New Crowntail Fish- Looking for help on getting started

[Wildstorm]

Hello to everyone. You may know me from another thread, I had a betta named Yomi that had fin rot from a pet store that I had purchased him from. I kept him for about a month but alas he succumbed to his illness and the stress ended up killing him :(
Since that time I have purchased another betta. His name is TuYomi- yes, like Yomi 2 XD. He is different from Yomi because he is a crowntail (Yomi was a veiltail), and I absolutely adore him. I had kept him in a 3.5 gallon glass bowl for the first week he was here, but since then I noticed he lost his vigor. I concluded that it was from being cold, since the glass from his bowl wasn't holding in the heat from his heater; so I downsized to a two gallon bowl/tank. His conditions didn't improve, and I concluded that the reason for his "illness" was from the water quality. I have chlorine treated water fixtures in my house, I used a water neutralizer to remove any chlorine from the water I put in his bowl, but evidently it didn't work. I'm not taking any more chances with my house water, so now I am only using fresh water I purchased from the store.
TuYomi is currently in a bowl that is very small. It's only a temporary home, I want him to recooperate before he moves into his final home. I need to make sure I do everything right this time, I don't want him to end up like Yomi did. :/ Anyone have any tips?

* Bowl is 2 gallons
* His heater makes the water in the 2 gallon 78 degrees F
* I feed him BettaMin and pellets
* He has fake plants and a plastic pagoda in his bowl

[Sweeda88]

How much are you feeding him? The most you should feed him is 3 pellets, twice a day. I only feed mine 2 pellets, twice a day. I'd chuck the flakes because they are hard to count out, and they cause bloat more easily. Plus, they have less nutritional value. Otherwise, you are doing great!

[Lion Mom]

How often are you changing his water? In small containers & not feeling the best, he will need LOTS of clean, warm water.

Also, what brand pellet are you feeding? Some are good quality & some are not so good quality. Agree about the flakes - tried them on mine & one of my guys got a gut on him - it's gone now, thankfully.

Hope that helps & good luck!

[kathstew]

As a treat I feed my bettas bloodworms. They LOVE them. But that is just a suggestion for a little snack for them.
And make sure you change the water regularly.
You are doing great and doing everything right.

I am sorry you lost your first betta. ): Sometimes they are just too far gone. Its sad that pet stores let them get so far gone. ):

[Wildstorm]

He seems to dislike the pellets, but I try to give him at least 2 when I feed him. Most of the time he rejects them, so I end up giving him the brine shrimp in the Betta Min, he loves to eat those- but I don't feel they are good enough to live on.
I am planning on changing the water daily, and he is already showing signs of improvement. :3 He is much more alert and swimming around a lot more, which is such a relief.
the food is Hikari Betta Bio Gold

Does anyone know the betta preferences for decor? So far I know they love plants and places to hide, but I feel like my pagoda is taking up a lot of the room, so I feel like I might replace it.

[Sweeda88]

Hikari pellets are primarily wheat based. Look for a pellet where the first 2 ingredients are a fish product (ie, fish meal, shrimp meal). I use the Aqua Culture brand from Wal*Mart.