General help?

[EmRod]

Okay, so I've recently got myself a (rather handsome) veil-tailed betta with your common blue/purple/aqua mix. He seems rather active, so I'm assuming his water temperature is alright (i'm getting a thermometer today)
But, I was curious about a few things...

What should I feed this little guy? I tried the flakes that are specifically for bettas, I don't remember the name, but he hates them. He spits them back out when he eats them. =/

Also, is there a heater I can get for him? I know he needs a heater--he's tropical, after all. I've got a crappy plastic tank, and right now that's all he's going to have. (I don't want to mix him with my other fish--my danios are wayyy to active, i think.) I can get something eventually, but I don't know how soon eventually is. So I want him to be happy for now. =)

If there isn't a heater, would it be possible to just do a tiny water exchange each day with warm water (dechlorinated&all) or would that stress him too much? I'm asking, because I know temperature changes aren't good for fish at all, and that would be putting him through a temperature change twice a day (or once.)

Anyways, sorry for my wordiness. I'm really excited. He's already beautiful and I just saved him from life in a cup, so I'm very curious to what colours he can turn when he's healthy.

[LaniBaby]

i think the warm water fluctuations might be a little hard on him, harder on him than keeping it steadily cooler than he'd like. they can deal with cool water for a time, just not forever, so i'd avoid the fluctuations. i'm a fan of the shatter proof marineland stealth heaters. they have 25 and 50 watt ones (they're about the same size) that would be good if you decide to upgrade tanks. (I think the 25 watt is good up to 8 gallons; i'm not sure on the 50). I've successfully used the 50 watt in a 1 gallon hospital tank. it's a little more expensive as far as heaters go, maybe $28 to $35 if you can find a sale. There are also glass heaters that are half the price, but I don't have experience with them. I prefer a heater with a temp dial on it. other ones will just nebulously tell you they'll raise the temp N degrees above room temp, but i'm not comfortable with that.

i've heard lots of bettas dislike flakes. i like hikari betta bio gold pellets. you can also treat him with freeze dried bloodworms once or twice a week. if you check under the betta care section a lot of people have discussed food choices. hope that helps! good luck! post pics of the little guy and his home if you can!
:)

[froglady]

I feed my betta the bio gold pellets . they are healthy and they seem to like them. I keep the temp at around 78 degrees. .

[dramaqueen]

I use bio gold too. I also feed freeze dried bloodworms, daphnia and brine shrimp, once a week each.