URGENT HELP NEEDED PLZ!

[Nuttygal! :0)]

I have had a small tank set up for a few days now. It is about 2 gallons, and I only wanted it to house 1 male betta. It does not have a pump, filter or heater, as I am going to do water changes every 3-4 days so any bacteria will not be able to grow anyway - right??
So, I added my new beautiful betta boy yesterday. He is a big crowntail, with bright blues and dark blues and different colour pinks and reds. He's lovely and his name is Lute. Have no idea what it means! He was fine at first, swimming round in circles, but last night and all of today he just sits in one place, not moving at all. Not even his gills are moving. There is definatley nothing wrong with him - health wise. I've checked for everything. The only thing I think it could be is that he might be a bit cold. I thought he would be fine without a heater - am I wrong? The temperatures in my room are fairly warm but I have no idea whether his water needs to be hotter. Should I buy him a heater - or . Also, I crumbled a few tropical flakes up for him this morning and dropped them in but he wasn't interested, so I even snapped off a tiny bit of algae wafer but he didn't touch that either and when I got home a little while ago it had sunk and gone all mushy.
Please help! I need to know what to do urgently because I'm really worried!

P.S - I have two other big tanks but one has fin-nippers in like tiger barbs and stuff and the other one has male guppies and other fish that he wouldn't like and I don't want any fights!!

 

[Jamie_C]

Sorry to hear about that. I would think the easiest way to find out is to test the temp. From what i know they should be kept between 74 and 82F. Hope all is well soon.

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Thanks Jamie_C. Will check temp now. I really hope he will be ok. He is so lovely!

Edit: Ok, temp is 68F. Does this mean I should buy a heater?

 

[Sorrell]

Congrats on your betta You'll do just fine

First off, don't be worried about the lack of gill movement. Bettas breathe surface air through their labyrinth organ where the air comes in and passes through the gills unlike other fish They definately have moods where they will be very active and then just plain lazy

I would do a water change twice a week on your tank. A 50% one day and then 100% on the next change. The tank will not cycle so you need to keep the water quality high to protect him from ammonia.

For feeding I would invest in a good pellet such as Hikari and a couple of packs of frozen food. Bloodworms, daphnia, and brine shrimp are all good choices. Stay away from freeze dried foods and other a vegetable once a week. Most bettas aren't too thrilled with flakes and you can improve his nutrition so much by not feeding them. The two keys to betta keeping are water quality and diet and if you can accomplish both of these, you will have a healthy, active, and strong fish

 

[Sorrell]

Thanks Jamie_C. Will check temp now. I really hope he will be ok. He is so lovely!

Edit: Ok, temp is 68F. Does this mean I should buy a heater?

Yes. You will see how active he becomes when the water is warmer for him

A heater for that size tank is tricky though, you'll really need to keep an eye on it to make sure your water level is correct. The smaller heaters will heat to your room and not your water if the water level isn't correct.

A couple other options to heat the tank besides an actual tank heater...place the tank on a heating pad, get a space heater for the room where the tank is, or buy a reptile heat lamp. They don't really give off light, just heat.

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Great thanks Sorrell I was really worried about him. I'm going to make a list of what to feed him! I take it you're a betta expert!!?? Do you breed them?

Edit: and I do have a spare heat mat for reptiles - I'll put the tank on top of that. I have 6 lizards (2 geckos, 4 bearded dragons!) so we always have spare heat bulbs and lights to! Thanks for your help!

 

[Bettaman]

most UK lfs sell 50w heaters that would be small enough to fit you tank and about £12-15.00 that will keep the water more constant temperature, as they don't like getting chilled, and make sure the water is the same temp when you change the water,.........its a bit like the weather here at the moment it make you miserable thats why he has got the hump he sound nice fish sounds like a marble crown.....pictures

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Ye I'll get some pics. If I put him in a small space for a sec will he flare? He shows his colors more when he flares.

 

[Bettaman]

use a mirror next to his tank or container and he will flair.........

 

[gale]

My betta is in a 2gal tank with a light, and no heater. The light keeps the temp at about 80 degrees F and he's very very active. Sometimes too active. When I turn the light off overnight it was getting down to about 74 degrees so I put a blanket around his tank at night and it holds the temp at around 80. He's spoiled.

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Thanks I've added a heater - and I think I forgot to mention that the tank hasn't got a light either - so I'll buy a light too. Even though the heater has been on since about 5 o'clock yesterday he has still been sitting at the top and not touching his food - though the brine shrimp disappeared pretty quickly but I didn't see him go after it...maybe he's just shy and is really active when nobody is looking !...Oh, and one more thing, I have three females in another tank, and I bought one of them the same time as I bought Lute. They were in bags next to eachother and they were both flaring. Does this mean if I put my new female (Coral) in his tank they would fight?
You guys are all so much help...thanks!

 

[gale]

Did you get a thermometer to keep in the tank all the time? If not I would get that just so you can monitor the temp. I like the kind that suction to the inside the best.

 

[cutechic]

What kind of heater did you put in the tank? 50W? If so, I'd say it's a little too much for a 2g tank. I think the reptile heating mat would be perfect

Don't worry about him not eating a lot right away. Once he settles in, he'll eat a lot & become more active.

Flaring is a sign of aggression or to attract attention. Flaring at the female is completely normal. If you put Coral in his tank, they may attempt to breed. My advice would be to not put her in, unless you're ready for daily water changes on 100 jars for the babies, live food for the fry, etc. Most people don't have a few hours a day to spend raising betta fry. There are some pinned topics at the top of the Betta forum in case you want to learn more about bettas in general, or about breeding.