Betta Fish, shock?

Question
I bought a betta fish for my three year old daughter three days ago. He is in a gallon tank with coditioned water. He has not eaten and hardly moves. Today he has been sticking his nose down in his rocks and his entire body floats up until his body is almost vertical. I read thaey should be warm, I love in North Carolina and it's about 70 in my house. His water feels cold. I put him in a window sill. Should he be in direct sun light? Also, he's been m,oved around alot as my daughter stuck her hand in his bowl a few times. Sorry so many questions. Thanks for your time.
Sarah

Answer
Hi Sarah;

You might want to change the water in his bowl after little hands have been in it. (Unless you have already) Fish are extremely sensitive to soaps, lotions and other things that are good for people. Even if it doesn't seem like there is much, just residue on hands can kill a fish. Use a water conditioner in the new water.

He needs to be 75 or higher all the time. Get a light to put on him and leave it on 24 hours a day. Sunlight will cause green algae to grow like crazy and also won't warm him at night. Some people use heating pads laid on the side of the betta bowl. Whichever method you use you will have to get an aquarium thermometer to be sure it gets warm enough. Just be very careful so you don't cause a fire danger or electrical shock. Rooms are warmer up high too so if he was up on a high shelf it would certainly help.

Here are some sites to help you know more about them;

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/anabantids2/p/betta.htm
http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=108706&ck
http://www.healthybetta.com/
http://americanfishguy.tripod.com/bettacare.html

Followups Welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

Come on over and join us on the freshwater fish forum at About.com to get even more information too;
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/questionsanswers/a/naavigateforum.htm

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