Beta food, and fins

Question
Hi, I just bought a beta and I have a few questions about him.  My first question is that I'm wondering exactly how much I should be feeding him.  I bought him those very tiny round pellets of food, but they don't specify how much to feed the fish.  It says feed seveal times a day and as much as needed until pellets are left after a few minutes.  I fed my beta, Syris, 3 times, about 3 pellets each time, and he gobbles them up each time.  Am I over feeding him?  He acts very hungry though when I put the first one in each time, so I don't want him to starve, but yet I dont want to over feed him.  My second question is on his fins.  He is a beautifully colored beta with long flowing fins.  His fins are very ragged at the bottom though and are kind of droopy.  My dad thinks Syris is sick, but I looked at pictures of betas, and I saw several betas that looked just like mine. (Mine kind of looks like this one)http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Anabantoids/Betta_splendensAQBluRed.jpg
Should I be worried, or is this natural?  He also has one of those smaller beta tanks, so I'm wondering if they are droopy due to the smaller swimming area.  I am considering buying him a larger tank, but I read on here that it's not good to transfer betas to a new enviroment.  He seems happy and active in this one,so I'm not sure if I should keep the same tank or change it. I'm also unsure of changing it because I'm still worried he could be sick or something due to my dad putting ideas into my head.  Please help!  Thanks.

Answer
Hi Lisa;

It's wonderful that you are so interested in proper care of your betta! He's a lucky guy!

It is very important not to overfeed him. The total number of pellets in one day should not be more than 4 to 6. You risk constipation and death if you overfeed him so it is best to keep the feedings within that amount. You can feed him as many times a day as you want, just no more than a total of 4 to 6 pellets in one day. It's also good to "fast" your fish one day a week. This means no food at all for one full day so his digestion can kind of "reboot".

If his bowl size is a gallon or larger it's a good size. Bigger is always better though. If it's smaller than a gallon he may eventually develop finrot because he will be too close to his waste and will easily become infected. It really is no problem to transfer fish to a new environment as long as it's done safely. Make sure that the new water is the same temperature as the old water and use a water conditioner. His water needs to be changed at least once a week no matter what size tank he is in.

Here is a list of sites about bettas you can look through for more information;

http://groups.msn.com/TheBettaObsession/newtobettasthisisforyou.msnw
http://www.siamsbestbettas.com/care.html
http://joshday.com/bettafaq.htm
http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_care.htm
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/betta.htm
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/anabantids2/p/betta.htm
http://www.healthybetta.com/Care/main.htm

Have Fun!

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins