Keeping water warm for beta

Question
Hi,

3 Questions...

I recently bought a beta fish.  I keep him in a 1 gallon plastic bowl near a window so that he gets bright sunlight everyday.  I have been feeding him Pro Balance 7 day beta blocks.  The back of the package says:
Each block feeds Bettas for up to 7 days. Simply place the 7-Day Feeding Block in your tank or bowl. Within hours it will start to dissolve, releasing nutritious freeze-dried foods, while also neutralizing aquarium water.
I also do a partial water change every week and add a water conditioner.   

Recently I've noticed that my beta's color's aren't as vibrant as they used to be.  I've been doing some reseach and I was wondering if it is because the water is too chlorinated (since i'm adding the water conditioner and adding the food tablet which neutralizes water).  If so, should I just place the tablet in and let that neutralize the water instead of also adding the water conditioner? OR should I just reserve those tablets for when I am away for a couple of days and go back to feeding him HBH Betta Bites?  If water cholorination isn't the problem is there a food preference he would prefer (tablet vs. the beta bites)?

I don't think he's sick because he's swimming around happily, has no visible problems such as bloated stomach, etc and even builds his bubblenest...  Last night I changed his water and instead of putting in the food tablet i dropped some of the Beta bites in and he ate all of them right up.... so he seems healthy to me.

I also read that he may be losing his color because the water may not be warm enough.  I don't want to torture the poor guy.  How can I keep his water warm enough when he is in a plastic goldfish bowl?  

If i fix all of these possible problems will he regain his original color?  he was so handsome... :)

Sorry for all the questions, I hope they were clear enough.  I just want to take good care of this little guy.  THANK YOU.

Answer
Hi Laura;

Poor guy. Part of the problem is I really think the food blocks are poisoning his water. There is no way possible to provide freeze dried foods "for up to 7 days" without the food spoiling to some extent. I'm rarely this critical about specific products, but this one I really have to give a "thumbs down". Penn Plax usually makes good stuff too. Weird.

Water quality might need a bit of improvement too. If there is no filtration it is necessary to replace 100% of the bowl water every week. If it has a filter, 50% weekly is fine.

To warm his water, put him in another area out of the window and put a desk lamp over his bowl. Too much sunlight can cause a trememdous amount of algae to grow in there. You might be seeing nothing but green water pretty soon. Yikes! It can also overheat in warmer months. Put a thermometer in there so you can monitor the temperature and make sure it doesn't get out of range. Bettas need 76 to 82 all the time, but it should not fluctuate  more than 3 degrees in a day.

Here are some very good sites with more info on betta care;

http://groups.msn.com/TheBettaObsession/newtobettasthisisforyou.msnw
http://www.bettatalk.com/basic_care.htm
http://joshday.com/bettafaq.htm
http://www.healthybetta.com/Care/page1-general.htm

I hope he feels better soon........

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins