Originally posted by carrie
He will be fine with other fish that do resemble him in colour or finnage
Not true at all. The worst tank mate for a Betta is a fish that looks similar in finnage. He will fight with anything that remotely resembles another betta.

Here's a site about betta care, tank mates, good tank info, etc.:

http://www.nazarenenexus.com/betta_ed/index.htm

Some good tank mates are:
African Dwarf Frog
Bala Shark
Cherry Barb
Clown Loach
Cory Cats (Corydoras)
Cardinal/Neon Tetra
Guppy (females only, not large finned males)
Ghost Shrimp
Mollies (not fancy ones with large fins)
Platies
Plecostomus
Snails (one per tank)
Swordtails
White Cloud Minnow
Zebra Danio

Plecos will get HUGE eventually, so unless you want a BIG aquarium for it later, don't go that route. I prefer to vacuum my gravel once a week and replace the water that process removes with fresh, treated tap water. I also use a magnetized algae scraper once a week and then change my filters at that time. I do all this every Saturday and spend about 20 minutes total on all three tanks.

Also, try to remember the rule of one inch of fish per gallon of water. Any more than that and their waste will create too much amonia and pollute the water quickly.

Spring water or tap water treated with a water conditioner/chlorine remover is fine. Never use distilled water. It's free of minerals that fish (and people) need.

I prefer live plants, but silk plants are ok too. Plastic plants are not good - they will tear a bettas delicate fins. The like to have plants to hide in.