New To Bettas World

[popcornlove]

I just bought my daughter her first fish named Linda, a SFF on 12/4. I found out a couple of minutes ago that Linda is a male. Anyway, I am worried about him. First I had him in a flower vase that holds about 8 cups of water. He seemed fine. I changed the water every 3 days, because apparently I was overfeeding it and caused the bowl to stink and get dirty. For Christmas I bought a mini-bow 2.5 gal tank. I put it together and 24hrs later, I added Linda. He has been acting wierd ever since. He has been opening his gills and its freaking us out. I have a "filter", but am unsure if its working properly. I do not have a water heater.( I just found out that I might need one.) Is the water to cold? Is the filter not working properly? I really need help. I have already grown attached to him and so has my daughter

 

[vancouver]

What kind of filter is it? Is it making noise or why do you think it's not working?

The opening of it's gills is just flaring.. bettas sometimes do that towards their owners.. nothing to be worried about.

Bettas can tolerate cooler water, but cold water isn't great for them.. if you feel it and it's cold to you it might not be warm enough for the betta.

 

[popcornlove]

Yes, its making noise and sending bubbles to the top of the tank, which makes it hard for him to catch his food, I have noticed.

 

[stang1]

If you can you need to adjust the filter so it creates as little water movement as possible because Bettas don't like a strong current. I have my filter quite low in the tank with an ornament in front of it to minimise the water flow so there is hardly any current at all. It will definitely need a heater as Bettas like a temperature of between 25-30C.
Also, if you haven't already, check your water stats just to make sure that they are all ok. With it not being set up that long there is a chance that it hasn't cycled properly and there could be high nitrites and ammonia which will affect your fish.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.

 

[popcornlove]

If you can you need to adjust the filter so it creates as little water movement as possible because Bettas don't like a strong current. I have my filter quite low in the tank with an ornament in front of it to minimise the water flow so there is hardly any current at all. It will definitely need a heater as Bettas like a temperature of between 25-30C.
Also, if you haven't already, check your water stats just to make sure that they are all ok. With it not being set up that long there is a chance that it hasn't cycled properly and there could be high nitrites and ammonia which will affect your fish.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Well, since my last post many things have changed. We just set up a 20 gal tank, equipped with the works. Now we are busy checking th pH and applying the salts, etc etc. I thank you for your help and suggestions.

Thank You

 

[matty101]

hope everything works for the best. Seems like your doing everything right. Welcome to FishForums