What kind of betta fish do I have?

[sunnshinee]

I received him/her as a gift!

[sunnshinee]

And how old does he/her look?

Does he look healthy?

I'm assuming that its a he.

I received him with a 1/2 gallon tank, how often should I change the water? I'm trying to upgrade to a 10 gallon for him.

[Foxell]

Looks like you've got yourself a vieltail :] Not sure how old, but his colors are nice and bright and he looks healthy. I'd definitely suggest upgrading his tank. 1/2 gallon is much to small. I do a 100% water change on my 1.5 gallon quarantine tanks every 3 days, but I believe most people suggest a 50% and a 100% water change weekly.

[betta lover1507]

a veiltail male, female has short fins, male has long fins, your is definitely a male, and very healthy according to the photo :

female:


and male:


also here is a website to learn more :)

http://bettysplendens.com/articles/home.imp
and
http://www.bettatalk.com/

also not all females are short finned or there are males that are short finned (called "plakats)

male plakat:


and long finned females:


the way to tell male from females is the egg spot and males don't, example:
female egg spots could be very noticable
some males have egg spots ( i really don't know why XD)

the other way to tell is there "beard" example:
when a make flares the black area (beard) is twice the size and fully widens to 180 straight, females flaring is small (sometimes) and the beard is smaller as well
and sometimes males make bubblenest:
females rarely make nest, but it isn't neatly together like a male's nest. the nest means the male is happyt and healthy and sometimes ready to spawn.
i hoped this helped :)

[betta lover1507]

well how long have you had him? he looks 3-5 months :P

i do weekly but some people will clean more often,

[sunnshinee]

I've had him for about a week now. Will he get any bigger than he is now? I got him in a 10 gallon now.

The guy at petco says I should change the water after 4 weeks 25-30%

Then after that first water change, he said every 2-3 weeks I should change 25-30%.

My 10 gallon has a filter and heater and a cory catfish.

[animallover4lyfe]

HAHAHAH yeah right...no way........
in a 10 gallon you should be doing at least 50% water changes every week.... not this once a month bull ****
sorry but thats crazy....you will not have a healthy betta and most ppl that work at pet stores know nothing about bettas clearly...

so yeah once a week i usually take out 80% of my water but I suggest no less than 50%, its up to you.

[animallover4lyfe]

and heater wise make sure your temperature is always consistent....temp going up and down will stress and even kill the betta....

keep your temperature at a steady 80.

[Pitluvs]

Actually, is one wants to cycle this tank, 50% weekly changes is too much. Smaller frequent changes are better until the cycle completes. But then, you would need a master test kit from API to test your water so you know what it's doing.

With my 10g, non cycled... I do a 50% and 100% a week because I have 3 Bettas in it lol So Uncycled, I have no advice. 100% changes do need to be done though, to removed poop and such from the gravel.

[betta lover1507]

for size, it depends on how big he is (just the body not the fins), am not a pro at size but i think 3 inches for non-giants PKs