Betta Fish Forum banner

Very restless Betta???

2K views 22 replies 6 participants last post by  VivianKJean 
#1 · (Edited)
I just got my new betta, Casey, 4 days ago. I temporarily have him in a 1.5gal tank for the time being until I can purchase a larger one. Ever since I took him home he has been glass surfing constantly, rarely venturing into the middle of the tank. I had a plastic plant in it but every time he even touched it he would dart out and spazz out, and his fins would clamp. So I removed it, and this morning I purchased two silk plants and put them in. He still did the same thing, flipping out every time he touched one. So now hes back to constant glass surfing and the occasional tail biting. I took a super close look at him after putting in the plants and I see now that he is developing stress stripes. My avatar is a picture of Casey, and in that picture he hadnt developed the stress stripes yet. Since I definitely wont be able to buy Casey a new tank for a couple weeks, what should I do for now to stop the tail biting, constant glass surfing, and anxiety??
 
#4 ·
Indian almond leaf, you can get the leaves and put them in the tank, get some IAL extract, or (if you promise to only do this once) you can use a decaffeinated green tea bag. Driftwood would also work as long as it's not treated
 
#6 ·
IAL I would buy online, your petco and petsmart rarely have any. Please post a pic of his face, also since he is tail biting add a pinch of AQsalt
 
#10 ·
I can see you have a tube in the tank - are there any other plants or caves in there? That could help to add something else for him to hid or rest upon.

(And for what it's worth - instead of a decaffeinated green tea bag, I would instead use a rooibos tea bag. Even "decaffeinated" tea can still contain traces of caffeine, where as rooibos naturally does not have any caffeine. Twinnings makes pure rooibs tea bags and most grocery stores carry it. Some people use rooibos instead of IAL.)
 
#11 · (Edited)
I have two tubes, one floating and one resting on the gravel plus a plant in the middle of the tank. I originally had two plants but the other one bugged him a lot so I removed it. While I was at the store today I looked for a cave but they were all very sharp/rough so I did not get any. Are there any household items I could safely put into the tank for him to use?

Okay as soon as I can I will go out to the store and look for that. He cant stop his restlessness and its really worrying me.
 
#12 ·
Yep! You can put in a coffee mug for a cave - as long as it's well rinsed with no soap residue.

I have done that one before.

I have a terracotta pot right now in my tank (a new one that hadn't had fertilizers used in it or anything) but I did soak that a few days to make sure anything in it would leech out.

I'm pretty sure there are some DIY threads around the "Fish Bowls, Habitats, and Accessories" section that would probably have some other good ideas that I'm not thinking of off the top of my head.
 
#14 · (Edited)
So I put this little coffee cup in there and he didn't even glance at it. Now he's just glass surfing in one little corner and practically doesn't even see the cup. I will keep it in there and see if he ever notices it... :( He cant get away from that one glass!!!

His tail in the picture does look like tail biting right? Nothing more serious?

WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?! poor casey </3
 
#17 ·
Okay I will definitely try that.

The conditioner I use is the Jungle Brand Start right, and since that doesn't clear ammonia I also add a small portion of an Ammonia Clear fizz tab. Is there anything else I should use/not use? (considering my 1.5 gal unfiltered no live plants)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top