A few questions;

[maddy427]

Hi,
I am seventeen years old and I just got my first Betta four days ago.

<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/2m838zp.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

His name is Flareon, like the Pokemon. =D
He lives in a 3 gallon tank by himself with only med size filter at the moment, I plan on getting him a plant soon because he keeps trying to hide around the filter so I had to turn it off so he didn't hurt his fins.

My two questions are how much do they eat on average?
This is his forth day with me and he only consumes about 1-3 betta pellets a full day.
I put in about three twice a day and i scope out what he hasn't eaten in about fifteen minutes.
Do they normally eat so little?

My other question is how to stop him from trying to eat his own reflection. xD
He swims in circles around his tank and flares out his gills and fins every few seconds because he can see his reflection in the plastic tank. He makes me nervous because he does it all day! and sometimes he charges at the tank and hits the wall. I am scared he is going to die of exhaustion even though he shows no sign of stopping at the moment. Can he seriously stress himself out so bad as to die from this?

I really want to take care of this fish and keep him safe. Can you guys help me?

[rubyfire]

He sounds realy happy ;) and the rule of feeding is: a betta's stomach is only as big as his eye, so wat he's been eating a day is normal Id say.
No he should be fine flaring at himself lol he should eventually stop but if he doesnt then o well :D it's fun to see betta's flare

[maddy427]

It just makes me nervous because it is a constant thing. Thank you though.

[rubyfire]

your welcome :D(One of my boys would always flare at his own reflection lol but he doesnt do it much anymore)
O and good on you for giving him a nice 3 gal ;) He's a nice bright red love him :)

[xSomethingSmellsFishyx]

My betta, Jimmy eats only 1 a day. He's a slow eater, and sometimes I worry that he's not eating enough. I think that 1-3 pellets is a good amount. How often does he flare? I don't think that he'll die, unless he does it every minute of his life.

p.s. Pokemon rocks!

[maddy427]

He is so much more brighter than that under the tank light, that was just a bad cell picture haha. His tail looks like fire when it waves, which is why I named him Flareon. =] He's beautiful.

[maddy427]

Anytime I look over at him he is flaring at himself about ever thirty seconds. Mom says he will wear himself out and stop eventually.

[rubyfire]

for a cell pic it's pretty good

[maddy427]

Haha, Thanks? I am waiting to get my camera back to take a picture to show his true gorgeous-ness. :D

[rubyfire]

well its way better than wat id get from my cell lol
cant wait for the better pic though ;)