Polarhound wrote in message ...
Several questions for all of you today. Any advice is appreciated.

At a small wedding I attended last week, we were given a betta along
with all the basic supplies as the table gift. First time I have seen
someone do this, but in his case it is appropriate as the groom is a big
fish fanatic (over 1000gal in tanks, with his family including the likes
of a lungfish, stonefish, buttikoferi, waterdog, oscars, lionfish,
electric eels, rays, and an alligator named Fluffy) and works at an LFS
to boot.

The fish themselves were given in vases along with gravel, water
conditioner, and food, so the basics are taken care of. While he has
been in the vase, he gets a 100% water change and gravel rinse every 3 days.

I've decided to move the betta to a 5gal tank, (possibly an Eclipse Hex
5,) and give him a few mates, most likely 5-6 neon tetras.

Question 1: Is a half dozen neons too many for this tank, based on 1"/gal?

I would first focus on getting your Betta up to a happy and healthy
state first. Depending on his personality he may attack the neons.
You'll need places for them to hide if he is aggressive. And be
prepared to move them out if you betta is of a more aggressive nature
as well.

Since I brought the betta home, it has not eaten at all. I have tried
Splendid Betta pellets (that came with the betta), Tetra freeze dried
blood worms, (specifically marked as being good for bettas,)

Dry and freeze-dried food/pellets are bad for a bettas digestion and
often cause bloating or swim bladder disorders. Your betta will love
you forever if you feed him frozen blood-worms (not to be confused as
Freeze-dried) or blood-worms in gel. Frozen daphnia is also a
nutritious favorite. Frozen brine shrimp or brine shrimp in gel are
also yummy to your betta but don't contain all the nutrients they
need. They make a nice treat though. Pea is fine once in a while as
well. If he's not eating he may be constipated. (it sounds like you're
way overfeeding him) you can try a little pea (no skin though) and
when you see a greenish poo, you'll no he's no longer constipated.
(I'll get more into feeding in you later question)

a piece of
frozen blood worm, a piece of Sera Vipan staple flake food, and 1/4
cooked pea. He won't eat any of it. As well, even though I fish the
food out of the bowl after 15-20min, the gravel rinsings show copious
amounts of waste.

Are you checking your water parameters for ammonia? Poor water quality
is the number one reason for sick bettas. There should be zero ammonia
in the water. If you're doing 100% water changes, you should test the
water every day for ammonia. If on day 5 (for example) your water
shows signs of slight ammonia, then you know you have to change his
water every 4 days so he is never exposed to any ammonia. It sounds
like you've had other tanks before and you're aware of water cycling.
I apologize if I'm telling you information you already know.

He does move around the bowl, responds to me when I am nearby (but only
when looking from directly above), and has been blowing some bubbles.

That's a bubble nest. Male bettas blow bubble nests as a housing for
the eggs. Some blow nest all the time and some hardly ever do. It's a
good sign though. Usually, it's a sign of a healthy betta.
Congratulations!

Fins are not clamped during movement, and no disease indicators (other
then a tiny gray spot that has since shown up at the base of his dorsal
fin,) and becomes more active if I move him next to one of my other tanks.

Question 2: I know bettas can go a month without starving. Should I
just not feed him for about a week and see if he changes moods? I
realize that the double move (LFS to wedding to home) was likely very
stressful.

YIKES! This is NOT TRUE!!! A betta can starve to death in about 2
weeks. That doesn't mean you should go a full week without feeding
him. If he refuses to eat for a week, don't totally panic, but I would
never starve an animal for that long. If he's constipated, give him a
day or two. You're right, moving to a new tank IS stressful, but he'll
figure it out. The best thing you can do is give him a good home with
clean water that meets the proper parameters. (i.e. ammonia, pH, kH,
78* etc)

Now, on to the new tank. I have several tanks of which I can pull
cultured gravel from. Well, all except Marty's (my 2.5" buttikoferi)
tank.. He's liable to have it spread all over the tank within an hour!
However, none of the colors match what I want to use in his new home.

Question 3: If I were to say, put some of the new gravel in a cup
inside one of my current tanks, how long would it reasonably take to
have enough bacteria attach itself to be able to jump-start the new
tank? As an alternative, would it be easier to temporarily install a
corner filter filled with cultured gravel?

