Hello!

[jgfceit]

My sister received a baby betta fish for Christmas. It came with a half gallon fish bowl, food, gravel, and a decoration. The poor thing had been walked to our house in the FREEZING COLD, and was in shock. Luckily it recovered after an hour. 
 
I was able to set up its tank after dechlorinating the water with Stress Coat, which I had for my hermit crabs (I am also on landhermitcrabs.com, which is where I heard about this place).
 
The fish (which was christened Alex) seems happy enough, but keeps on grabbing food, keeping it in its mouth for a few minutes, and then dropping it. Is this normal?

 

[Blubble37]

it's probably still a bit muddled..
 
do you have a filter and/or heater?

 

[jgfceit]

Sorry, neither.

 

[Blubble37]

i'm afraid you need to get one of both, bettas may be air-breathers, but they suffer from ammonia/nitrite poisoning too
 
here's what you need to do
 
do 50% water changes every day, replacing the water with dechlorinated water at room temperature
 
you're going to need a fish tank, 20 litres will do fine for a single betta, you will need gravel and plants too. Black gravel will bring out his colour.
 
for a filter, choose a filter with an output of 200 litres per hour and position it so it causes some surface disturbance, but not so much the betta cannot breathe.
 
buy a 50 watt heater and a thermometer, the tank should be around 26C
 
buy an aquarium water test kit
 
you'll be doing a fish-in cyle, look in my signature at the beginner help centre. you'll need to do 90% water changed every day for about 5 weeks
 
 
 
do not keep bettas with other brightly coloured fish, they will be killed

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

Haha! Welcome aboard jgfceit.. glad you found your way here.

Food grabbing and dropping is usually a sign that the food is either too big for them to swallow whole or too quick to sink towards the bottom

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Hello and welcome.
 
Please read through this: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/423362-betta-splendens-caresheet/

 

[EllieJellyEllie]

Im HermitCrabby on there. You might know me. Welccome aboard!

I can say in full honesty a 1/2 gallon bowl is too small. You need a filtered, heated, tank that is 2.5 gallon MINIMUM.

Bettas are like hermit crabs. They seem easy but really are not. If you have a small tank to spare that you used for the crabs, then set it up, cycle it, and put the betta in there. He will be much happier.

Oh yeah, bettas are also tropical fish so they need water around 78-82 degrees F. This will make him much happier as well.

 

[508]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

 

[jgfceit]

Thank you all! The thermometer and heater make sense, but from what I've read on the care sheet, we don't really need a filter if we clean the tank every week or so. 
 
A 2.5 gallon tank is, I assume, for a full-grown betta. What about a BABY betta that is a little less than an inch long?
 
Oh, and hi Neil and EllieJellyEllle! I knew you guys were around here somewhere

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The answer to your question is that a 2.5 gallon tank (minimum) is for a betta splendens, any size, any age, any tail shape. 
 
When keeping fish, you buy the appropriately sized tank for the adult size of the fish.   Keeping a fish in a tank that is too small can lead to stunting and deformities.  Fish aren't like dogs which will grow no matter how big their bed is, and you just upgrade the bed as the dog grows (which you'd probably have to change anyway, because the dog will destroy the bed eventually).   Fish, if they aren't kept in a large enough tank, will actually CHANGE their growth and suffer for it.  And the real shame of it is that the fishkeeper won't know until its too late.
 
 
You don't need a filter if you follow the water change schedule WildBetta prescribed in the betta care sheet thread:

1 gallon    -- 100% water change every 2 days
2.5 gallon -- 100% water change every 4 to 5 days
5 gallon --    100% water change once every 7 days

 
So, it's not a matter of "WEEKS" it's a matter of "DAYS" between water changes. 

 

[jgfceit]

Ok, thanks!

 

[EllieJellyEllie]

If you have any more questions we will help. This forum is one of the friendliest I have been on, ever.
 
I cant wait to see your progress! Just remember, they are like hermit crabs. Once I get some money mine will be going from an unheated, unfiltered, half gallon bowl, to a heated, cycled, 7.5 gallon section of my tank. Bowls are like KK for fish!