Nervous about stressing Amaro..

[British]

I was just given a male Crowntail Betta two days ago from my step-father. He was in a bowl a bit larger than a baseball and yesterday I moved him to a half gallon vase. I happen to have a ten gallon tank and a spare heater on hand, and am interested in moving him there. I'm probably going to rinse some nylon stocking and tie it over the filter intake, or maybe just purchase an undergravel filter. I will have roughly $35-$25 left after purchasing various other things at the petshop, including some Angels for my 32.(: Now, Amaro has an affinity for gravel (loves staring it down and doing his half-flair at it. Silly boy.) and I don't want to deprive him of his fun. I don't think I have enough to cover the aquarium bottom adequately, though. I feel I have roughly less than three pounds on hand. I also have a five pound bag of blue gravel. If I put down the blue gravel and cover it with my beautiful pea gravel, do you think this will be enough? He will be the only fish in the tank, and there won't be many decorations for a bit until I get some more money. I also have to take into consideration purchasing some medication for finrot and some frozen/freeze-dried foods. If I purchase the undergravel filter, I'll have about $15 to spare for the medication and foods. I have a bubble-releasing clam thing and a bubble wand as well as a ceramic castle ornament I can put in his tank. The clam has spikes on it, but I don't think I should be too worried about him tearing fins on them. I'll post a photo of that tomorrow for your opinions. I also have three floating glass fake fish I may put in with him. I'm worried about stressing this fish out too much from all the moves. He's my little boy and I'm petrified of losing him. He flared up completely for the first time not long ago. He's really my pride and joy. He's got so much personality and has amazing blue eyes. I can't turn the light off over his bowl, as it gets too cold if I do. Will the constant light hurt my shy little one?

Thank you,
British

[Jynx]

wow- actually a lot of people have tanks with no gravel at all for their fish so i wouldn't worry about it too much- just use what you have and get more to match later on- these are predatory fish and usually don't stress too much when they're moved- especially if they're moved to progressively larger tanks. I don't know about all those toys though- pics would help.
fish like to have the light off when they sleep since they can't shut their eyes- but he should be fine if you get him a cave. Something like a dark colored glass mug or ceramic pot would work well- just make sure it's safe for aquariums and won't leak anything into the water

[British]

Can you tell my heart is won over by this fish? lol Ill provide photos of the shell when I get home from my first day of freshman year tomorrow. (I'm nervous. It's 2:35am and I still haven't slept.) Im still watching him as he may have finrot, so nothing is to happen immediately. I just can't fit anything into the bloody vase opening.

[Kim]

He should be fine moving to the larger tank especially if it is heated so I'd put him in right away....he'll do much better in a heated environment regardless of decorations and whatnot :)

The one thing I wouldn't do is get an undergravel filter. Besides being a pain to clean, they trap all the gunk under the gravel which is not good for bettas because this can give them fin rot despite your best efforts at cleaning. Sponge filters or HOB filters with reduced flow and some nylon over the intake tube are a better bet.

I think it's great that you are enjoying your new betta so much :) I must warn you though....they are terribly addicting! And don't worry too much about freshman year...it's sophmore and junior year where it really gets tough!

[ScentedLove]

He should be fine and good luck with freshman year!!

[British]

Today was very hectic. My school is large and confusing. I was worrying about Amaro all day. I can't move him in right away, but I'll most likely have him in within the next couple weeks. I can't put him anywhere the cat won't get to him. What if I set his bowl in the 10 at night for extra shielding from the fan?

[Kim]

Sounds fine. And I know all about large schools! I was sooo lost my first day! You'll get used to it fast though...believe me, if I can, you can too ;)