# New about betta care....please help :)



## intyel94 (Jan 11, 2010)

Hi everyone,
I am very new in any fish care, so please help with the information...

We bought our 1st fish today in petco. Yesterday we set up 1 gallon aquarium.....and today I brought it home. It's crown-tail betta male.
My 7 y old daughter named it "Ivan II" :lol:.
It looks absolutely happy and active, always playing, going up & down in the tank, since we put it in the tank it's tail and fins became really beautiful 

Because we know very little about fish my questions:

- How many times per day (or week) should I feed it?
Yesterday at petco they said 3 times a week, but today they told..3 times a day, so I am confused....:-?
I gave 2 round tiny pieces of Betta Bio-Gold tonight. 
Ivan ate them, but 2nd piece ate kind of slow like he is not hungry 

- What food is best (and most important for me) where shoud I get it? 
On FAQ I ve read that live food (as worms, etc) better than fish-food 
from the store... What food do you feed your bettas?

- When we install the aquarium, we also put 3 tall fake plants. 
They are tall and he can hide between them, but he has quite outgoing
tamper :twisted:... so he is not often hides.. 
What live plants are better for bettas?

- Should I turn off the light in the aquarium when I go to sleep or it needs
to be on when it's night and dark?

Please help with my questions, , sorry if they are stupid...We are very new about pets (fishes)...:roll:

Thank you for help...


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Hello and welcome to the forum. Most people feed their bettas 2-3 pellets twice a day. Don't be surprised if he doesn't eat much at first. This happens a lot with new fish. Hikari betta bio gold is a good brand. That's what I feed mine. I also feed mine freeze dried foods like daphnia, bloodworms and brine shrimp. I feed these foods once a week. Freeze dried food needs to be rehydrated to prevent digestive problems. You can also get these foods in frozen form. Java moss and water sprite are two good live plants. Someone else will have to tell you more about plants since I don't know much about them.I would turn the lights off at night. Fish need the day/night cycle just like we do. I hope this helps.


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## dr2b (May 31, 2009)

I would not doing live plants in a 1 gallon tank since it will have constantly changing water parameters from frequent water changes. However, with that said Cryptocoryne wendtii is a very hardy plant along with Java moss and Water sprite. I'm so glad your new boy is eating for you so soon - I've always had so many problems making them eat when I first get them. I feed mine Hikari Bio-Gold also and he loves it. Dramaqueen covered everything for you though!


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## BettaxFishxCrazy (Sep 5, 2009)

I agree with both DQ and dr2b. I would get him a 2 or 2.5G if you can, that's the ideal tank size for them. You need to clean the 1G two to three times a week 100% (meaning taking the fish and plants out). You can also take the rocks on the bottom out, but I leave them in and just sift through it with my hands.


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## Zenandra (Nov 14, 2009)

Welcome!! Do you have a heater for him? Bettas need water temps of 76-82 degrees to remain healthy and active. Bio-gold is a great brand! I feed my bettas a mix of betta bio-gold and topfin color enhancing betta pellets. Along with occasional snacks of thawed frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp and daphnia.


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

intyel94 said:


> Hi everyone,
> I am very new in any fish care, so please help with the information...
> 
> We bought our 1st fish today in petco. Yesterday we set up 1 gallon aquarium.....and today I brought it home. It's crown-tail betta male.
> ...


Although bettas can last for weeks without food (which is a good reason never to pollute your tank with those horrid vacation-feeders) daily feedings are routine in fishkeeping. A good guideline is that a betta's stomach is roughly the size of their eye. 2-3 pellets should suffice while he is smaller but when he gets bigger or if you upgrade the tank and give him room to exercise you may want to feed him 4-5 per day.



> I gave 2 round tiny pieces of Betta Bio-Gold tonight.
> Ivan ate them, but 2nd piece ate kind of slow like he is not hungry
> 
> - What food is best (and most important for me) where shoud I get it?
> ...


You are feeding him the best food lol! Other good dietary supplement include live and frozen foods. You can buy frozen from Hikari (the manufacturers of Bio-Gold) in blister packs if you are not keen on live. In my opinion the only difference between the two is that wiggly food is better for tempting fry or picky fish to eat. I suggest you try out Hikari Frozen Bloodworms, Tubifex Worms and Daphnia a few times per week. Krill is also a good source of carotenoids, which promote healthy, vibrant scales.



> - When we install the aquarium, we also put 3 tall fake plants.
> They are tall and he can hide between them, but he has quite outgoing
> tamper :twisted:... so he is not often hides..
> What live plants are better for bettas?


Good call-- bettas are very fond of plants, being found naturally in flooded fields. If you want to try live plants, only go for very low-light varieties. Anything medium or high requires intense flourescent lighting and sometimes a pressurized CO2 device. Java moss, java fern, anubias species and cryptocoryne species are all foolproof.



> - Should I turn off the light in the aquarium when I go to sleep or it needs
> to be on when it's night and dark?


Honestly unless you are growing higher maintenance plants I would only leave the lights on for viewing. Bettas are dark-water fish and appreciate their shade. The maximum amount of light recommended for aquariums is 8 hours, but for bettas I never use more than 6 hours of light, even with plants.

Also, as dr2b said water parameters are very volatile in 1g tanks and this is good for neither bettas nor plants. My sincerest recommendation is that you take the 1g back to the store and pick up a 2.5 or preferably 5g tank instead. In larger volumes of water dissolved fish waste such as ammonia and nitrite are more dilute and therefore require less maintenance. In a 1g you would need to change the water every 1-2 days to keep the ammonia below toxic levels wheras in a 5g you can easily get away with cleaning it once a week. In fact, many hobbyists (including myself) enjoy small tanks because of the challenge they provide! But I definitely would not recommend smaller tanks for the beginner!


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## intyel94 (Jan 11, 2010)

Zenandra said:


> Welcome!! Do you have a heater for him? Bettas need water temps of 76-82 degrees to remain healthy and active. Bio-gold is a great brand! I feed my bettas a mix of betta bio-gold and topfin color enhancing betta pellets. Along with occasional snacks of thawed frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp and daphnia.


Thank you guys all for answers,

Zenandra, Can I once in a while... buy frozen shrimp at safeway and give a little tiny piece to him or I must buy special frozen food @ hikari?

Or can I buy brine shrimp @ local petco?

Thank you....


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

intyel94 said:


> Thank you guys all for answers,
> 
> Zenandra, Can I once in a while... buy frozen shrimp at safeway and give a little tiny piece to him or I must buy special frozen food @ hikari?
> 
> ...


You can feed him chopped prawn, mussel, etc as long as you are positive it has no additives, dyes, preservatives, etc. You should be able to buy any kind of frozen at your local fish store. Even a $6 pack will last you for months.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I think I'd go with the frozen food from the petstore to be on the safe side.


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

Yeah not all bettas go for prawns anyways... not icky enough


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## sunset (Dec 8, 2009)

Yeah, you don't know what might have come across the frozen grocery store shrimp. Like DQ said, its best to just stick with the foods the petsotre sells. Better safe then sorry. Welcome to the forum!


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## Livelifelaughlove (Jan 11, 2009)

Hey  Welcome to the forum, i warn you, it gets addicting.

(For the following comments, remember that everyone has a different opinion of what is "right" and these are just my opinon)

First of all, if/when possible try getting him at least a 2.5 gallon tank (drama keeps hers in containers by Kritter Keeper, they are fairly inexpensive) The smaller the tank the harder it is to keep the water parims consistant.
If you have a cold house, try to get him a heater. We keep our house about a constant 72 so i don't use one (and a tank uner 2 gallons is WAY to small for a heater, you may have a blanched fish if you use one)
Plants would make a tank that size very difficult to keep the plants and the fish healthy. i read somewhere that bettas can have bamboo in their tank, i dno't know if that is true or not.

You also need to get a water conditioner (like $2-3) It removes the choline and cholramine from tape water, both which are harmful to your betta and can burn their gills. You use it when you do water changes, following the instructions on the back.

I feed my boys 3-4 pellets every 36hours ish. Is use the bio-gold, they seem to like it. The main thing for food is you want the LEAST vegetable matter you can have. Companies like to use it as a filler, making it cheaper, but bettas are Carnivores, NOT omnivores so their bodies don't absorb any of the vegetable matter making more waste in your tank (Flakes generally have more vege matter) I also prefer to stay away from artificial dyes... I don't see how they can be good for them. Also, My boys require what is called a micro/mini pellet. They can't swallow the large/normal sized ones (they spit them out)

A betta won't eat usually for the first week or so. The fact that Ivan II is eating already is good! Even though its not very much.

Also, Bettas like a variety in their diet, so i would try giving him blood worms about once a week as a treat. (its like a kid with dessert. If you give them it every day they have no interest in eating healthy food, but once in a while is good.) those aren't required they are just a suggestion.

Have fun with him and feel free to ask anything else that you have quesitons on.


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## intyel94 (Jan 11, 2010)

dramaqueen said:


> I think I'd go with the frozen food from the petstore to be on the safe side.


Sounds clear. Thank you.

Also, my other questions:

When I will change a water once a week.... do I need to change the whole water or only 20-30% or how many % of water?

What water is better: tap or spring?

If spring water is better, do I need to keep water in special container for 24 hrs, put my 1 cupful of betta plus conditioner at least 1hr before to put fish back in aquarium like with the tap water? 

thank you.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

A 1 gallon should be changed twice a week, 100%. Some people will even recommend every other day.


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## dr2b (May 31, 2009)

I agree with DramaQueen, at least once a week (possibly more). Justuse tap water... using spring water is expensive! Just make sure the tap water is close to the same temperature as the old water & use a water conditioner to dechlorinate it. Some people let it sit over night, but I find my water becomes way to cold if I do that.

Ohh and make sure you acclimate the betta (you don't want to just put the betta in new water).


