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And he's gorgeous! Beautiful colours, lovely long fins ... I think I'm in love

A couple of questions though to get me started down the right path:

He's in a 10g on his own at the moment. The filter creates a lot of water movement on the surface so we're thinking of either modifying it or buying a new softer one. This will be in the next week or so. In the meantime I've set the filter on timer - turning off & on several times a day so at least there are good periods of still water for him. Is this a good idea or potentially dangerous? Could we do this indefinitely while he's on his own? What is the general rule on water movement? How much is too much?

Food - should I buy Betta pellets? The LFS said he'd be ok on my normal flakes and blood worms. He ate flakes yesterday but I've read somewhere that they're not really keen. What do you recommend?

Finally decor: a lot of the Betta tanks I've seen posted on this site are usually fairly striking but minimal. ie. Just one or two plants. Is this the preferred Betta home or just a space constraint? His current home is quite busy with rocks and plants. Should I get a floating plant for him, if so could you recommend the right one?

Any other top tips for keeping my new favourite fish happy and healthy?

Tanks in advance

Last edited by fishymama at 16-May-2005 02:15

Congrats on your new fish!
I don't know much about the filter and water movement, but I would buy him the betta pellets because I think they should have variety of foods And I don't think that bettas are picky about the tank setup, your rocks and plants are probably fine. Do you have a heater in the tank?
I hope this was a little bit of help.

YAY!!! you better watch out though... before too long you will end up having 5 bettas cause they are so addicting . i see one that is so pretty and you just HAVE to get it cause if you dont you feel horrible. i have had 2 walk away from one ssoo many times . i went 2 walmart about a week ago and saw a male that had a yellow body w/ red fins! !!! i already had 4 at the time, so i told myself no i cant so i left, beat myself up over it for days, so when i went 2 walmart 2 get "tissues" i went over there and he was still there!!! so i snatched him up, HEHE. when i came home- my mom was like- YOU GOT ANOTHER BETTa. hehehe!!!! i cant help it...
Good Luck with your new fish!!!
-kristin

~!!I lOve LiFe!!~

If you cannot adjust or lower the flow of the filter, please do not turn it off and on with a timer. Having the filter off for an extended length of time could kill off the beneficial bacteria on the filter and cause anaroebic bacteria to grow and, that could kill your betta.

I had a day off work today so I've bought a new filter from LFS which doesn't create any water movement on the surface - problem solved.

Thanks for your advice!