Betta fish?

Question

Ok. This is my first time with a Betta fish. It's nice looking, aqua colored with a hint of red. I named it Stitch

I bought a .5 gallon tank (or whatever you call it..the walls are plastic) and it came with multicolored gravels, a thing to make tap water suitable for Stitch, and fish flakes.

1. How often do I feed it?
2. How often should I do a water change
3. I know you guys are going to blast at me for the .5 gallon tank, so what's a suitable gallon capacity for a betta fish?
4. Right now it's under my computer desk light, and the waters getting cold, will the desk light warm it up a little bit?
5. I had it for 2 days now, and it's swimming around, but it won't eat its flakes..is there a time when it eats them? Like at night or something?
6. Is there other options besides feeding it flakes?

Thanks.

P.S. Please don't bash me for the .5 gallon tank.

Answer 1

No bashing here! I have kept literally thousands of bettas in 1/2 gallon bowls over the years. It is done by some of the top betta breeders in the nation for millions of bettas. It works as long as you follow some simple rules. I'll answer based on what works best for that size container.
1. Either one or twice a day, tht's up to you. I feed twice a day once with flake and once with bloodworms or brine shrimp or something similar. What is very important is to not over feed. Remove any excess food after a few minutes.

2. Change 100% or the water every 2-3 days.

3. You can stick with your current bowl. Better for a single fish would probably be a 2.5 gallon tank that can be filtered and heated. This would reduce the water changes to about 25% once a week.

4. Yes, the light will warm it some. As long as he's at or above 72F or so he will be ok. 76-80F is a better range for best color and activity though.

5. Bettas feed anytime of day. He's just still settleing on to the new surroundings so give him a few more days before you worry. They can usually be tempted into eating with bloodworms, they really love those.

6. Blodworms, daphnia, brine shrimp, mosquito larvae, basically any small meaty food like that. Most are available fromthe pet shop either freeze dried or frozen. Personally I prefer frozen. You can of course raise things like mosquito larvae very easily and live food is always a good thing.

If I can help any more please feel free to email me

MM

Answer 2

1. I feed mine once a day but twice if fine just make sure you don't feed too much.
2. In something that small you should be doing a water change every couple days.
3. I would never keep a betta in anything smaller then a 2.5 gallon but I prefer to keep mine in 5 gallons or more with a heater and filter. The bigger the tank the less often you will need to clean it, having a filter will help even more.
4. The desk light may warn up the water but unless you plan on keeping it on 24/7 when you turn it off the water will become cold again and the change in water temp will stress your fish out. They are tropical fish and really should have a stable temp of around 78-82 degrees.
5. I feed mine pellets made just for bettas, are the flakes for bettas? If not you should really get them food just for them, they are carnivores unlike many other tropicals. I feed mine at night but they don't care what time it is, they just want good food.
6. You can feed pellets or something like bloodworms

Here is a site with some basic care information about keeping bettas, http://www.firsttankguide.net/betta.php

Answer 3

1. How often do I feed it? 3 Pieces Of Food Every Other Day
2. How often should I do a water change? Once A Week.
3. I know you guys are going to blast at me for the .5 gallon tank, so what's a suitable gallon capacity for a betta fish? I Keep My Betta In A 3 Gallon. That Is Fine.
4. Right now it's under my computer desk light, and the waters getting cold, will the desk light warm it up a little bit? It Might, Depending On The Watts.
5. I had it for 2 days now, and it's swimming around, but it won't eat its flakes..is there a time when it eats them? Like at night or something? It will probably take a little while for your fish to get used to you. Don't worry. It will eat if it is hungry.
6. Is there other options besides feeding it flakes? Yes. Brine Shrimp, Frozen Food. You can get these at your local pet store.

Answer 4

1.Feed it 2 (its eyeball) sized meals a day, with one fasting day to help its digestive tract.

2.Do a complete water change once a week (or 25% if you have a filter every 2 weeks)

3. 5 gallons is great for a Betta, in fact, they can live in tanks as small as 2.5, I have a 5 gallon tank also, with 2 (soon to be 3 danios)

4.NO..invest in a heater, otherwise, you'll be having a Betta for supper soon! (he'll die) also, get a hood that fits your tank with a fitted light, this is useful for showing his colours and having to leave the main room light on all the time.

5. It is probably used to live foods, so...what you do is once in the morning, and in the evening, put a tiny amount of flakes onto the water, once they get waterlogged, net them out, and do the same next day. Eventually, he'll realize they're edible, and will have a nibble. On the other hand, you could always just buy some frozen tubifex/blood worms, but try the flakes first.

6.what I said as above, because he probably has been raised on live foods.

All our luck...

Leonie and Merlin (the Betta with a BIG personality)

P.S I have a 25watt heater, its PERFECT! make sure the temp is easily read and adjustable

Answer 5

you dont have to buy another tank just go to walmart or petsmart and buy a gold fish bowl and she would be happy that way she can eat and don't worry about gettin attacked! If a female that wasn’t ripe, or ready for spawning, would have entered a males tank, it’s possible that she would’ve been attacked, as non-ripe females are not tolerated within the vicinity of the nest. By not fleeing, a female indicates her readiness to spawn. Yes, some times if you are not careful when trying too breed bettas, the male will attack the female and he can injure the female, the females are much smaller than the males. A Male and a Female: In the wild, females stay clear of males, except during mating. When cohabiting in tanks, males might kill females, and are generally kept apart unless (a) they are juvenile siblings, (b) they are breeding, (c) there is a partition, or (d) the tank is large enough for the female to escape attack. Often, before breeding, breeders use such a container to allow female display without risking harm by the male. Two or more Females: Bettas are not schooling fish, but in a large tank with many hiding spaces, female bettas can cohabit. When two females share a tank, one usually bullies the other, however, four or more females will establish a hierarchy allowing peaceful co-existence, nevertheless, females living in community must be monitored for aggressive females.