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## Livelifelaughlove (Jan 11, 2009)

I generally would get a smaller container (about a quarter of the size of your tank) to put my betta in and some dirty water while i was cleaning. 

the night before set out water with the conditioner in the same room your tank is in (if its not heated) so it comes to the same temp. 
Dump out water, i rinse my plants and gravel in hot water, replace add the new water with room for the old, and then add betta plus dirty water he was in so its about a 75% water change, but it seemed to wok best for my boys. I did this about every 6 days,


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## intyel94 (Jan 11, 2010)

Thank you guys for very informative answers!

Also (I hope) the last questions...:

- Yesterday I've bought brine shrimp from Petco for Ivan.
I know I can give it like..once a week for him, but questions:

- How do I defroze shrimps? 
Do I need to do anything specific or I just take it out of freezer?
Is it OK to keep shrimps in the freezer or refregirator?
For how many hours/minutes do I defroze it? 

(They explain me at the store that I must defroze it, otherwise fish can get sick)

- Also, what a good heater I can buy if I only have 1 gallon aquarium?

thank you again...


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

You'll want a Hydor Mini-Heater 7.5 for a 1 gallon. It's the only one that works in a tank that small.

As for the brine shrimp, just pop a cube out, put it in a sandwich bag and crush it with a rolling pin. Pout the remnants back in the freezer and defrost a few small chunks in a cup of tankwater and strain the shrimp through a brine shrimp net (they're the really fine kind) and feed 'em to your fish.

Always keep frozen foods in the freezer and take care not to let them thaw and then freeze again. Letting food thaw and freeze numerous times is about as food-safe for fish as it is for humans


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## ANHEL123 (Jul 21, 2010)

intyel94 said:


> hi everyone,
> i am very new in any fish care, so please help with the information...
> 
> We bought our 1st fish today in petco. Yesterday we set up 1 gallon aquarium.....and today i brought it home. It's crown-tail betta male.
> ...


 i hope you still have your betta .i have 5 of them for 2.5 yars i feed them every day they like to eat i give them 2 pallets in the morning and 1 at night 
i have beta food daily nutrition by aqueon and advanced nutrition by wardley . Also my bettas like freeze dried blood worms be sure it not frozen should be dried
i think fake plants not good for betta i usually bay fresh plants make sure when u buy it is in separated tank ,where is only plants no fish ,or i buy plant in the box for fish make sure it not rotten ed 
if you still have fish and have questions u can call me 215-464-0492


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## ANHEL123 (Jul 21, 2010)

dramaqueen said:


> a 1 gallon should be changed twice a week, 100%. Some people will even recommend every other day.


you have so many bettas i am obsessed with them i have 5 for 2.5 years i am workin in diagnostic center 9 of my co workers have 2-3 betta 

i want to tell about my experience with sick betta when u have so many they get sick . We found inform from fish man at local store about medications u can mix together very successful helps to treat diseases 
we have all together 32 fishes we treated 7 of them with different symptoms and it helped 
medication are :
Tetracycline mix together with fungus eliminator by jungle
it help amazingly.


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## ANHEL123 (Jul 21, 2010)

Do you still have all 9 bettas?


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## ANHEL123 (Jul 21, 2010)

intyel94 said:


> sounds clear. Thank you.
> 
> Also, my other questions:
> 
> ...


 if you have betta they can get sick from frozen shrimp i give my betta dried blood warms

i spoke to fish gay he told me spring water don't have all minerals betta needs i use tap water with betta conditioner and i let it stay 24 hrs 

i have 5 betta for 2.5 years i think you have to chance betta water completely once a week enough i'm not sure what size the tank i have my each betta in the winter in 2.5 gal i change them once in 10 days but i always leave part of their original water

in the summer they in the 1 gal or 0.5 gal containers i change them once a week also leave part of their original water


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## ANHEL123 (Jul 21, 2010)

intyel94 said:


> Hi everyone,
> I am very new in any fish care, so please help with the information...
> 
> We bought our 1st fish today in petco. Yesterday we set up 1 gallon aquarium.....and today I brought it home. It's crown-tail betta male.
> ...


during winter i keep my 5 bettas in 2.5 g in the summer they in 1 gal i change them every approx 5-6 days. i also have live plant even in 1 g watet bettas love plants. be careful with fake plants. some of them heart plastic and they can damage the betta. elive plants better the only think some of them can stay longer some of them get rottened fast . if they rottened u have to take tham out right away. 

same my betta 2.5 y old some 6 mo i feed tham every day 2 pieces in the morning 2 or 1 at evening. i give tham treat freeze dried blood worms every 2 days . i read that live food can get betta sick i also have betta at wark in the small cont i think less than 0.5 g i have him for 1 y and 2month .i change him every 6 days approx. no one feed him on saturday and sunday and he is fine.they also needs fasting days:-D


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## Ajones108 (Jul 7, 2010)

Keeping a betta in a 1 gallon container with no filtering needs to be changed every other day to keep the ammonia levels from getting too toxic for your fish.

Most people who use pellets feed 2-3 in the morning and 2-3 at night, and use Saturday as a fasting day where they don't eat at all, and feed freeze-dried bloodworms as a treat once a week since they're like junk food to us. 

If you use fake plants make sure they're silk or material because plastic can damage your betta's delicate fins.


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