New Betta owner

[Elsch]

hello! it's nice to meet everyone. I am excited to join this community. A few days ago, I purchased my first pet fish ever. He is a male red betta named Winston Charles.

Winston Charles is living in a 2.5 gallon tank with a filter, along with a shelter and some plants. I have already learned a lot from this site, but I have a few questions still.

* is a heater really necessary? my little guy seems so lively and happy in his new home already.

*his tank came with a light. can this be left on to keep the water a bit warm? is the normal light in the bedroom good enough? is it bad to keep the tank light on?

* besides his plants and shelter, is there any other "entertainment" I should get for him?

here's a picture of his home and a few pictures of him:

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/1669/homefp.jpg





does he look healthy so far? any other tips for a new time owner? I'm doing my best to learn everything. thank you!

[doggyhog]

What a lucky boy!!!!! He's very pretty!

since you don't have a heater, I recommend getting one, as bettas like temps of 65-82 degrees.

His light is fine if it's on during the day, just make SURE you turn it off at night, they need a day/night cycle.

His tank looks GREAT! I don't think you need anything else in there, except you could get more plants if you want.

[1fish2fish]

He is very pretty. Great job with the tank.. I would add more plants if it were me.. bettas LOVE lots of cover.

You definitely need to get a heater. Betta tanks should be 75-82*F (I think DH mistyped when she said 65* )

as for entertainment I highly recommend getting one of these


just throw it in the tank for 5-10 minutes a day and let him flare at it.. its really good exercise for them and helps prevent boredom. If you see him start to attack it make sure you take it out.. you don't want to stress him just give him a little exercise (flaring is good.. biting is bad)

[Elsch]

thank you for the advice you two ^.^ I'll be sure to get a heater as soon as possible and I'll look into getting the mirror

[Iamtracy]

nice tank!

[Elsch]

thank you very much. I will probably get a few more plants, but after that I think he'll be set!

Winston Charles has reached day 4 and is displaying no problems at all, which I am really grateful for. He has always ate his food without complaint and is very lively and happy. everything seems to be going well.

[BettaxFishxCrazy]

He's very pretty! I love your tank setup. :) A couple more plants in there and he'll be in absolute heaven. :P

[Adelheidi]

Okay, semi off-topic. I'm a bit of an insomniac, and since I don't have a heated tank right now, I've dedicated myself to waking up in the middle of the night to check on Mr. Betta's temperature in his tank. Will waking him up around 2a-4a every morning to check his temp and change his water ruin his quality of life? He was only up for about an hour last night, before *I* went back to bed (he probably went back to sleep, too). He's more pale this morning than when I got him yesterday, but I'm not sure if that's due to the water change or not.

[xxabc]

I think the main issue would be suddenly waking up. I would turn on the lights first, and have hin wake up on his own, rather than you messing with the water with him asleep. Then wait about 5 minutes before doing anything. Otherwise, That will REALLY stress him out, or at least in my experience it does. (My betta was sleeping, and I moved a plant around - he freaked so bad, he rammed into my hand! At least not the glass... and he lost all his color for a good 7 minutes).

When you did the water change, was the temperature the same? Really try to get the temp. to be the same to avoid temp. fluctuations.

[Adelheidi]

I don't think it was, which is why I had him sit in his cup (which had the old water) inside of the new water, in effort to get the old water to become the same temperature. I did this for about 10 minutes, until he started acting agitated. He didn't much like being in a clear cup inside of a 2g. tank.