More Betta Questions

[Something Fishy]

That's everyone for the help so far with my betta, and he thanks you immensely as well. I have a few questions still, so I thought I'd lump them together here.

1. About temperature. It's getting chilly here in the Northeast. It's in the low 40s tonight. I set my temp in my apartment at about 68 degrees, but when I leave for work I cut it back to about 62. Is this okay? Will it hurt the fish?

2. Lights. I wanted to get a little light for his bowl, but I went to a few stores today and couldn't find anything. Can I use a desk lamp? Along these lines, are there any online sites where I can order stuff like this? Sometimes it's hard to find what you want in the store.

3. Food. He eats flakes now, but what else can I feed him? What about
live brine shrimp or pellets and that stuff? Is there something better for him?

I guess that's it for now. Thanks!

 

[William]

Mine scarfs brine shrimp like their going out of fashion.

He never touches anything other than brine shrimp or flakes, thats just mine tho.

 

[peterp]

Any light is probably OK so long as it dosen't overheat the water.
And bettas are tropical normally live in the rice patties, so probably like slightly warmer water 75-80 degrees.

Mine eat Hikari Betta Bio-gold and BigAls freeze dried bloodworms.

Take a look at BettaTalk or BcBetta large amount of good info at both sites on Bettas.

I was recently given 2 males and 3 females which now occupy my 15 gal x-hospital tank. Males separated from each other and the females by something called plastic canvas I glued into the tank with aquarium silicone.
The tank is large enough to be safely heated and filtered with a penguin 160.

I do have to get a new hospital tank REAL SOON .

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi...I'll try to help:

1. I had bettas in bowls, and I couldn't keep their bowls warm enough, and one got sick quite a lot. I ended up getting a 5 1/2 gallon tank with a 25 watt heater to keep them warm. My temp. is set to 82 degrees, and the betta (only one in there now) is happy. When they were in the bowls, I used to turn the undercounter lights on , but they are halogen, and this heated up the water too much. Then when I turned the light off at night the temp dropped too much for them. So, if you're going to turn your heat back to 62 degrees during the day when you're gone, (which is perfectly understandable!) then I would suggest you get a 5 1/2 gallon tank and a heater. My tank was $9.99 and my heater was 19.99. It's a VisiTherm Deluxe, but I've seen cheaper 25 watt heaters online. I do think the betta would be uncomfortable at that temperature.

2. Yes, a desk lamp is ok, just not halogen! I took my betta over to my parents' house one time so they could "babysit" (this was when he was in the bowl) and they put one of those green "banker's" lamps by his bowl. They put it a little off to the side so the light wouldn't shine right on him.

3. BettaMin flakes are ok. My betta will not eat the Hikari Betta Bio-gold! But that's fine to give your betta. Mine also likes HBH Betta Bites, Hikari freeze-dried bloodworms, and Bio Blend Betta by Marineland. I squeeze these between my fingernails to break them in half for him. Otherwise they are too big and sink too fast.

Here are some links:
Whisper Heater 10 50watt

Mini Submersible Heaters

Since you are turning the house thermostat down to 62 degrees, you may consider a 50 watt heater. The info. for my heater says it can raise the water 9 degrees. Since you want to keep the tank temp. about 18 degrees above room temp, a 50 watt heater may be better for you. Hope this helps!

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

Also, something to consider, your apartment temperature is not always consistent throughout. For example...my kitchen is a great deal warmer than the rest of my apartment, since my old gas stove cranks out a lot of heat. If you can find a "warm spot" in your apartment, it might be good for the lil betta!

 

[William]

Oh, as for the flake food my betta eats since everyone else is giving the brands of what they use.

He only eats Omega One Tropical

 

[MicroFish]

Our betta eats just about everything we give him except brine shrimp. I give him BettaMin flakes as a staple but he also likes bloodworms, algae wafers (small pieces, not whole ones), tubifex worms... his favorite food is live fruit flies. Every now and again we leave a cup on the back porch w/ some water and rotting fruit in it. Within a day or so, we have enough fruit flies swarming around it to feed all of our fish for several days! They LOVE these fruit flies and I think it is good to give them actual live food occasionally. I think our betta would live on fruit flies exclusively if I allowed him to. LOL

Sheila