Rocky... my first Betta ever

[HarleyRigid]

This is Rocky, named by my daughter. I believe she named him that because he has a rock in the bottom of his tank but seeings as he is a fighting fish it seemed kinda appropriate. I am guessing from information and pictures taken from another post on this site that he is a 'Pineapple Crowntail'. Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong as I am a total noob.

[crowntail lover]

Oh my! He is gorgeous! He looks a little bloated though..

[HarleyRigid]

Thank you Crowntail Lover. Bloated huh? Im guessing that would be due to me overfeeding? The food I was given looks somewhat like chocolate sprinkles that go on cakes and desserts. I have been giving him a small pinch 2-3 times a day. Small pinch being around 10 of these sprinkles. The sprinkles are about the size of this '_' underscore. Is that too much? My wife bought him home as a Christmas present and the pet shop gave her no indication of how to care for him.

[Sweeda88]

You should only be feeding about 3 of those 2x a day. I'd suggest fasting him for about 2 days to get rid of the bloat, and then start feeding him in the way I mentioned. Also, does he have a heater? Bettas need water temps of about 78*F.

[Jupiter]

Welcome to the forum! Love your betta...I suspect he might colour up a bit soon. For feeding, keep in mind that a betta's stomach is only the size of its eye. Hope this helps.

[HarleyRigid]

Thank you both for your help... hope I have not done any lasting damage. will follow your advice Sweeda88 and see how he goes. Don't have a heater as we live in quite a warm area. Today is overcast and a comfortable 25*C or 77*F. Im hoping that this will be enough to keep him reasonably comfortable.

[Sweeda88]

You're welcome.

[dramaqueen]

77 degrees is fine for him. He's very pretty!!

[HarleyRigid]

Thank you Drama Queen, seems i'm gonna have to do some informed shopping and entirely rehome him tho. Wish I knew then what I know now, before my wife forked out the cash on a tank that is just too small. She was assured that the 1/2 gal 'vase' had plenty of room to house a Betta. Dont know if the sales assistant just wanted to make the sale or was just spouting the misinformation that they are taught by their seniors. Either way we have 1 useless tank and 1 fish in need of a bigger home. Lol... lets go shopping