im worried...betta too hyper??

[itsuki]

so i drove straight home after work and went immediately to clean out the whole tank. when i got home the tank looked so dirty!! dirtier then before the water change i did the previous night!! threw away the rocks, threw aways the decor, keeping the tiki statue but not in the tank (it was a gift to me from my brother when we went to hawaii). did a full water change, full scrub down of the inside, and of the heater and the filter, put in a new filter just in case any bad stuff made its way into and past the filter, added 10ml of the my nitrate reducer. turned back on the filter and heater. after an hour i threw in the oto catfish but my betta is still in an isolation tank sitting on the top of the tank so he will be heated. during the change i put him in a small tank with the old water, it looked so gross. he didnt like the move/and or water and was moving franticly for awhile. after i cleaned the 10g tank i was able to put in some clean tap water for him.

i think i will wait just a full day til i add him to the tank, i just feel bad for him sitting in that small tank, he's barely moving. while he is more photogenic not moving around; now that i think about it i rather have him swimming around exploring the tank and its hiding spots, interacting with his neighbors. maybe i was too quick to judge and say he was being hyper, a better call would have been he was just curious of his new surroundings.

i just remembered that my coworker's husband is a fish owner too. i will ask them they have some water conditioner. i did do them the favor of looking after their cat, dog and fish while they were away for the holidays. and on friday i will get my own along with some appropriate/safe decor for my tank.

thank u all for the advice i appreciate it. i will continue to expand my knowledge and the quality of my tank and redeem myself as a responsible betta owner. expect to see me on the board more often :)

[BettaPirate]

so all the above are good suggestions and comments but I just wanted to add in my two cents on personality...

one of my betta is very chill and only moves quickly when scared, my other betta always swims around like crazy after water changes or new decor or plants are added. both are healthy and happy as far as I can tell but they have their own personalities just like people.

[MollyJean]

I have one boy who likes hanging out on his plants more then moving around unless you get him worked up. He's just lazy, I think. Another, Robin, never stops moving, and loves swimming backwards, of all things. So yeah, they're all different, but quick darting movements or frenzied dashing is normally bad, and laying on the ground for long periods or floating near the surface for long periods could be bad. There is a stereotype that betta are naturally very still fish. A lot of people keep them in imporper conditions and the fish do not thrive. Before I gave my daughter's teacher a proper heater, her boy Blue never moved, and now he's quite active. You gotta watch those little guys like hawks when you think something is wrong!

How bad is his water? I really hope he'll be alright til you have proper conditioner for him. Crossing my fingers for you!

[itsuki]

he's laying down on the bottom of the clean tap water!!, i think its the small size of the isolation tank thats affecting him. the heater only reached 75 degrees awhile ago and now he's abit more active so temp probably had something to do with it too.

[MollyJean]

The tap water is the problem, then. If it's not been treated and just came out of your sink.. well it might kill him. Just be ready for that.

[itsuki]

ive reintroduced my betta to the tank and he seems to be doing fine, he's swiming around at a good pace but i think the lack of decor has him abit bored. i will be cleaning off my silk plants to be put back in tomorrow as well as getting some water conditioner from my coworker.