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Is this normal behavior?

616 views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  Veloran 
#1 ·
Alright so I've had this betta in this tank since saturday, and the area he would hang out the most was up near the surface in the "limbs" of the big plant I have in the tank. He would sit there if nothing was happening and swim down around the rest of the tank for feeding time or if there was something interesting happening outside the tank that he wanted to check out.


I got around to buying him a heater on monday because the water temp before that was 76 and I heard they like it better at 80, and thats when they would start being more active, building bubble nests and stuff.

Sure enough I put the heater in and within a few hours of the temp staying at exactly 80, he built a little bubble nest in the corner of the tank opposite the plant he usually hangs out in. The nest is in the same corner the heater is in.

Since then he has been basically just laying at the bottom of that corner, laying on the gravel under his nest.


Is this normal? Does he just like that side of the tank now that the heater is there? Nothing else has changed except the addition of the heater, and he hardly goes over to hang out in his big plant anymore.


Here's a picture of what he's been doing. That's the heater behind him, and over in the other corner with the turtle is the plant that used to be his main hangout spot.



I've never owned a betta before so I just want to know if this is normal or if I should be doing something else for him. I don't know if I'm just being paranoid.
 
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#4 ·
it doesn't look like his fins are clamped or anything.

Is the filter too strong for him? usually bettas are bit more active (some hardly stop moving) so maybe he is hiding from the filter. Does he have a cave or something to hide in?
 
#5 · (Edited)
The filter seems to be fine. He doesn't get blown around when he swims past it. He has a nice large cave now, but so far he hasn't gone into it that I know of.


I just did a 60% water change and I'm waiting for the filter to cycle the water around a bit and for it to heat back up to 80* before I put him back in.


He has still just been laying on the bottom of the tank all day not moving unless you prompt him to do something. I'm really getting worried.


This is what he looked like on saturday night. His appearance changing has me worried as well. He looks very different just after 4 days if you look at the picture in my original post.



I really need to know what to do :(
 
#8 ·
Are you taking him out of his tank to do water changes as well, if you're only doing partial water changes, you could leave him in as long as the temp and PH of the new water is approximately the same. It would be less stress on him as well.

When you siphon off the water, just make sure you have your thumb over the end of the hose incase he gets curious.

Does his appearance seem to be deteriorating or does he just seem 'mopey'?
 
#6 ·
I'm going to try my best to buy a full freshwater testing kit tomorrow, if I can get the money together.


I've been testing for chlorine and PH levels using a hot tub kit that I have, and the PH might have been a bit too high until today. I diluted my tap water with distilled water for the water change and the PH level is a lot better.


Could a PH of like 7.9 have caused all this?
 
#9 ·
+1 to Veloran

Your ph isn't high enough to hurt him. In general, you want to avoid changing it unless it's high or low enough to kill your fish or something. Drastic changes in ph are worse than something a little higher or lower than normal. I have a ph of 7.8-8 and my betta and plants are fine.

Your tank could be cycling. He definitely looks a little clamped and unhappy. Try and get a water testing kit and let us know what it says.
 
#10 ·
Ok so I've used the API Freshwater Master testing kit, and the results came in as:


Ammonia = 0.5 ppm

Nitrite = 0 ppm

Nitrate = 0 ppm



I also bought some "Stability" by Seachem because when I first set up the tank I never purposefully established any bacteria. I also bought Prime, though I already had some StressCoat conditioner, because it comes so highly recommended here, and it says it can detoxify ammonia, whereas the stresscoat does not. I also have one "ammonia removal" tablet from walmart that a neighbor had.


Ideally the Ammonia should be at 0, correct? If so, should I add some prime to get rid of it, or use a chunk of the ammonia removal tablet? Should I begin using the "stability" to get some bacteria going, or was 6 days enough for it to get going naturally? Is there such thing as "too much" bacteria?



As far as my betta's behavior is concerned, he seems to be doing much better today. I haven't seen him sitting on the bottom yet at all. He has been floating near the surface in his plant again, and curiously pacing the front of the tank to follow people who walk by. He watched me filling the beakers and running the tests as well. It even looks like his fins are fanning out more, like they were when I first put him in the tank.


I suspect maybe the ammonia levels were too high before I did his water change yesterday. I am relieved to now have the kit so that I can verify things.
 
#12 ·
Alright did another water change and haven't seen him sitting on the bottom for two days now.

He's very energetic again, hardly ever sitting still, except for when he rests on his new "betta bed" leaf that I bought him :D

The ammonia is under control and I've started adding Stability to the water for some bacteria following the directions on the bottle.


I'm excited to finally have some consistency for the betta to enjoy
 
#13 ·
You also want to test your water that you'll be using for water changes and make a note of the values (only have to do it once or maybe twice) so you have a reference point and know what's going in your tank.

And glad to hear things are beginning to move along smoothly.
 
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