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How do I keep my Betta Fish happy and stress free?

So he doesn't hide in the corner and he is happy? I just got him today. Also how can I tell how old he is? How can i keep the water warm enough? My room gets very cold in the winter. My tank has a mirror on each side (except for front and back) but its only wherever the water is. How do i cover it up or something so he doesnt get stressed? If i turn off the lights or have my room dim will that help?

Public Comments

1. Congrats on your new beta!! he sounds cute. You should get him a nice big tank at leased 3-5 gallons or more, then you can buy him a heater. he will love you for it, you can get him a plant so he can hide and feel safe. you should clean his tank ever 4 days to keep him and his water nice and clean, but only clean 20 percent, you can do this with a siphon so that the good bacteria in the water doesnt go away. he is probably around 8 months old, thats usually at the age they are sold, if you really want to give him a treat you can pinch the skins of of pease and cut them up and give him a little of one but be carefull that it doesnt dirty the water to much and this should only be done once a week, it will make him feel great!!! good luck with your new friend.
2. Hello, A way to keep your betta stress fre is to get a filter. This will avoid less water changes which will prevent your fish from stressing. Also give him a heater. 72-80 degrees for the heater. Also, they CAN live in bowls 1 at bare minimum 2.5 gallon recomended.However they will thrive better with more room a filter and a heater. Also if you do have him in a bowl(which is fine) try putting a mirror up to his bowl. He wil flare up and swim around verry fast. This will give him excersize. However don't leave the mirror there for more than two minutes. And don't leave it there forever. He will get STRESSED which we don't want lol and will end up dieing. I seriously hope i helped! An good luck with you betta! Also, this is a link for a mini heater for fish bowls. http://www.pet-dog-cat-supply-store.com/shop/index.php?page=shop-flypage-12163
3. Make sure you have a filtered and heated 5 gallon tank.If you already have that,do 30% water changes once a week,feed him just a small pinch of food daily,and he should live for 2 or 3 happy years.If you just have him in a bowl,I would take him and the bowl back,and hope that someone who can provide the proper home for him,buys him. EDIT: On average,captive breed bettas,like you and most people have only live 2 or 3 years.It is not all that unusal for them to live longer,but you would be lucky if you have one longer than 3 years. The biggest problem with keeping them in a bowl is that there is no filtration.Without a filter,the water needs to be changed every day.Most people who are not willing to get their fish a proper home,are not willing to do daily water changes in a bowl.Plus,the daily water changes that are needed to keep a betta in a bowl can stress the fish,causing premature death.
4. One important factor in betta fish care is to use a container that allows the fish to swim around a bit. Bettas can of course survive in the little jars they are often sold in, but this is far from a healthy environment and bettas in such tight quarters may fade in color and become sluggish. Bettas don't need a huge amount of space, but a little room to swim, and a decent amount of surface area for the fish to get gulps of air in are recommended. As a suggestion, a 1 to 2 gallon fish bowl is a good option. Little research has been done on aging aquarium fish. Until some formal studies are done all we have are our own observations. It’s important to first understand that there is a learning curve involved with the aquarium hobby and every specific species of fish. I often hear new keepers surmise that the death of their betta was old age even when the fish was only 2 years old. I admit I blamed the death of my first betta in college on old age even though I only had him 11 months. If I knew then what I know now I would have considered that the unheated, half-gallon, sporadically water-changed bowl I had him in probably had something to do with it. If your betta is 2 years old and belly up it was probably something environmental, not old age. Reviewing your care regimen may prove useful. I know, it’s harsh but this is tough love and it’ll do you good in the long run. Aging is a slow process that accumulates over time. If your betta suddenly becomes lethargic or looses color over a few days or weeks it may be a sign of disease. If the symptoms are very gradual and your attempts at curing them seem to be in vein then it may just be that your betta is getting old. For me, it was a number of symptoms increasing over many months before I realized that my betta might be in his senior years. There are several physical changes that may occur. Most noticeably, his color may change subtly or dramatically over time and eventually become very dull and even brown. Iridescent colorations may fade entirely leaving a very bland or muted shade behind. Despite regular feeding you may notice the fish becomes gradually thinner and even bony. The individual scales may become more prominent and your betta may loose his scales more often. You may have noticed the occasional white, acne-like spot on your fish in the past. These are very common among bettas and don’t seem to cause any harm. Older bettas may develop these more frequently. Chronic fin rot may creep up. This fin loss tends to last indefinitely and does not improve with medication or changes in water parameters. It can develop in even the best water conditions. One of the most common physical symptoms of aging in bettas is loss of sight. You may find that your betta frequently lunges for food and misses or doesn’t recognize movement outside the tank like he used to. Some bettas develop what can only be characterized as cataracts. When observing the eyes you may see a filmy coating covering much of the eyeball that is also common in aging people. Bettas come from tropical regions and are happiest at temperatures at about the 75 to 80 degree (Farenheit) range.
5. congrats on your betta! one betta now just found a home. if he's swimming around and not lying on the bottom, he's happy. there's no way to tell his age, unless the pet store knows. (i doubt it) yes you should cover up the mirrors. male bettas fight with other fish, so seeing his own reflection might cause him to think it's another betta. then he'll get stressed out and mad... dimming the lights won't help, he can see through the glass of his tank. You have a tank, so get some lights and put them into the lid of the tank. that'll warm up the water. WHAT IS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT? NO ONE HAS ANSWERED HER QUESTION!