I came into my office this morning to a bowl with a small amount of water and this fish. I ran to the store and grabbed a thermometer and water conditioner and increased the water level and put it in a warm room.
I haven't had fish in ages, my dad was the expert so I grew up with them but I don't know the ways like he did lol
I'm looking for advice, opinions, suggestions.
I plan to do another water change tomorrow, I want that food out of there. All the orange are food pellets, I scooped a bunch out already.
How do I balance improving the environment without stressing this poor fish any more than I have to?
I am trying to decide which tank to go with… 5-10 gallons.. a heater, maybe not plants yet but definitely something to hide in and rest on.
I'm trying to get things going asap, my crew decided to call her/him Perdy, but it'll be coming home with me once I get a tank going.
thank you in advance!
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1sefppf
Posted by Tsuki_no_Kitsune
3 Comments
Plants will help you keep the water stable! They would be a great idea! 5 gallon will work fine, some prefer a 10 but 5 should be ok.
https://preview.redd.it/7nzzx0qvtntg1.png?width=2100&format=png&auto=webp&s=27db1f0c8e235ae3c04d1e7dfc89815a2fe29f63
depending on the size of the bowl, you can keep it or trash it. i reccomend you trash it anyways even if it’s proper size and replace it with a 5-10 gallon cube/longways tank. you can get some live plants at the store or amazon if you have extra time to properly maintain the tank but if you don’t then just get silk plants with some nice natural rocks. the rocks in my tanks i source from outside, but you can get them at a petstore or home depot aswell. hed also love some resting spots near the surface since bettas are labrynth fish who gulp air from the surface. you should deffinitely get a filter for sure, if your water temperature is sitting lower then 77 then you probably need a water heater to. as for substrate, you can keep a few of those rocks but replace most of it with sand/gravel. the rocks make GREAT access peices, i use those exact ones all the time. also, look into fish in cycling as you will need to do that. you can get test strips for now to use daily until it’s cycled, but i find the api liquid test kits to be a lot less pricey in the long run. i’ve never really gotten incorrect readings with strips, a lot of people say they’re unreliable but since i’ve never had that problem i can’t speak on it. hope this helps! purdy is such a cutie already, once he gets settled in a better environment he will be even happier and prettier! edit to add: those pellets look like a type that’s hard to digest , so you should get a different type of food aswell. i’ve had good luck with omega one flakes and fluval bug bites, but overall frozen brine shrimp is my favourite to feed, although they do need to be frozen and dethawed. if you choose frozen brine shrimp, make sure to be careful with the amount you give him.
For his current bowl situation I would drop in a tiny sponge filter and a heater. Can throw in some plants to make it feel less barren.
Get an API test kit and test the water every other day. Keep Ammonia and Nitrites at 0ppm, Nitrates can go up to 10-15ppm.
For his new tank, I’d get the biggest tank you can. I just transferred my Betta to a 20 gallon tank. The bigger the tank the easier it is to keep.