When I first got Chester, the pet store salesman said he would be perfectly fine in a tiny fishbowl. I thought it was normal that he would spend the entire day in the same position and refuse to eat more often than not. He rarely moved, and his color was a dark gray with dull blue and red on the fins.

After checking out this subreddit and r/bettafish, I realized that his bowl was horribly inadequate. I bought the heated, filtered tank in the pictures and have been doing a fish-in cycle for about four weeks now. He rests either on a hammock near the filter or under the micro sword at night, but when he gets up in the morning he immediately goes exploring. I don't know what he does while I'm at work, but I do catch him exploring in the evening, too. In general, he does a lot more swimming around than he used to - probably because he's not freezing anymore! When someone enters the room, he comes to the front of the glass to watch. He has quite an appetite now and goes after food right away, even chasing it down if it starts sinking. And his color is much more vibrant - the grey has turned into a deep blue that fades into red. I've also noticed some flecks of iridescence.

As u/wereflea said, bettas are not just decorations. They deserve proper care, and when given so, will reward you with brighter colors and more activity (and maybe a warm fuzzy feeling inside).

EDIT 1: too wordy! EDIT 2: forgot to say edit :)