Betas?

[Iilo]

Thanks everyone for your help...
After feeling ELATED about how easy it was to go into school today and change my schedule around before we actually start next wednesday, and after reading up a little bit more on betas and knowing that I'll have PT in case I get flustered, I went out and bought PIRATE. I had my heart set on naming my first beta Panda, but when I went to Wallyworld to get the beta (no betas at petco.. wth?) I just started calling him Pi and Pirate...

I felt sooo bad for all the betas there, they were on the little shelfy set up thing and they were so close to each other... Doesn't that make them mad? But none of them were "posturing" (don't know if that's the term for what betas do, but we use it in dogs lol) or getting riled up or anything when I looked at them. Pirate's color just made me go WOW though and he looked like the healthiest and once I started talking to him and sort of waving my fingers around in front of his little cup, he swam around and got all puffed up and pretty.

It is SO hard to take a picture of this little guy... He's really glad (I think) to be in the bigger bowl (only 1 gal, but I think I will graduate to a bigger tank once I get a little more cash). I don't think I acclimated him well enough, but he seems to be doing fine. I put the dechlor in but we don't have any "aquarium salt" will sea salt work? It's not table salt, but rather rock salt... or are they the same? His bowl is also rather bare, no gravel, no plants... He will be getting a plant on Saturday, though, and I suppose I'll have to put gravel in to keep the plant from just floating away. Is that the only reason to have gravel? He doesn't seem unhappy with just the water... actually, he seems really happy with the "HUGE" (to him) space. He's just swimming around... he totally reminds me of Dory. But he is a little scared and probably somewhat stressed at his new surroundings (I would be too if I went through what he did... AND he had to be in the car with ME as a driver on the way home... poor little guy. I tried to drive extra-slow for him, which is hard for me lol). I think I'm going to admire him from afar for a few days except to give him a pellet or two (crappy walmart beta food, but I'm going to look for the stuff you recomended, Erica [so weird because that's my name too]) so he can just get used to the new house.

I'll attach a picture, but it's probably huge because I haven't had a chance to resize them yet... also, it's the BEST i got out of like 60 pictures... and it's crappy.