Maybe adopting our sick classroom betta?

[akjadestar]

We have three bettas in our class and one goldfish, and our teacher is giving them all away, and I'm the only one who wants to take the unhealthy betta. It's a pretty orange veil tail that has a bit of blue in its eyes. Now, none of the fish in our class were doing too good but I think the one I might take is the worst off. It's fins are clamped and folded over, the edges of its scales are darkened, and I think he has gill burn or something cause you can see that black thing creeping in and out of his gills, which isn't normal as far as I know. This bettas been in filthy water in a 10 gallon tank shared with the goldfish since the beginning of the school year. I know finally giving it clean water would help, and having it live alone in a warm 10 gallon tank filled with lush plants... Right now the tank has no heater, the filter doesn't work, and there's only a few small plastic plants. Only, here's the thing. I have my tank, and I have a filter and light hood, I have food and water conditioner, but I still need a new heater, and decorations...
A heater, maybe six live plants, and some driftwood, a bag of gravel, and maybe a rock cave. I know my dad said he's willing to make me one of those cool PVC pipe caves once I get my gravel... Anyways, I don't know exactly how much that costs and if I'll be able to save up in time, I only have 10 bucks right now and my parents always forget to give me allowance... So what should I do? I could prepare a temporary home in a two gallon bowl, and I have some plastic plants and red gravel... not my first choice... but oh well.
And then, what do I do about the poor guys illness?

[MrVampire181]

He dosen't sound too bad but I'd just take him and get him in clean water asap.

[Duskdog]

Sounds like the most important things for him will be clean water and a nice warm environment. Lots of people don't put gravel in their tanks, though of course you'll need some sort of substrate if you want live plants. Gravel in Petco/Petsmart is roughly $3.99 per 5 lb. bag around here, though you'll probably get more bang for your buck by buying a 20 lb. bag (though I can't recall the price offhand).

A heater will run more than that, but IMO that's probably the most important piece that you need for your tank right now. You can always improvise decorations if you need to until you can afford something else. Warmth will help him heal.

I'm sad that your teacher seemed to think it would be educational to put a goldfish and a betta in the same tank!

[ForbiddenSecrets]

A two gallon bowl properly taken care of would mean a world of difference from a bad tank even if it /was/ bigger. Also living alone without the stress of another fish might allow him to heal up faster and allow you to see what his main problem is.

[Adastra]

A two gallon setup with a 25 watt adjustable heater will probably make a huge difference. If he seems like he's suffering from ammonia poisoning, some methylene blue may be helpful as well. You should talk to your parents seriously about the matter--ask them to give you an advance on your allowance and do some extra chores around the house. Once they understand that you're doing this out of genuine concern for the health of the betta they should want to help you out--some parents can actually be quite reasonable people with the right about of sentimentality and sad-puppy-face applied. ;) Good luck.

Make sure your classmates that are taking the other bettas know about this site. I feel very sorry for the poor goldfish, it would be extremely surprising to me if the goldfish were a fancy type, and even then, if the kid who took it home intended to keep it in anything remotely resembling a proper setup..

[wallywestisthebest333]

Aw good luck! <=] So sweet of you to take the pretty guy!

A 2 gallon with warm clean water would be perfect until you get your own tank set up! =]

Good luck with your little guy! =] Tell us how he's doing! =]

[Lion Mom]

My oldest guy lives in a 2 gal. bowl with a small internal filter & a 25 watt heater & he LOVES it. He also has a small piece of driftwood, a java fern, a moss ball & some guppy grass in there. He gets water changes 3 times a week & is doing FANTASTIC with his set-up & his New Life Spectrum pellets. :)

Even without the filter he will be SO much better off in the 2 gal. by himself with regular water changes.

Years ago I was in a real pinch to provide some heat for a betta in a small bowl (VERY temporary situation) and in desperation put the bowl on a heating pad set on low - it WORKED!!!! So, for the time being you could go that route. I don't know about all heating pads, but the one we have turns off when it gets up to temp & then on when the temp lowers - kinda like a regular aquarium heater.

Good luck & hope that helps! :)