Betta turning pale!

[FlareBettaGuy]

Okay, I normally keep my betta in warm water. But I can't always be home to change the water every few hours. The water turns from luke warm to ice cold in just a matter of hours. And it's not like my room's cold either, cause it is warm. Today, I came home, and checked on my betta, Firebolt. I turned on the observing light, and he looked VERY pale. His whole body was whitish, and so were some parts of his fins. I rushed to give it some warm water, and in a few minutes, he started getting his color back again. I'm worried. This was just for a few hours. What if I am gone for a few days? (and I will be next week) I heard that they will be okay for a few days, but the water turns from warm to COLD in hours. And when it is cold, Firebolt turns pale. Is turning pale for a long time very bad for a betta? Is it because of the cold water, or am I wrong? How do you keep the water at a constant temperature? Please help!

Also, I just got this really cool conch shell. I heard that putting shells with a betta will greatly raise the PH in the water, and burn your betta's fins. Is this true? And will washing it will hot water make a difference?

Thanks again! Me and Firebolt appreciate your help.

 

[FrankSlapperinni]

I don't know about the shells, but if its realy that cold that you have to do hourly water changes, buy him a heater! bettas are tropical fish, they like there water very warm. How big of a tank do you have? smaller tanks get cold/hot a lot quicker than big tanks, so maybe you might want to buy a little bigger aquarium.

anyways, about the heater, bo to your LFS (local fish store) and ask if they have any heaters for a tank of your size (which they should). a small heater is only a few dollers. but be careful, be sure not to get a to powerful heater, because if they get stuck "on" ( which happens occationaly) the can fry your fish. its better to buy 2 weak heaters then 1 powerful one.

 

[FlareBettaGuy]

My betta is living happily in a one gallon bowl. He even makes a bubblenest, so I know he doesn't hate it. Is one gallon enough, though? And the bowl would be about...um.....slightly bigger than an adult's head, in rough comparison. The water current would be way too strong if I had a heater. I couldn't afford anything larger at the moment. I have a much bigger tank instead of a bowl in the washing machine room, but it has a really big crack in it, so I can't use it. Maybe I should take him with me...*thinks about it*...no, that would be impossible.

 

[juliethegr8t]

The water current would be way too strong if I had a heater.

Heaters don't create a current, they just warm you water. So that shouldn't be a problem. I agree with Frank - go to your lfs (or Walmart) and check out the selection of heaters, they should have one small enough for your bowl.

 

[Where the river goes]

The smallest heater I've seen at wal-mart (or anywhere else for that matter) is a junior heater for 2-5 gallon tanks. If you have a 1 gal. bowl then consider upgrading to a 2 gallon at least, so you can put a heater in it. I've seen 2 gallon tanks at Petsmart or one of those 2.5 gallon minibows