Picked up this Fish this week.

Hi and welcome to the forums.
Here's a short shopping list for you:

Larger tank (highly recommended)
Adjustable heater (generally required)
Filter (highly recommended)
Prime water conditioner (highly recommended)

The tank, 2.5g is generally recommended as the minimum, but I've seen it recommended here that you get the biggest tank you can afford. These little guys come alive and are so active when they have space.
Heater is required to keep their temperature stable.
Their filters aren't required but will allow you to cycle your tank and make maintenance so much easier on you.

Don't know what your son's other fish was, but if you find that you're asking yourself "Did he really just do that?" or "Is he trying to play with me?", short answer is .. Yes.

Browse around, feel free to ask any questions.

Good evening Huasopodrido and welcome to our world where no question is a dumb question. Just ask away. I have my pet fish Rusty in a 2.5 gallon Aqueon tank which I bought at Petsmart. Here is what it looks like.
http://www.petsmart.com/supplies/aquariums/aqueon-2.5-gallon-betta-bow-tank-zid36-16718/cat-36-catid-300065;pgid=2fNY0T_DdupSRpQK2f17xrM20000qemKOBEo?_t=pfm%3Dsearch%26SearchTerm%3Dauqeon+2.5+betta+tank"] Don't know why it is all gibberish. Just go to www.petsmart.com and do a search for betta fish tanks. Happy swimming with us.

A 5 gallon sounds big but it's a very nice looking size once you actually get it set up. It doesn't really take up much more space than that bowl and the benefits of it are that the fish will be happy, and you won't have to do water changes as often.


A good filter would be the Azoo Palm/Mignon which can be found here for only $6.99. which is an amazing deal.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9821


Also, you'll want an adjustable heater with a built in thermostat so you can set it once and forget it (still a good idea to have a tank thermometer so you can see the temperature stays constant. You can get a tank thermometer at walmart for under 2 dollars).

Trust me, once you set it up you'll love it, and it will be less maintenance than the bowl, with a happier fish. A happy healthy fish will constantly be swimming around the tank doing stuff. A fish in a bowl will start to get bored and lethargic and just kind of float in place for long periods of time. You'll want your fish to be a fish, and a pet, not a decoration! To take the best possible care of the fish, it will cost a bit in the beginning, but all of the food, chemicals, and equipment will last years.