New to this all starting out with a 2.5 gallon betta aquarium. help is appreciated!!

I have been reading up on the nitrogen cycle and it has perplexed me a bit but thank you for clarifying. I unfortunately cant really afford a larger tank, money or space wise as a college student, but perhaps i will save up towards one in the future. The testing doesnt bother me. i will get a test kit then it seems. can i get one at a pet store? id really like to get my poor betta out of her vase asap. but if it takes time to make it safer i suppose it is worth it.


Look on Amazon for the test kit. The prices are usually better than what you get in the stores. Also, Petco has a dollar per gallon sale about every quarter, and all rectangular tanks 10-55 gallons are typically sold at the dollar per gallon cost. I bought 3 10 gallon tanks at the last one, and was told there would be another in December, but YMMV. That's about 20 by 10 inches long, and I can't remember how tall. I was surprised at how much useful stuff can be found on Amazon.
 
i looked at walmart and they were out of stock today :( will probably order or check petsmart tomorrow
 
Nice betta!!!

Have you heard of the betta comparability mirror test? With females, put a mirror in front of her tank. If she try's to kill the reflection, she can't be with other females or males without extreme caution. If she is ok, then you can do a sorority of bettas with other friendly females. Look up betta serority on google.
 
cool ill look it up online, i really like betta, cool looking fish.
 
Ya, I used to have a beautiful male, but he jumped out... :(


That reminds me- make sure the tank is covered. Bettas are jumpers.
 
well its now day 2 in the new tank. things are going well but im a bit concerned, she has not been eating like she normaly does, shes been picking at her food and spitting it back out. any thoughts?
 
she does look healthy, acting cheeerful and swimming quite a bit, could she just be getting used to her new tank?
 
If she's doing that, don't feed. Fish really don't need to eat every day, they can go at least 2 weeks without eating. Be sure and get more than just one kind of food for variety, bettas love freeze dried bloodworms. They also should eat a cooked pea, with the skin pinched off, every so often so as not to get constipated.

I am sure she will get used to her tank, but the first few weeks are less than ideal as the tank cycles, so change a little water and use ammonia binder once a day, after or right before feeding.
 
so i bought her some freeze dried blood worms and she ate one right up, im glad to know that she doesn't have to eat every day though, i was a bit worried. also ive read that the pea can be a bad idea and can cause intestinal damage. It seems some people vouch for it though. Peoples opinions on Peas and bettas would be helpful, especially from those who own one. i have been doing daily water changes of about a liter and a half-2liters. i do have some ammonia block i just got and will use daily.
 
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