New to betta fish

[BurntWaffle69]

Hi guys

I got a betta fish for Christmas, and he lives in one if those vases with a plant. The directions said he eats the roots to survive but to feed the betta pellets once a week. He doesn't have a lot of room in his bowl since the root system takes up so much of the space.

Any advice for the betta would be great. His name is Klouse.

[ChoclateBetta]

Bettas are Carnivores. Need 1G miniumum. Need Air Access. Need 77-83F water. A stable Temp.

[SpeakNow13]

Betta fish cant survive off of plant roots! Choclatebetta is right, they need air to breathe and those plant vase things are torture to a poor betta fish!

[registereduser]

step one go to Walmart or petco or patsmart and get a small aquarium kit. One gallon is OK but 2-5 gallons are better. You might need to get a heater sold separately.

step 2 learn about tank cycling here on the forum if you use a filter or learn about water changes here on the forum if you don't use a filter.

step 3 buy some good quality betta pellets and feed him at least once a day.

step 4 hang around here and read all the "sticky" posts in each forum and you will have your eyes opened to the truth about betta keeping!

BEWARE: They become like potato chips in that you can't have just one. You might get the "betta BUG"

[ChoclateBetta]

I would reccomend 5Gs because they are easier to maintain. Easy to care for live plants are good. You can grow the peace lily from a tank lid or filter.

[DragonFish]

Oh wow....okay, we're going to want to start from the very beginning here.

First of all....kudos to coming to the forum and starting on doing some research! Your new little guy will really thank you for it in the long run. Those horrible vases with plants are basically torture chambers, set up for nothing more then a horrible short life and a slow death by starvation and poor water quality. They really should be banned....its extremely sad that they seem to have recently made a come back again. 8/

I'm sorry you ended up with a betta like that, but at least you took the initiative and want to make his life better, which is fantastic. :)
Now, this is all going to be a little over-whelming at first.....

So, first of all...like the others mentioned, bettas do not eat plant matter and can't really digest it well anyway. They are carnivorous and need a diet high in protein with meaty foods. You are going to need to actually feed your fish.
Here is a thread about choosing commercial foods and feeding and such: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread....99#post1263699
The example of the better food used is Omega One, but due to a lot of controversy over the brand recently I would recommend New Life Spectrum brand instead. Its a higher quality anyway. But the thread explains the basics.

Since we're starting from the very very beginning here....well, there is a LOT of info. I could probably spend all night telling you everything I know that could possibly be helpful, and even then I'm sure plenty of members could come in with a bunch more information. Please take a look at the stickies in the Betta Care section. There is some great basic info there, and some of the questions asked in those threads might be questions you have/will have after reading so take a gander at those too.
Here is the basic guide to pretty much most of the basic info on the forum:
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=99450

Also, here is a thread that several members who ended up reading through it informed me of how helpful it was for a beginner.....so it might be a bit of a read, it is several pages, but a lot of beginner keeper questions you may have might be in here. Just if you want to give it a glance.
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=121127

Best of luck! And of course if you have any more questions, always feel free to ask. :)

[Juditko]

I'm new too and Fish came before we really knew all about what to do. Ended up doing a 2.5 gallon tank kit and buying a small heater. Kept reading on here and bought small gravel vac and got on board doing 20 to 50 percent water changes weekly. The right equipment makes it easier. I've learned so much here and people have been really helpful. It is overwhelming at first but I've just kept reading and began to understand the patterns and allowable variations of what to do over the last couple of weeks. I've spent more than anticipated but we are having so much fun with Fish. I've just ordered some silk plants and a water kit though I've been fortunate to get by without the kit so far. Once you get the important basics you can adapt it to fit what you can do. From what I've understood thus far, you can buy a lot of time and save a lot of trouble by making sure the tank is heated and taking the steps to make sure water is of good quality. You could probably do without plants or substrate even for a while if you get a tank size appropriate to how much attention you can afford it (smaller is more trouble, bigger less apparently according to water changes etc). There are a lot of ideas on here about how to DIY tank decor/hiding places etc and other ways to save expenses. It may feel a bit frantic at first but once you choose a tank size etc other things start falling into place. FYI Walmart has a hawk eye tank kit for $26 online. I think that's for a five gallon. Over Christmas petco ran a sale on Aqueon mini bows and Petsmart price matches in my town so my 2.5 gallon kit only cost me $20. I did buy a one gallon first and then starting reading here and realizing I couldn't handle the care for that since we have a young child. I kept it, however, as it will be great for tank cleaning etc. So I even got lucky so far with my mistakes! Everyone here has been very helpful so I think you'll enjoy learning about it all. I know I have. Good luck!

[ChoclateBetta]

I wonder what happened to the OP?