In Need Of A Little Help

[Yara]

Okay, short story. Last semester the boyfriend of an old roommate bought 2 male bettas for the only purpose of watching them fight and tear one another apart. After the fun of that wore off though, the surviving betta and his tank were discarded, left in the corner of the room next to the TV with no real light, food or care. That carried on for about 6 weeks until I moved in. Long story short, I am now taking care of him, the only problem being I know nothing about them. I checked around online and found a few things about water temp and feeding. I'm in need of a little help here, I want to make the rest of Saber's life as comfortable as possible.
I don't know the size of the tank, I think it's somewhere between 1-3 gallons and it just holds him. What size heater would I need so he can digest his food properly.
Light: I have no idea since I've read things that say bettas need between 8-10 hours of light a day to be healthy or they need minimal amounts of light because it freaks them out.
Healt: He seems to be healthy now but what signs should I look for? The little guy was in a dirty tank for 6 weeks, something might pop up and I just want to know what to look for.

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[barb-e]

There are some really good betta people on this site but I recommend that you also try a forum called Ultimate Bettas. The whole forum is full of betta owners,breeders,experts,and they can really help you out.

 

[faithless1294]

Hello,
If you see that boyfriend again tell him he is a disguisting creature anyway seen as tho saber has been in the tank a long while more light is required or if he acts funny in light then only leave it on for a short while but if he acts the same as when light is off it is best to leave light on. The tank is just right for saber and i would put a 25w heater in there any higher and it might over heat the tank or serious temperature fluctuations, what temp is the tank at? if you are raising temp do it over a extended period of time as sudden temp changes will stress saber and maybe even kill him. Is the tank filtered? if not more frequent water changes is required 3-4 times a week and only 30-40% of water taken out some people tend to take more out with bettas but i tend to stick to 30-40% and it would be alot better with little filter which reduces water changes to 2 times a week. im not to good on health issues as non of my bettas really get illnesses only reasent probelm being dropsy where all there scales stick out and they go huge thats a life threatning problem but not that common there is others like swim bladder which i have had not much else i know about cause never really had that many betta problems. if you dont already know dont put plastic plants in with saber some plastic are alright but you should stick to silk and live plants personally i dont like live plants they always get messed up so i like silk you can get some nice silk plants but that is up to you. It is best to have a varied diet i swap between live, frozen and pellets i use betta bio gold and once a week dont feed him cause he can get bloated.
Good Luck,
Luke.

 

[Jaded12]

There are some really good betta people on this site but I recommend that you also try a forum called Ultimate Bettas. The whole forum is full of betta owners,breeders,experts,and they can really help you out.

 

[Amunet]

How much do you wanna bet that boyfriend videotaped it and posted it on youtube.
I swear... freaking MORONS.

Anyways... it's really nice that you're now taking care of the survivor.

Heaters aren't really necessary if your room stays fairly warm, but it would be best to get one to make sure the temp of the water doesn't fluctuate. Maybe a little 25watt one. Be sure you can adjust the temp on the heater though. Some lower quality ones don't give you that option so aren't very good to get.
Get yourself some dechlorinator for when you do water changes. Sounds like you're gonna need to do some soon if they haven't been taking care of him.