Curious Betta-Curious looking water

[bettababe]

Hi this is my first post and I am wondering what is going on with my little betta's water. This morning I got up and went to feed him and I noticed that the surface of his water looks funny-it almost looks like the surface of a frozen pond.
I currently have him in a small bowl-about 1/2 gallon, but I am looking to upgrade to a small tank since his chances of being happy in his current living space is slim. So I put a small floating thermomiter in his bowl to check the temp and to test the surface of his water-it was not hard just weird looking. Also-I see clear/white floaty things around and I am wondering what the heck they are? I treated the water with Novaqua water conditioner Plus and Aquarium salt before putting my little buddy in.
Are those floaty things his poop?! Or worse are they parasites:( My little guy is eating great and when I put the thermomiter in he was inspecting it with his usual curiosity. He is not lethargic and his fins are not clamped, but on his face there are small grey patches. Fungus or natural birth marks? Please somebody reply-I am preplexed! bettababe...signing out

When you have a betta in a small bowl like that without a filter the film like stuff you are seeing is from dirty water. You need to change his water every couple of days to avoid that. Make sure you try and get his fresh water to the same temp as his old water before placing him back in. Look for a small 5 gallon or so tank for your betta with filtration he would love that. Not sure where your located but I know most petsmarts have them very cheap. Best of luck to you :)

[bettababe]

:) Thank you for replying-i plan to buy him a new tank and tonight when I get home I will clean his water. I will also check the thermomiter I left in his bowl to make sure the water is warm enough-I don't want him to get ick. What do you think about flat aquarium heaters-is 50 watts good for a small tank?

As far as the watts its going to depend on the size of your tank you are going to get?
I use a 50watt submersible in our 10gallon and it does the job fine.

I have never used the flat heaters before so im not sure about them.

[musho3210]

do they look like bubbles? Bettas creat bubble nests at the surface of the water

[scottysgirl]

I believe the thin layer you are seeing on top of your tank is dust and stuff from the room. In our appartment--even after the tank was cleaned the layer would return to the top of the water in less than three hours. I put saran wrap on top of the tank--with a large hole in it so that the fish could still breath.