Hi,
I just got two new bettas and I am really enjoying them. One is in a larger tank and the other I keep in a smaller glass bowl on my desk. My brilliant blue betta is looking less blue than when I first got him. Just wondering if this is normal or if his health is declining? (He is looking more grey on his body and his fins look a little less groomed. If that does not make sense, I mean they looked perfect when I got him, but now look slightly stringy at the ends.) He is active though and eating well and does not look sickly.
Here are the details of the care that I provide (please feel free to let me know if I am doing something that I should not do or if I can change some things to ensure they are receiving the best care):
I change the water about every two to three days (using regular tap water with the recommended amount of Spendid Complete Water Conditioner). I also prep the water the night before in a pitcher and let it sit overnight to make sure it is room temperature before I clean out their containers and fill with the fresh, clean water.
I also switch them to each different tank/bowl each cleaning. I am not sure if this is good or bad-but I feel a little sorry for the one in the small bowl (I plan on getting another larger tank soon) so I thought if I switch them at each cleaning, it would keep them active and exploring a new environment every couple of days. If I should stop doing this, please let me know.
I feed them about twice a day, 4 to 5 pellets of Agua Culture-it just says its color enhancing fish meal, wheat, flour, soybean meal pellets.
Any additional advice and care would be appreciate-I really enjoy having them and would like to keep them at long as possible and I certainly don't want to hurt them unintentionally by doing something I should not to their tank/bowl.
I probably will not check back at this forum-so if you can help me and offer advice, please email me at [email]designdiva8@cox.net<br[/email] />Jill Hayes

soundslike you love your fishies. you're doing alot of right things, however (as we've all learned) bettas don't really like change. too many new or different things within a short period of time will stress them out and make them susceptible to things like Ich (or Itch), fin-rot, fungus, and other gross stuff.
your water changes sound good, i would start putting some aquarium salt (NOT table salt or ionized salt), at the recommended doses. that helps keep yucky diseases like Ich away.
Your fishie friend soundslike it may have a bit of fin-rot. catching it early is good! try something like MelaFix or BettaFix. follow the directions.
also, you might want to make sure that you are using a dechlorinator that not only gets rid of chlorine but also chloramine. if you're not sure if your water has any chloramine you can either call your local water department or just get some stuff that'll rid of both.
oh oh and let's not forget feeding. bettas need a varied diet, so giving them just one type of food all the time isn't really healthy. think about if you would eat one thing all the time (that's what i do, yuk). yeah so... blood worms, black worms (less messy and use a medicine dropper or plactic pippette), vitamin flakes, Hikari Bio-Gold pellets (everyone's favourite), are usually good things to feed a betta. most importantly... don't over feed your bettas, no matter how much they beg! it pollutes the water and isn't good for bettas, like too many fatty cheesburgers for little girls.
oh oh before i forget, if you have gravel, "vacuum" or suck up with turkey baster or siphon method, to get all the uneaten food and poops out of gravel.
and there you go, on your way to happy healthy betta. you're other best peice of advice is to go through all the articles and fish forum pages. most people have all thier questions answered by reading everything.

good luck and let us know how he progresses!

oh yeah! WELCOME to the forum! we're all good people here and everyone's very friendly. feel free to blab about anything your fishies, we all do. and no question is a dumb a question.