New to the Betta Family - few questions

Welcome to the forum and to the wonderful world of Betta keeping....

Its not uncommon for a new Betta to go off food for several days to a week when first introduced to his new home-especially with a filter since sometimes the water movement will be something new.....

I would offer food-then remove it in 15-20min if he doesn't eat it and try again later.....once he gets adjusted he should start to eat.....to be sure it is a adaption issue we need some more info....

How big is the tank, any live plants, type/amount of additives used, how did you first acclimate him to the tank when you first got him-what are your water change plans and type of filter....and what kind of food....

You need to turn the lights off at night-Bettas don't have eyelids and need a dark and light cycle and if the lights are on too long you may end up with algae problems.....If you don't have live plants-I would keep the lights on for at least 6 hours and no longer than 8 hours....

You may or may not need a heater, however, its a good idea to have one on hand-your goal is to maintain a somewhat stable temp in the 76-80F range-usually with a healthy Betta they can tolerate the gradual temp change from day and night of about 10 degrees or so.

You do need a thermometer to monitor both the tank temp and water temp of the replacement water used for water changes.

Can you post a pic....

Thanks for the post.
Tank is 2gal, no live plants, water conditioner only. We got Romeo used to the water by the bobbing technique that I read on the forum.
With changing of the water, I was thinking 1x a week, but watching the water to see what it looks like and how it reacts to the woodstove. It may evaporate more than I would like. I am using the filter and food that came in the aquarium kit. Food is Aqueon. Filter, I am torn as I keep reading many different things on here, so again, depending on our tank/enviornment and just paying attention to how it looks? Or is that the wrong way to think?

Romeo, has come out of his shell this afternoon, he is acting just like he did yesterday when we brought him home. I guess he just likes to sleep in

Meet Romeo

What a lovely fella...nice find.....

That is correct-on water changes in a 2gal filtered tank-twice weekly 50%....1-50% water only and 1-50% with substrate vacuuming or stir and dip method.....
Filter media needs a swish/rinse in the bucket of old tank water with a water change a couple of times a month.

IMO- filters are optional for this species-especially in the smaller tanks-sometimes the filter or water movement can be stressful for them and even be a cause of fin damage-sometimes it is best to remove the filter all together in the beginning and once the Betta adjust for a few weeks, build some muscle, strength of sort to swim in the current-then try adding the filter again

Without a filter in a 2gal tank without live plants-water changes will still be twice weekly....1-50% and 1-100%.....you can leave him in the tank for the 50%.....with the 100% use the cup/lid he came in if he came in one of the small temporary cup/lid-make the water change-then re-acclimate him to the chemistry/temp of the new tank water by adding small amount of the new dechlorinated water to his holding cup over 10-15min-dump half the water out of the holding cup and adding the fresh/dechlorinated at least once......then net and add to the tank......

I heat my house with wood too and have never had any issue with any of my aquariums and since most of my tanks are open top-I get a lot of evaporation with the need to top off on a weekly basis-be sure any water added to the tank for top offs and water change is dechlorinated....