New Betta Owner with Questions

[RachWC]

Hi everyone,

I'm a brand new betta fish owner and want to make sure I'm giving this guy the best home possible. A co-worker was trying to downsize her fish collection so I agreed to give him a new home. So far after a few days he seems quite content. I do have a few questions for the experts:

He came with a tank with a filter, and a lid. Underneath the lid is a lightbulb that can be turned on and off. Is the lightbulb going to heat the water too much, or do any harm? So far I've just been turning it on for a few hours after I feed him.

When I change the water, should I just get him in the net and put him in a temp. plastic container with water while cleaning? What's the best, least stressful way to do this? How often should I change the water-I think the tank is about one gallon.

I feed him 4-5 small pebbles of food once a day. For the first few days he'd only eat 2-3 and the rest went to the bottom. Today I gave him 4 pebbles and he ate them all! The container doesn't really say how much to feed-what do you think is adequate?

I know he has to be by himself, but should I provide him with some interaction, or something to look at?

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide with my questions!
Rachel

[Flashygrrl]

You can get special-made compact florescent bulbs for those at the petstore (regular cfs don't fit), then you can have it on for 8-10 hours.

As for changing the water, I'd get a small gravel vacuum and use that to vacuum out the gravel and do partial water changes every other day. Less stressful...make sure you have dechlorinator in the new water.

If he's willing to eat, he can have 2-3 pellets twice a day. That's more than enough. Occasionally give him a re-hydrated freeze dried bloodworm or a couple off the frozen cubes of them (thawed of course).

Do you have a heater for him?

[nav2008]

water temp needs to be 78-80 degrees for him. water changes every other day should be good but not 100% 25-50% are usually good. I have a betta in a 2.something gal tank and i change the water every 4 days. you dont have to have gravel but he needs a plant or a cave to hide in. i feed hikari betta bio gold 2pellets am 2pellets pm on sat-wed on thursday he does not eat and on friday he gets a mixture of bloodworms and pellets. they need varying diets. hope some of this helps