2 Gallon Tank Brand new beta, Lookin to make it a hobby, help?

The fluctuating temp (you say the light warms iy during the day) may also be strssiing him.

Prime is an excelent water conditioner and will also remove ammonia, nitrite & nitrates to relieve some of his stress.

See if you can find tetra safe start to help cycle the tank or get a live plant, gravel or decoration from a cycle tank to help seed it with good bacteria. This should help speed up your cycle.

Good luck and keep researching!!

 

Sorry to hear about Raphael dieing
But now your best bet would be to either get a 5gal tank or just keep this lil 1.7g and cycle it. Everyone on here explained to me how important cycling is! So now just take about a month or so and get a heater, filter, and cycle the tank
also please do a fishless cycle, I'm sure anyone can explain to you more about how to do that if you have any questions! I used a raw shrimp from the market to do my cycle
hope this helps! You can always pm me if you need any help!! Good luck fishkeeping and welcome to fishlore!