become quite attached!! ) Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
Ok first off I would recommend the Betta Mini Bow 2.5 gallon which comes with a filter, light and hood. It is bigger and my bettas love it. I got mine at Petsmart for around $30. For heaters, I recommend using the Marina C10 10 watt heater which works great in 2 of my smaller tanks. It isn't adjustable but it gets the general job done. I got it at Petsmart for about $17. Im sure Walmart might have some cheaper ones, and Amazon. these are my personal heaters and tanks so others might have different suggestions. Don't get an Aqueon Mini Heater from Petsmart! It overheated my tank to 95! Almost killed my betta if I hadn't acted right away. Luckily I had an extra heater...
I have these heaters in my 2 gallon bowls and they keep the water at a perfect temp...I dont know what 2.5 liters is tho...is that 2 gallon? Im not sure how the heater will be in anything smaller than 2 gals but its a pre set heater that maintains a consistant 76-78 degrees. Anyone know If its smaller than 2 gals will it over heat the fish or will it still maintain 78 degrees?
Hi stareyes and welcome to the forum so nice to have you join us here ! Bettas are so awesome I guess you are learning that right ! He will be fine in that size bowl till you can get a bigger tank and be sure to keep up with water changes for that size if you need any help with that just ask. Also bloodworms are fine a couple times a week as a treat but that should not be his only food, you should find a good Betta pellet and New Life Spectrum is a great one. Good luck and hope you enjoy the forum !!!
Thank you all so much for your advice!! It has been really helpful I also did not know that about the blood worms!! Thank you! That is very helpful!! I am very excited to have my first betta and be apart of this forum
Hey Everyone!!
I just wanted to let everyone know that we upgraded General Fin's tank! He is no longer in that bowl!! My boyfriend had been putting money aside for my birthday, so I convinced him to buy our little guy some new stuff as my birthday present :)
We upgraded to a 5 galleon, with a heater, and he seems to be loving it so far!! The filter is too strong for him though, and it moves his floating log around a lot and I am worried that it will hurt him so I am going to baffle it in a few days. I also switched his food over to these pellets that he loves!! He refuses to eat them if they sit on the surface though, so we have to tap them so he can chase them haha! Thanks everyone for all your advice!
Thank you :) :) He is definitely loving it!! Especially since he is now in the middle of the family room and can see what I am doing at all times haha!!
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) Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
I also did not know that about the blood worms!! Thank you! That is very helpful!! I am very excited to have my first betta and be apart of this forum 
