Help please.

[lolabee74]

Hi im Sydney im 13 and i need help. i have had 3 betta fish when i was young but now i want to make sure this one stays alive.
I have a couple of questions.
1. Right now i have my betta fish ( Beat ) in a fish bowl with press and seal on it, ( it has about 45 holes in it ) is that okay for now untill another week or so?
2. I dont know what type of bowl to get him. Please help! something under 15$ possibly. From wallmart.
3. how much do i feed him? i decided to give him 2 pellets in the morning and 3 pellets at night an fast him on Sunday. I got him yesterday so i dont know if thats okay.
4. i do i know for sure hes healthy?
5. At the bottom of the bowl i have little colourful rocks and a accesory does he need more?

Thanks much,
Sydney

[Thomasdog]

Hi! I would say a little less on the pellets, I would knock one or two off. Here is a nice little tank I looked online for from Walmart,
Here is a plain old 10 gal : http://www.walmart.com/ip/Regent-10-...-1-ct/10312733 unless you have a heater I would not recommend this...

A 1 gal in your price range, I would just take the divider out and maximize space. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hawkeye-1-...-Pets/10312983

Good luck!

[Bombalurina]

Originally Posted by lolabee74

Hi im Sydney im 13 and i need help. i have had 3 betta fish when i was young but now i want to make sure this one stays alive.
I have a couple of questions.
1. Right now i have my betta fish ( Beat ) in a fish bowl with press and seal on it, ( it has about 45 holes in it ) is that okay for now untill another week or so?
Yes, it should be fine for now. How much water does it hold? If more than one gallon, do one 50% change and one 100% change per week. If less than a gallon, I would suggest one 50% change every second day and one 100% change at the end of the week.

2. I dont know what type of bowl to get him. Please help! something under 15$ possibly. From wallmart.
Any tank or bowl over one gallon would be acceptable, but bigger is better. Remember that you will also need a heater.
If you have room, this tank is wonderfully cheap: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Regent-10-...-1-ct/10312733. You can cover the top with clingfilm so you don't need to purchase a lid, or only fill it halfway. This would need a 50 watt heater.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hawkeye-1-...-Pets/10312983 This tank is not nearly such good value for money, but if you have both limited room and limited funds, it's worth looking into. :) This would need a much smaller heater - 15 watts if you can. I would't bother using the undergravel filter.
Here is a simple fish bowl: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Anchor-Hoc...l-1ct/19400134. Again, you'd have to cover it with clingwrap and poke some airholes in it. You'd need a small heater.
If you have $20 to spare, you could buy this and remove the divider: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hawkeye-Be...vider/14660255. This would give you a healthy 2.5 gallons for your fish. :) A 25 watt heater would do nicely.

As I don't live in the US, I can't comment on what heater brands are good for small tanks, but others will be able to give you more information. :)

3. how much do i feed him? i decided to give him 2 pellets in the morning and 3 pellets at night an fast him on Sunday. I got him yesterday so i dont know if thats okay.
Your feeding schedule sounds good. :) What brand of pellets do you have? Ideally, you want one whose first ingredient is fish meal or something else meaty, with a high protein content. Omega One or New Life Spectrum are good. :) Twice a week you can give him a treat like bloodworms. :)

4. i do i know for sure hes healthy?
A healthy fish is active, colourful, responsive and will eat like a pig.

5. At the bottom of the bowl i have little colourful rocks and a accesory does he need more?
What sort of accessory? Bettas will enjoy things to hide in and play with. A silk plant and a cave will generally be enough. Just make sure that whatever you put in there is smooth, with no sharp or jagged bits that could tear his fins. Coffee mugs make great caves. :) More decoration is better than less!

Thanks much,
Sydney

I hope that helps. Good luck with your new fish. Please post pictures of him! :)

[jasonh]

that 10gal at walmart is nice and cheap and your betta would love it. you can get rocks from outside but you have to scrub them and boil them in water to sterilize them. that's what i did to save myself a lot of money. betta like to swim around and hide in rocks. i normally set rocks up like this: _``_ <-- so he has a place to hide under.

betta are tropical fish that need to be around 80F so you need to get a heater with thermostat. this makes sure it doesnt get too hot or too cold.

make sure you dont have the heater outside the water if it is plugged in. it can explode or crack.

[Tikibirds]

. Right now i have my betta fish ( Beat ) in a fish bowl with press and seal on it, ( it has about 45 holes in it ) is that okay for now untill another week or so? As long as there are holes and you change the water weekly - he will be fine
2. I dont know what type of bowl to get him. Please help! something under 15$ possibly. From wallmart. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hawkeye-1-...-Pets/10312983 is about $10. I would remove the filter/bubbles so there is more room. If you can spend a little more -I would go with something bigger. 1 gallon is a bit small and hard to heat up. Do you have a petco or petsmart? If so, go with one of the LARGE petkeepers. The ones in the reptile section with green lids are cheaper then the same thing in the fish section. The large is about 2.5 - 3 gallons which is a nice size for a betta. They should cost about $10-$12. Sometimes walmart has something similar - just make sure its at least 1 gallon, bigger if possible.

3. how much do i feed him? How big are the pellets. His stomach is the size of his eye so I would do 2 pellets in the morning and 1 or 2 at night. I usually fast them on sunday.
4. i do i know for sure hes healthy? Healthy bettas are active, their fins are not clamped, and they eat. if his fins start to clamp up or he only floats at the top of the tank or always lays on the bottom - someting is wrong.
5. At the bottom of the bowl i have little colourful rocks and a accesory does he need more? it depends on the fish - some do not like wide open spaces, others seem to be OK with it. The more hiding spaces there is, the less stressed the betta is. I like them to have a hiding spot like a cave, some silk or real plants and for some, I have floating plants. Some are live plants but for others I use tetra plastic plants because they float if not anchored to the bottom.

OOOH and at some point you should get a heater. You want 25 watts for a 2-5 gallon tank. They are tropical fish after all.
Do your parents have an ebay account? I got my heaters off ebay since the local selection is crappy. If you can find the HAGEN ELITE 25 watt heater, i suggest that one. Most heaters are pretty long and this one is shorter then most so it will fit into a smaller tank. Tetra also makes a small one but its not adjustible. I have a 50 watt one and it can barely heat 5 gallons above 72