betta acting odd?

[laur3namb3r]

Hi guys, I have noticed some peculiar behavior in my baby betta Copernicus. My family is in town, so today I wasn't home to feed him his normal 2 pellets in the afternoon, however I did feed him around 3 this morning around 10. When I got home today, my fiancé flipped on the kitchen light (he had been in the dark for about 3 hours) and then turned on his moonlighting. He was underneath his plant leaves sleeping, I presume, and then he swam up to the surface after he noticed us but was pale and stressed striped. I then feed him 4 pellets, but he kept missing everyone...which is not normal for him. He usually jumps out of the water when our hand hovers over the surface. Eventually he ended up finding the pellets and eating them, but he also kept trying to eat every bubble on e surface, which is also odd. He normally will swim up to them, but quickly realizes it isn't food. What is going on???? Note: he's not going blind because he sees my finger on the outside of the class and swims up to it.

Here's this:

Housing
What size is your tank? 5 gal
What temperature is your tank? 76-80
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? No, but I live in Hawaii
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Hikari bio gold
How often do you feed your betta fish? 3 pellets 2x a day 2 pellets 1x a day or every other day brine shrimp

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Every 3 days
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 25%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Aqua plus conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

I tested it yesterday, but don't remember most.

Ammonia: don't remember, was low though...
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 8
Hardness: not sure
Alkalinity: not sure

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? None, just stress stripes
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Odd behavior at feeding
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 5 min ago when I woke him
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I haven't.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No.
How old is your fish (approximately)? 1 month? Got him as a baby betta at petco roughly 2 1/2 weeks ago

[Sena Hansler]

I will suggest a heater to keep it at 78-80. An adjustable one will turn off when it is at that temperature so it will not overheat. A fluctuation of 76 to 80 can be dramatic, stressful and can shock the betta.

Ammonia should never be seen. Ever. "low" even "0.25" or "0.10" is dangerous.
Since he is a baby betta from a store, it will be a lot harder to keep them alive. If you can, get IALs aka indian almond leaves.

[laur3namb3r]

Thanks for your reply, although I still don't know what was going on with him. Hes acting normal today, and ate all pellets when I put them in the water.

Yes, I realize ammonia is harmful to bettas in large amounts, but I test his water every other day and the ammonia levels never spike. I am growing a plant to put in his tank, too.

The reason I don't have a heater is because it usually stays at 78-80 during the day and drops about one degree at night. I'm afraid using a heater will cause the water will be to warm and I'll be asleep so I can't monitor it.

[Sena Hansler]

Well, with adjustable heaters they do turn off after a certain temperature. Mine are set at 78, even in summer... Where the temperatures in the tanks can reach 85-90. the heaters are always off, because of their setting :)

Maybe during the night set something like a towel or blanket around his tank to avoid the 1-2 degree drop?

[AyalaCookiejar]

Like previously stated, the water needs changed any time you see ammonia, even in tiny amounts.

He may have been disoriented by having the lights turned on quickly. They have no eyelids. Do you know what it's like to suddenly have the lights turned on in the morning right when you wake up? Lol. My VT gets disoriented like that when I turn the lights on in the middle of a nap.

Also, I have a blind CT and his blindness was gradual. He stopped being able to find his food before he stopped seeing my fingers.

[callistra]

I agree with everything said above.

Additionally, is he bloated at all? Is his belly gray? What color is his poop?

And also my boys all act like this to some degree when they've been in the dark and a light is suddenly flipped one. One I had was SO bad at this I was completely convinced he was dying several times before I recognized he was a SUPER drama king about being awakened, so it might not be a big deal. The stress stripes though are more of a concern. My boy got pale, but no stripes.

[Sena Hansler]

He's a baby betta right? I find a good number of my fry when they are stressed (water changes... Gotta love them!) they do still get their stripes. As they as that is less likely to happen.

[laur3namb3r]

Thanks all for responding. He's totally fine; no bloating, no gray belly, and his poop is brownish orange. My fiancé related what happened to having someone waking me up in the middle of my sleep and trying to force feed me...which completely made sense. I feel bad now...haha. He's still a baby, I'd say no more than a month old, so he gets pretty stressed out with things happen suddenly, or during water changes. Thanks again for helping me out!

[Sena Hansler]

Eventually he will get used to everything... :)