feeding betta

Question
a week ago we got our betta, scooter from my son's preschool class after they did a lesson on responsibility.  while i think it was irresponsible to give out fish to parents who didn't ask for them, i am trying to do the right thing for this fella.

scooter lives in a betta kit tank with a fake plant and gravel, that i believe is about 1/2 a gallon in volume.  is this adequate?  i still have to get a light, which i learned from you is necessary for his health.  

Scooter does not seem to like the pellet betta food, prefering the flake food instead.  is this food as good for him?  also, we were told to feed him 2 or 3 flakes 3X a day.  is this too much?  he loves to eat and gets very active after eating.

thanks!
Tracy

Answer
Hi Tracy;

How ironic. Irresponsible behavior by the adults teaching children responsibility. I agree with you completely. A live animal should never be thrust upon someone. Even a fish. Especially since bettas need proper care to keep them healthy. I guess the bright side is that it wasn't something much harder to care for like a dog, or cat, or......

Anyway, his container is okay, but a gallon or larger is better. Just be sure to change his water once a week. Use a good water conditioner so it removes chlorine and helps him with the stress of his water being changed. Tap water is perfectly fine. You don't have to use bottled water unless you want to. Just don't use distilled. It has no minerals that fish really need. Just be sure that the water you use is the same temperature as the old water. Temperature shock can kill him.

If he prefers the flakes that's fine. Just be sure it is a complete basic diet food with vitamins. Fish are fine being fed once a day. Feed no more than the size of his eyeball every day. His stomach is about that big and it helps keep from overfeeding him. You can split up the feedings to 3 times a day, but no more than you would feed if he ate once per day. Crumble a little food just to look at how big is really is and you can compare it to him.

He gets active after eating because bettas are carnivorous  predators that eat bugs. He's hunting and watching to see if any more of those "bugs" are going to fall in for him to eat. Nature tells him to eat as much as he can because it might not be there tomorrow. We know there will be plenty of food so we ration their portions. Below are some great web pages with info on bettas and their care. If there were other bettas given away maybe you could pass on some of this info to the other parents, or print up a care sheet to help them know how to care for their little fish too;

http://www.flippersandfins.net/BettaCaresheet.asp
http://www.bettatalk.com
http://www.healthybetta.com
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/anabantids2/p/betta.htm
http://americanfishguy.tripod.com/bettacare.html
http://groups.msn.com/TheBettaObsession/newtobettasthisisforyou.msnw

Have fun with your new little friend!

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins