My First Betta

[Osian]

Hi i'm new to fish and I have a small tank ,14 liters (3.7 US gallons) to be exact, and thought it might be alright as a first tank to get into tropical fish. I have one male betta in the tank and he seems quite happy, I got him on saturday and when i came home today he'd made a bubble nest. I assume that is a good sign. He comes up to the side as soon as he sees me and eats everything i give him, which brings me to my first question. How much should i feed him?
At the moment he gets a very very little amouts of fish flakes and 1-2 hikari betta bio-gold twice a day (7am and about 6pm).

I've done a fishless cycle and it lasted 3 weeks, amonia and nitrite test shows 0ppm (API master tesk kit) and PH at 7.2 when i tested the water at 6pm today. Have a elite mini filter running with the valve half open as it was creating to much current fully open and the water temp is 25oC (77deg F).

I'm really just looking for any usefull tips or perhaps anything i might have missed here on the forums. I've read a lot about the tank and water quality, as well as about the betta itself but i really dont want to kill him cos i missed somthing. I've take some pictures but he doesnt stay still long enough to get really good ones, I though perhaps people could have a look and tell me if there's any problems or if all looks well.

Thanks
Osian

 

[groupiekilla06]

You sound like you're doing great! Your betta is a beauty too. I heartily applaud you for doing research and not just dropping a fish into a bowl like some people.

How often are you doing water changes? I would suggest 25-30% water change per week.

 

[Amunet]

Sounds like you're off to a very great start and your betta looks gorgeous!
Also looks like you have silk plants which is great as well. Plastic ones tend to be too sharp along the edges and can cut into betta tails.
I'd say probably 2 pellets per feeding (so 4 total a day) would be good if you're feeding him the flakes as well.
As an option later on, you could see if he'd like some frozen bloodworm or frozen brine shrimp just to get his diet varied up a bit more. I'm sure he'll be happy just to eat what you're giving him now though

Once a week, or maybe once every 2 weeks you might want to start giving him a little bit of cooked(make sure it's not hot ) deshelled pea.

Do you have a cave or something he can hide in in his tank? Like a little bridge he can go under, or a small pot or something he can go in to?

 

[ReMz]

That advice is right on. I feed 3 pellets twice a day.... i really depends on the size of the fish and how much of a sucker you are when they beg

btw, in that picture he looks a lot like one of my bettas (Flash)

 

[Monty2451]

Fantastic start! You'll be a great betta owner, I applaud you for doing all the research ahead of time and even doing a fishless cycle! The only thing I can say is stay on top of things, do regular water changes and you should be fine. But with the mini filter in a 4 US gal. tank, you wont have to do it once a week, more like once every 2 weeks, but keep checking the nitrate/nitrite/ammonia levels every few days, just to be on the safe side until you work out a regular routine.

As far as the feeding goes, I feed my large betta (Alpha Betta, he's 2+ inches) 7 Hikari pellets a day, 4 in the morning and 3 at night, and I feed the smaller one (Toby, he's 1 +/- inch) 4 pellets a day, two in the morning and two at night. I also give them one freeze dried bloodworm each, every other day at mid day. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask!

 

[Osian]

How often are you doing water changes? I would suggest 25-30% water change per week.

I was planning on doing 28% every week (happens to be an easy number to change) and do water test every two days for the first two week.

Once a week, or maybe once every 2 weeks you might want to start giving him a little bit of cooked(make sure it's not hot ) deshelled pea.

Do you have a cave or something he can hide in in his tank? Like a little bridge he can go under, or a small pot or something he can go in to?

Do I need to mash or cut the pea into small bits or will he just nibble at it? Also I took the bridge out before I put him in to place more plants in the tank, as the plant was tall enough to place in front of the outlet to slow down the flow from the filter, but I could get some kind of pot perhaps that would do the same job as well as give him a hole to hide. Although at the moment as soon as he see's anyone he comes as close as he can, and also liked to sleep on top of the filter.

That advice is right on. I feed 3 pellets twice a day.... i really depends on the size of the fish and how much of a sucker you are when they beg

btw, in that picture he looks a lot like one of my bettas (Flash)

He does looks scarily alike, might be distant relatives.

thank you all for your comments

 

[Yuki_of_the_Stars]

Aw, now ain't he a pretty little guy? Good luck to you, seems like he'll do well.

When feeding peas, you just have to take the shell off and smush it between your fingers. If he doesn't eat it right away, just wait a bit. Normally it'll be gone soon.

 

[cursedblad3]

also liked to sleep on top of the filter.

My brothers betta has just started doing that! it's very odd looking.