Betta acting funny today

[DanielleB]

My betta who has been fine for 4 moths is suddenly acting funny today. He keeps going down to the bottom a lot and resting on the bottom. i found him for a few minutes with his nose down and body at about 45 degree angle at the bottom. If I run my finger he becomes active and starts swimming around again and a few minutes later he's resting on the bottom or hiding in a shell. Is he sick? The water is fine (tested for amonia nitrates, nitrites, PH, all are fine as usual. I change the water twice aweek and clean the gravel every week. The other fish are all fine (2 guppies & 4 julii catfish.)

[DanielleB]

Also the water temp is at a constant 78 (although sometimes when I put my hand in to feed it sometimes feels a little on the cool side). Should I put in a second heater? It is a 20 gallon tank. Also it seems that the color under his mouth and the underside of his front has slightly faded, not as blue as when I bought him. He is eating fine.

[Myates]

If the temp says 78, then it's fine - remember that your body runs at about 98, so placing your hand in something cooler will feel cold to you.

He may just be sleeping.. they will often just crash out and rest wherever they stop at when exploring. And they will sometimes sleep in different areas than what you tend to think is normal for them. He may of been really active last night and can't help but fall asleep wherever he can today hehe.

As long as he is eating fine, and becomes active when he sees you, then you really don't have anything to worry about. Keep an eye on him just in case, if he is excessively lethargic and stops eating then let us know and we can try to help - but I think he's just being lazy today.

[sandybottom]

do you use tap water? how much do you feed him,also what do you feed?any new additions to the tank recently? plants,fish,rocks,or ornaments?

[DanielleB]

I use tap water but condition it with Prime. No new changes in the tank. I did just go to Petsmart and the man there said maybe he was eating too much. I usually feed him 5 pellets a day (3 in morning, 2 at night), but he might eating the other fishes food. So he told me to cut down to 1 meal a day for the next few days & see what happens.

[Myates]

The slight fading of color on the belly is normal - tends to happen when their bellies get a little round from food. A little round after eating is healthy and normal.

You can cut back and see, just in case he is eating the other food - but do try to give him at least 3 pellets a day.

Tap water is fine, so is Prime.

I still think he is just sleeping.. he gets active when you "wake" him, so he is aware and responsive.

[DanielleB]

Well he seems to be getting better. You might be right about the belly getting gray from expanding. I've only fed him once a day for the last 2 days and his color is coming back and he's a little more active. I still find him occaisionally still resting nose down in the gravel, but he does come up and swim around more each day. Seems to getting better.

[DanielleB]

He still goes into a corner every once in a while nose down almost in a vertical position and lies like that for 10 minutes about once an hour. Has this happened to anyone else?

[callistra]

Photos? More info may be helpful: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=66595 It's not normal and not a good thing.