This likely won't really work. While, yes the gravel does hold some
helpful bacteria, most of it is in the filter media. The best bet is
to cycle the tank with BioSpira (sold refrigerated in many LFS stores)
There ARE other brands, but I've been told time and time again to stay
away from them. BioSpira is the only one I've used and the only one I
trust. That's introduce the bacteria directly in the tank, will not
produce harmful ammonia and nitrite spikes and you'll be fully cycled
in 24-72 hours. The best thing is you can never overdose with
BioSpira. (Geeze, listen to me, I sound like a commercial)

Question 4: The only experience I have with a biowheel is in my 75g
tank which had the wheels from day one. Would soaking the new wheel in
one of my established tanks do more than what I asked in question 3?

I've never used a biowheel, so I won't comment. Better to say I Don't
Know then to guess, right? ;-)

Now that I mentioned Marty, it brings me to my next question,
specifically feeding.

If I were to dump a whole container of food into his tank (10g until he
grows a bit more) he would probably eat it in 20 minutes. Voracious is
an understatement with him. I feed him once per day, starting with
Tetra mini pellets, then a few flakes, then some freeze dried blood
worms. I know that you should never feed more than they can eat in a
few minutes, but does this include when he's eating like a starved
lunatic? I put in the food in small amounts, of which he always eats in
about 10 seconds flat. Several small pinches (5-6 at a time) of the
pellets, a couple of flakes, then a few blood-worms at a time. Although
sometimes he slows down during the blood-worms, he usually is clamoring
for more when I end the feeding.

RULE ONE!!!! Bettas LIE!.. You absolutely CAN NOT feed a betta until
he stops eating. The simple fact is, he'll eat himself to death. A
bettas stomach is only as big as his eyeball and you should never feed
him more then that. Which means, if you choose to feed him pellet food
(which I tried to talk you out of earlier) you should first soak it in
a cup for about 10-15 minutes so that it expands to it's full size.
Then you'll see just how big they really get in a bettas stomach. Then
at full size you can feed him 2-3 pellets a day. I'll tell you what I
feed my bettas, it might be helpful.

Day ONE: 2-3 blood-worms in gel
Day TWO: 2-3 blood-worms in gel
Day THREE: 2-3 blood-worms in gel
Day FOUR: 2-3 blood-worms in gel
Day FIVE: 2-3 tiny Brine Shrimp in gel
Day SIX: 1/4 pea with no skin
Day SEVEN: Fasting Day

Question 5: In a case like this, how much is too much?
Anything more then an eyeball size amount is too much. The
consequences of overfeeding could range from constipation to swim
bladder disease and even death... Not to mention it'll raise the
ammonia levels in your tank so fast that it'll be a pain to keep up
with water changes.

Marty is truly a creature of habit. He expects his one big meal a day,
and if you try to feed him at any other point in time he'll ignore it.

Marty is your Betta? Hey Marty.

(Last question now, I promise!)

When I am cleaning the smaller tanks, it is hard for me to do a proper
cleaning without removing too much water. Specifically, cleaning the
gravel in the 10G is a royal pain. Normally I only get half the gravel
done before I hit the water limit. This is with a manual siphon. Using
a Python is not an option, as I can't get suction running the hose down
a flight of stairs, and the sink on the same level doesn't allow me to
get a good seal to get any suction.

Can you try a bucket? I use a 5 gal painters bucket from home depot
and syphoning works just fine. I have two 10 gal and a 5.5 gal. You
could always try to use less gravel. You don't really need a lot.
(Remember, most of your bacteria is in the filter media) If you happen
to find a great way to clean these small tank, please do share. ;-)

Question 6: Any recommendations on better ways to clean the gravel? I
ask because this problem may be magnified with the 5g tank coming later
today. Should I look into a lower powered battery operated siphon?
Should I rotate scooping portions of the gravel out and rinsing it? The
10g has a little under 1" of gravel at present, with some areas deeper
than others, thanks to Marty's hole digging and plant rearranging antics.

Use little or no gravel.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

I'm part of this really great Betta message board (yup all bettas) The
moderators there are brilliant and have save kabillions of betta
lives, if you want here's the link.
http://pub36.ezboard.com/faquariumbbsfrm3

Best of luck to you and Marty!
~Christie