Theresa, I mainly wanted to caution you on the live food idea.. I once had a betta and I only fed him blood worms that I kept in the refrigerator and he ended up getting a HORRIBLE disease where their scales stick out and it's literally kidney failure and there's nothing you can do! This only comes from bad bacteria in live food so I just don't think it's worth it anymore. You can do frozen blood worms and use a toothpick to drop individual worms in. But he only likes "Betta Bits" by top fin anyway and it's SAFE! I know it's like 6 years later after your post but still wanted to comment. I rescued a male betta from co-worker who was keeping him in a bowl with NOTHING in it and kept forgetting to feed him. So many people don't realize that these hardy fish can survive in those conditions but they only thrive in heated, filtered aquariums with things like live plants, etc.. They're naturally from a hot region so they like their water 78-82%. So many people beg to differ on this because they have had "happy" bettas that live for a year, but guess what? They can live to be 7 YEARS OLD but only if they are well cared for and not just surviving. I set him up with 2.5 gallon heated and filtered aquarium and have had water tested, etc... He's so HAPPY! I even ordered something called Indian Almond Leaves from an aquarium supply website and put them in my tank and he LOVES THEM! They're not only an aphrodisiac for bettas but they mock the same environment that they are from where these leaves fall in the water. The leaves are REALLY good for the water quality and they build bubble nests under them. Anyway, my male betta has just been so happy and giddy (with his nice aquarium, live plants and mirror hanging there so he can take on himself!), I felt he was ready for a girlfriend! So I started a 10 gallon aquarium that has a divider in case they don't get along, and I haven't moved him over yet until the aquarium has fully cycled. But in meantime I brought first female betta home and was going to let her be first one in the 10 gallon, but I let her sit in his aquarium while I was doing some stuff and they totally seemed FINE! So I risked it and released her in the 2.5 gallon that he's in and they're GREAT! He's just duking it out with the mirror and seems to be showing off for her! She seems kind of interested too! They both keep going under the floating leaf at different times and it seemed like he was working on the bubble nest after I put them together! I'm having so much fun!!! I'm going to get 2 more females and they can all live in 10 gallon with tons of real plants for them to hide if there are issues. ;)

How old was yours when he died? Mine usually live about 4 years. I keep bettas separate because of the fish I have in my other tanks. They will do fine in a tank with other fish, though, as long as there is nothing that will pick at their fins or kill them. They aren't aggressive towards other fish, but like any fish, will chase anything it can eat. They need something to hide behind or in, too, like some floating plants, or decorations. I keep mine in a gallon tank, except when it gets cold in the winter, then they go into small containers and float in a heated tank. Males are more aggressive, but usually just with other bettas, especially males. You can keep two females in one tank, but sometimes they are aggressive, too, so keep an eye on them. They're usually fine, an aggressive female is the exception.

Tankless propane vs tank style propane heater. the newer propane and natural gas tank waterheaters are required to be equipped with safety components which has driven the price of gas-fired tank style heaters up in the past couple of years. List prices around $800 for a 40 gallon good for a family of 2-3. Tankless already have the safeties in place and list for $1200 for the unit. If an "average" family of 3 uses 30 gallons of gas a month thru a 70% efficient tank style , the tankless at 84% efficiency would use 24.9 gallon of gas per month. At $2.50 per gallon of LP the savings per month would be $9.75. In 41 months the savings has paid the difference. The warranty for the tank is 6 years, the tankless exchanger is 12 years. The savings over an electric tank is vastly greater. If you burn Natural Gas, the cost to operate is even less. I hope all this helps. I have installed Rinnai, Bosch/Aquastar, Tagaki, Thermar, Saunier-Duval, Paloma tankless and Bradford-White, State, Rheem/Ruud, American, Master Mechanic, Sears tank style waterheaters for over 20 years. Rinnai excels over all the others. The vent is simple and the only caution is against a high mineral/lime content in the water. And the factory support is the best in the industry.

He still hasn't eaten the food I put in the tank, so I pulled that out and grabbed some photos. His insistence at staying in the corner makes it tricky to get a clean body shot, so I tried an above shot. Apologies for the poor quality.