A few Questions

[pnyklr3]

I have had a betta for awhile, and I want to make sure I am doing things correctly. I have 1 male betta in a hex 1.5-2 gallon tank (it was a gift so I'm not sure how big it is). The tank has a lighted hood, a UGF and an airstone. He's seems quite happy, but I realized that I have never seen him build a bubble nest. I thought that it might be becuase of the surface disturbance from the air bubbles, so I tried turning off the airstone. I think he got a bit sad about that, because he sat at the bottom of the tank with his nose against the air tube. I eventually turned it back on, and he is swimming actively again. Should I be worried? Should I try to give him more time to get used to it?

Also, how often/much should I feed him? He prefers pellets to flakes and will not touch freeze-dried bloodworms. I have some frozen brine shrimp, frozen baby brine shripm, and frozen beef heart (for my cichlids) would he like any of these? The pellet container says to feed him 3-4 pellets twice daily. Is this too often?

Sorry for all of the questions! I just want to keep him healthyand happy.

Edit: I forgot to mention that it doesn't have a heater. Does he need one? I live in northern Illinois, so it gets kinda cold here in the winter. I have found that the light on the tank helps keep the water warm enough. Is this alright?

 

[yvez9]

a heater helps keep the temp stable so it is preferable. for a 2 gallon tank, you should get nothing but a 25 watt heater though.

If the temp in the house is stable enough he should be fine. I have 2 bettas at work, no heater or light or filter and they are just fine.

One of them was blowing a bubble nest within one week. It wook over a month for the other to start doing the same. Some bettas just don't blow nests like that unless they are sexually motivated to do so. unless you have a female, there's not much you can do. If he is swimming around and hapilly eating everytime you feed him, don't worry!

 

[Texaswoman]

Hi there. I'm not sure about your airstone question, but I know bettas don't like strong currents so if it is not pushing him around I wouldn't worry about that. Fed him 2-3 pellets 2x a day, and most bettas don't like flakes I think. I would not feed him the freeze dried bloodworms bc this has been a problem with betta keepers and may cause him to die. The frozen foods you mentioned are great. I will feed only Hikari because it is the only product guarantied sterilized so the fishies don't get any parasites. You can feed them freeze dried daphnia or frozen daphnia too. You can also give your betta one day of fasting with no food as this can help with health.

Take care and enjoy!

Raegan

 

[SPLiSH]

If he is happier with the airstone on, I'd leave it on. Better him happy with no bubblenest than sulky.

Sounds like everything else is fine, although personally I would get him a heater. My male betta Charlie went really pale and inactive over winter when he had no heater. And I live on the Sunshine Coast so that's saying something.

Otherwise, sounds like he's very well looked after.

 

[pnyklr3]

Well, I decided to give it a go without the airstone on. He seemed fine at first, but a few hours later I notcied that he was clamping his tail fin. So back on it went, and he is swimming happily. Lesson learned. Looks like I'll have no bubble nest (which I thought was THE key to determining their happiness/health) Thanks everybody for your help and info!!

 

[White Whale]

He could have also attempted to build a bubblenest, but the airstone keeps the surface moving and is probably the cause of it breaking apart.