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Betta fish2007-11-24 23:10:15

Bettas comes from tropical waters and would require higher water temp to thrive. It is true that cooler water does hold more Oxygen and lower the fish's metabolism (fish being cold blooded), but it doesn't mean that they will be healthy, remember that aquarium fish come from different parts of the world and we are providing an artificial environment for them and that we need to simulate as much as possible the conditions that they are found in. And for bettas that is water temp of 78-80F.

Cultured gravel does (in the ideal conditions) hold more bacteria that is beneficial for the fishes, but in such a confined space and the lack of water circulation, i doubt that there would be any benefit in using them.

I prefer to do up to 50% water changes every 2-3 days with dechlorinated tap water, removing as much debris as possible during water changes. Theree is no need to use bottled water.

You can feed bettas with either live or commercially prepared fish food. Live food like daphnia, brine shrimps, blood worms, mosquito larvae, etc.. are usually consumed within a few minutes and any uneaten food will stay alive in the tank until eaten (except for brine shrimps). While commercially prepared fish food like tetramin, freeze dried and frozen blood worms, etc.. have to be consumed immediately after feeding, any uneaten dried food will soon spoil the water, thus you need to remove them after 5-10 minutes.

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Another thing about the oxygen thing is that bettas use their labyrinth organs more than their gills, so the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water really doesn't matter. They breathe atmospheric air more than using dissolved oxygen.