possible sick fish

Question
I wrote to Chris about a possible sick betta that I have. I've noticed that he sits on either the bottom of the tank or up by the heater we have in our 10 gallon tank. I mentioned to him that I have 5 other fish with him and he suggested that I isolate the betta and feed him the frozen peas that I read on the other questions. Should I do this? We have the heater set to 72-73 degrees should that be higher? Please help me. We have had him for a few years. We took him from my boyfriends mom because he was being bitten by tiger barbs she had. I haven't had any trouble with the tetras that I have with him now.

Answer
Hi Jenn,
 72-73 is way too cold for a betta. They are tropical fish and should be up near 80oF.  They can live at lower temperatures but when subjected to cool water they do exactly what you have described: they sit still and wait for the water to get warmer.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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