Brother Got A Betta Fish!

[AznArth]

Well, my little brother (who is 8 years old) wanted to get a betta fish (ITS A RED SPADE) because he loved playing with mine in my room. i checked for diseases when i bought it and there were none because we got it from a private fish store which is awesome and they are not retarded like retail stores! (sry for lang if offends anyone). Of course i have to do all the work with water changes and such. anyways he got a .5 gallon tank and yes i know this is extremely cruel to the fish but i have no choice for now because my mom said that we couldn't have a bigger fish in his room yet (hoping to convince her after the fish lives healthy for at least a couple of months). So my question is about water changes. Should I do 50% water changes every Wednesday and 100% every Saturday or Sunday? I still think that this isn't enough water changes for a .5 gallon tank but im not sure. And when i do 100% water change how do i not stress out my fish because my water temps will be different whenever i will be doing them. Should i keep gallons of water in those milk gallons in my room and then use them because they will become room temp over time? i don't know, thats just a idea. O ya! it still hasn't been eating any pellets or anything, im guessing it will start eating when it gets use to the tank. Im still currently treating my Double Veil Tail with quick cure and he is alot better and its only been 2 days! o ya and i havn't named the fish yet, suggestions will be appreciated.

WOW that took awhile to type sry for it being so long ><''

[dramaqueen]

I would change the water 100% twice a week. Yes, you can fill milk jugs and let it sit overnight to get it to room temperature. That's what I do. :)

[TokyoBetta]

The water changes, someone else will advise you better than I can because I am a newb too (I just got my betta last Sunday actually).　For a small tank such as yours, I think frequent water changes will be necessary.　I have a 5 gallon tank and even my tank needs changing once a week apparently.

As for not eating, I can tell from personal experience these past few days that the betta needs a little time to get accustomed to his surroundings.　Mine didn't eat for a few days then yesterday and today he's been eating lots.　When I shake the pellet bottle he takes notice, and when I open the lid he comes to the top and starts eating what I give him right away.　Sunday and Monday he wouldn't do those things.

[AngelicScars]

for a half gallon I would do a 100% water change every other day.
Honestly though, for the same price as a half gallon, you could have gotten a 2.5 gallon Kritter Keeper.
Make sure the room the betta is in stays really warm, his water needs to be around 78-80 degrees.

[DragonFish]

+1 to the advice, be sure to keep him warm until you can get a bigger tank.....and AngelicScars is right, for the same price you could get a lovely little 2.5 gallon kritter keeper which you'd only need to change 2-3 times per week. It also has a lid and little flap that lock on pretty tight to prevent your brother from over feeding him and is very space-efficient. It hardly takes up any more room then a half gallon bowl.

Personally, I'd advise changing a half gallon every day or at the very least going in and sucking up waste. once or twice a day, ammonia will build up VERY quickly in such a small water volume. If you have other tanks with thermometers, snag one and use it during water changes to make sure the temps are as close as possible. Hope that helps some ;)