Answer 6

1. How often do I feed it? -

I feed mine once per day

2. How often should I do a water change -

I used to change mine once per wek when he wa sin his own tnk.

3. I know you guys are going to blast at me for the .5 gallon tank, so what's a suitable gallon capacity for a betta fish?

Half a gllon is not enough - one gallon in the bare minimum - ideally 2 or 2.5 gallong would be fine and they are cheap.


4. Right now it's under my computer desk light, and the waters getting cold, will the desk light warm it up a little bit?

You need to kep he temp above 70 degrees - the warmer the better - try to kep your room warm and the betta should be ok.

5. I had it for 2 days now, and it's swimming around, but it won't eat its flakes..is there a time when it eats them? Like at night or something?

Some times they take a while to get used to the food - or their new setting. Give him some time - if he doesnt like flakes I know mine likes those little tiny pelletts.


Get a bigger tank - sorry .5 gallons is too small hells die of amonia poisoning or gett tired of you changing his water every 2 days

Answer 7

Actually, a half gallon tank is not bad at all.. betta's are usually kept in small tanks.

1. Once a day should do just fine

2. On my 30 gallon tank, I try to change the water once a week, but I think bettas are much more tolerant... probably every other week would be good.

3. Your tank is fine

4. Get a small aquarium thermometer and check the temperature. A temperature n the high 70's would be good, however we have a betta in a flower vase and he is doing alright without any extra heating. They would be better off with a warm temp, though.

5. Maybe he is just getting used to the new food; you can try some other types of food like frozen or freeze dried brine shrimp, or just ask the store where you got him from what they feed their bettas.

6. (above)

Answer 8

1. In a heated envorinment bettas should be fed twice a day only the ammount of food it can consume in 3-5 minutes(4-5 pellets) In a cold enviornment their metabolism is slower so feed once per day the ammount they can consume in 3-5 minutes.
2. In a environment that small daily water changes are a must 30-50% every day and In a larger environment with a filter(2 gallon), water changes will need to be less frequent about 30% once per week..
3. Betta can live in a very small space, Your fish will be more mobile in a heated tank with a filter in at least 2-5 gallons. Gives you more time to enjoy your fish & less time on maintenence.
4.A desk lamp will not really warm up the water that much, not unless the light is right on top of the water you should really get a heater (hydor mini) or at the very least keep your fish in the warmest room in your home. Keeping the air temp at about 72-75 degrees.

5. Betta's don't eat flakes, they need betta pellets, they have special ingredients to entice the betta fish to eat, like squid or cuttle fish, and lots of shrimp. Most flakes are high in carbohydrates, and lower in protien, betta food is higher in protien.

Side note form my personal experience:
My betta turns his nose up at regular flake food, but it his cue to get in his corner to be fed his betta pellets. (I keep my betta in a 6 gallon with a small school of zebra danio- My Buffalo Sabres tank!) Bettas need to be fed their special betta pellets, they love blood worms, but it should not be thier staple diet. A betta can live in a small environment, but he will move around alot more & be happier in a larger heated environment. You can pick up a "hydor mini" heater for around 5 bucks at walmart or meijer it will raise the water temp a couple of degrees, he will be more active in a larger warmer environment. you might want to consider a bowfront 2 gallon tank for you betta, he will have more room to swim around.

Answer 9

1. four betta pellets per day, 8 if he'll eat it.
2. take out 25% every 5-7 days, never clean the entire bowl all at once!
3. the rule of thumb is one inch per fish for each gallon. so at least a 2 1/2 gallon, but i would say a five gallon so you can add a sponge filter which will be beneficial.
4. Bettas can stand cooler temperatures, they can go from 66-72 so dont worry about temp. and please take the light away from him, bettas are sensitive to light and plus it wont heat up under the light anyway.
5. pellets, they like pellets and if you buy frozen blood worms or brine shrimp and thaw a little bit out they will adore you!!
6.see question 5 ( i get ahead of myself sometimes)

Point 5 gallons, so a gallon tank? That's fine for now, as long as you eventually get a bigger one down the road, Bettas do thrive in open waters, Rumors say they like smaller ponds...no they only go to smaller areas to breed...so if youre looking to breed...well thats a whole nother ball game!

Answer 10

I have a 5 gallon tank too and its enough for housing one betta.
1. Feed it only once a day the amount he can finish in 5minutes. Do NOT overfeed as he can get constipated and damage his swimbladder. Besides, the uneaten food takes up the oxygen while it rots so it causes diseases and more.
2. Water changes should be 25% every week.
3. 5 gallon is FINE chillout
4. Yes the light will warm it. Do not get a heater your tank is small for it.
5. It will take time to adjust to its new home and also to get used to the food you are feeding him as the store guys must have fed him something else.
6. Yes you can feed him bloodworms,brine shrimp