Vacation care for bettas

[RowanSilverwing]

I am a new betta owner. My cutie lives in a 5gl tank with live plants and a filter, no heater but he doesn't seem to mind. He is active, bright and loves making a bubble nest that takes up one whole corner of his tank.

My question is will it be safe for me to transfer him to a small non-filtered tank for nine days while I am on vacation? I asks because he is fed 2-3 times a day and I do not have someone who can come to my home that often to feed him but he can go stay with another fish friendly house for that time. I am really not comfortable only having him feed once a day because I have noticed a difference in his behavior(he is less active and just sits in the corner were I feed him)when I have missed feedings.

Any advice would be great. I enjoy my betta very much and do not want to come home to a dead fish.

[Oldfishlady]

If the fish friendly sitter is going to make the needed water changes on the smaller container along with feeding him...then yes a good plan...if not-he would be better off in his 5g filtered/planted tank without feedings for 9 days

Water quality is more important for his overall heath and well being than the food-they can go a lot longer without food than in poor water quality.....

You also need to think about getting a heater-he may be fine now but the weather is starting to get cold and the long term affect of too cool of water can be hard on him and you may start to see some health related problems....

[RowanSilverwing]

Thank you Oldfishlady!

I think I found some middle ground. I have someone who can come by once a day and feed him plus once every three days water needs to me added to his tank. The tank has no lid so water evaporates out of it rather fast.

I have been thinking about a heater as my apartment doesn't heat very evenly and I have noticed the tank water feels colder. Plus I am hoping it will help my plants, some of them are not fairing so well these last couple weeks.

I will pick up a heater today so I can watch it over the next few days and make sure it is working correctly and set at the right temperature for my tank size.

The day before I go I will do a water change and tank cleaning.

Thanks again.

[bettafish15]

Remember to make sure that the person who'll be topping off your tank water uses conditioner :)

[RowanSilverwing]

Originally Posted by bettafish15

Remember to make sure that the person who'll be topping off your tank water uses conditioner :)

I keep a jug of preconditioned water ready because it has to be topped off so often.