MUST READ! General Betta Care and FAQ (V. 3.0)

[gawroyzki]

Thank you Sir for Posting this Thread! Ty :)

[morla]

Thank-you for sharing that! It was very helpful!

[kurimaw]

very nice. thanks!

[courtneylvbetta]

I have many questions that i would like to ask. To start i am new at taking caring of a fish. I have never owned one and when i read how to take care of a betta i felt like i was doing so much wrong. First i do not have a heater for the tank but i was wondering if it was okay to keep the tank next to the space heater. I do not know the temp of my house either so it is hard to know what is too hot for the fish. I got the fish yesterday and after i read about what the temp should be i felt the water and it was already at a cold temp and i don't know what to do. Another question is how often do i feed the betta fish. Is it once a day? Also you say to clean the water about half way through the week because i have a 1.5 gallon tank but how would you go about cleaning the tank because i do not have a filter either? Thank You for the time that you read, this i appreciate it.

[Myates]

Welcome, and welcome to being a new betta owner.. be careful, they can get addicting lol.

Be careful with putting it near the space heater, as the heater turns on and off which could cause fluctuation of the temp and is more dangerous then cool temps.
If you can't get a heater right away, then I would get a glass in-water thermometer, usually less then $2 for one- that way you are aware of the temp, and when you do a water change you can get the temperature as close to 78*F as possible.
For a heater I would look for one that is 10-25 watt- preferably adjustable, but if not, something that fits into your tank will be fine. Having temps in the lower 70s won't kill the betta, but may cause long term problems, such as lowered immunity, lethargy, slower metabolism and with all that it could shorten their life spans.
So it's ideal to get a heater once you are able to. A small 10 watt is usually around $12, so it's not too bad- I'd shop around and see what you can find that works best for you.

A 1.5 gallon is a suitable home for a single betta- make sure to have a silk plant or two and if possible, a cave of sorts for him to feel secure and to give mental stimulation to them... they also love to sleep in the plants and in the cave.

To clean a 1.5 without a filter it's ideal to do a 50% water only, and a 100% water change per week- you may be able to get away with a 100% every 4 days.
You will want to scoop him up using the cup he came in and change the water- adding in the new water at roughly the same temp as what it was, and adding in the right amount of water conditioner for the volume of the tank. Float the guy in the cup for roughly 15 minutes, halfway through remove some water from the cup and replace it with water from the tank to acclimate him to the chemistry while he is acclimating to the temp.

As for feeding, small meals multiple times a day is the best- I tend to feed mine twice a day, morning and evening, once in a while a snack mid day is thrown in as a treat- you can fast them for a day out of the week if you wish as a lot of people do. I personally don't because I am very specific on how much I feed, and I vary the amount daily and instead of a full day of fasting, once or twice a week I will have them skip a meal.

Pellets tend to be the easiest to feed- common pellets a total of 4-6 a day is fine, so 2-3 pellets per meal. Or a few flakes per meal works.

Once a day normal feeding, I don't personally like it because my view is that the one meal you are either over feeding per meal which could cause bloating and constipation, or underfeeding and not giving them enough nutrition. But skipping a meal here and there won't harm them as they make up for it the other days.


Welcome to the forums once more and please feel free to ask! If need be, you can start a thread with your questions, you may get more people seeing it as a lot of people don't look up at the stickies :) And don't feel bad, most of us have listened to the myths and pet store employees with our first bettas.

[courtneylvbetta]

Thank You so much for the help i learned a lot :)

[shortcake87]

I just got my Betta on monday and so glad that I came on here, because I had no clue of what he needed! They told me a 1gallon tank was fine and he is a little happier than the bowl he was kept in. but if u have any other suggestions PLEASE let me know cause I know its only been a couple of days but I love him alreadhy!!!

[Myates]

Oh the joys of your first betta.. congrats on getting bitten by the betta bug!

A one gallon is fine.. if you are looking to upgrade a bit for cheap then a kritter keeper is ideal.. a medium is 1.75g and a large is 2.75g, safe to heat and easy to light with a desk lamp.

Do you have a heater?

Otherwise, keep up on the weekly water changes, feed him twice a day 2-3 pellets per meal, or a tiny pinch of flakes per meal and he should stay healthy.

[courtneylvbetta]

okay, so now i got a new tank for my fish. It says to let the tank fun for 24 hours to a few days or for a week. But the question i had was can i leave my Betta in a tuber ware bowl until 24 hours and then put him in the new tank. i did not know if it was good if the Betta was in a tuber ware bowl for a day or two. i also put a cover over the top and it has hole in it?

[Myates]

It was safe- as long as there was no soap residue in it. (I know this is late- sorry about that)

How big is the tank? A cycle will take weeks to establish, and in larger tanks of 5 gallons and more, you will need to do very frequent water tests because there will be spikes of ammonia and nitrites/ates which can be deadly very quickly. If you see ammonia and the nitrites in the tank then do a partial water change each time to lower the numbers.

Here is a thread about the basics of cycling, and what your tank will be going through over the next few weeks- if it's 5 gallons and over. So in case you start seeing your new guy become ill, or if your tank becomes cloudy.