Always at the surface

[NeoViking]

I got a female betta a 3 days ago, she's my first female I've ever had.
She's been acting weird since day 1 though, I don't know what she's doing or if it's normal.

Vega- my boy in his 24ltr tank swims all around his tank and is energetic and responsive, and the betta I had before him was the same, very responsive and energetic.

But compared to them, Chun-Li doesn't do anything... she just sort of hovers around the top corner of her tank.
Maybe now and again swims to another corner and hovers there.... get bored, move to another corner est but ALWAYS at the surface.
She CAN be energetic, as soon as food goes in the tank she's on it like a savage! she LOVES her food!
and she CAN swim normally, I've watched her! she'll swim down to grab sinking food.
I'm wondering if this is normal though? she's my first female, I wouldn't have thought that they'd be that different to males other than the male aggression thing but so far she's proving me wrong!


I've done tests on her water, everything came up fine!
Amonia was 0, nitrite was 0 and nitrate was SLIGHTLY up but only very very slightly 0.5
Her PH is at 7.0

She has a heater, her temp is kept at 26C
Her filter has a bubble spray option so it filters and oxygenates.
I use API's "stress coat" as a dechlorinator (its pretty multi purpose stuff, it dechlorinates, keeps stress down and has added aloe vira in case a fish gets wounded)
No light though, Vega has one but she doesn't.
Her tank is only small, 15ltr but I tried her in the 64ltr with my tetras and she just swam to the bottom and hid, I got a bit scared when she wasn't coming up for air so I moved her to the smaller tank on her own and that's where she's been since.

It doesn't look like swim bladder, she's not off balance or anything and as I said I have seen her swim normally to retrieve food... but then I've only ever seen swim bladder in goldfish and don't know if bettas suffer the same way since they don't breathe the same way goldfish do.

I've looked through some symptoms for various illnesses but I can't put my finger on anything :(
I wondered if anyone else had any suggestions?
If she's ill I want to get her treated.
I don't know if she's just submissive or actually ill but she's been like this since the day I got her.

Thank you (:

[shellieca]

Every Betta is different & some take longer to adjust than others. I would leave her in a tank by herself for 2-3 wks because you don't know for certain if she is 100% healthy & you don't want her to introduce an illness to your other fish. You have only had her 3 days, she is eating & she is swiming around some so don't worry too much at this point. Just make sure you do frequent water changes for the 1st few weeks that'll do more to ensure health than anything else at this point. In a few weeks to a month you might try her again in the bigger tank. Do you have plants, real or silk, in her tank? If not you should get at least a couple of them. Keep us posted as to how she does. I LOVE the females, I have 5 of my own & they can definitely be just as active as the males, one of mine is in constant motion, if she's not moving there's a problem.

[NeoViking]

I have a mixture of real plants and fake bamboo in her tank, she's got plenty of cover if she wants to hide (:
though so far she hasn't taken advantage of it lol!

I'll keep an eye on her for a bit longer, hopefully she's just being a wimp and it's nothing serious.
I'm really hoping she comes out of her shell, she's really sweet! <3
Thank you for your help (: I'll keep my eye on her and see how it goes.

She really is quite small, about an inch long from tip to tail. do you think maybe being young might have anything do do with it?

[Shadyr]

I didn't have anything to add, I haven't had a female. Hopefully she'll settle in and get used to her home.

I just had to say though, your avatar pic made me laugh, which in turn made me feel like a terrible person!

[NeoViking]

LOL I probably should really change my picture!
Come to think of it that probably is a bit harsh ^^;
Probably should have given my avatar a little more thought before choosing it lol

[homegrown terror]

fish hanging out exclusively at the top a lot of times can't find wnough oxygen anywhere else. you might want to consider getting an independent airstone for the tank so she can breathe further down.

[shellieca]

Originally Posted by NeoViking

I have a mixture of real plants and fake bamboo in her tank, she's got plenty of cover if she wants to hide (:
though so far she hasn't taken advantage of it lol!

I'll keep an eye on her for a bit longer, hopefully she's just being a wimp and it's nothing serious.
I'm really hoping she comes out of her shell, she's really sweet! <3
Thank you for your help (: I'll keep my eye on her and see how it goes.

She really is quite small, about an inch long from tip to tail. do you think maybe being young might have anything do do with it?

She's not used to having so much room & the depth might throw her off a little bit but she should be exploring the tank. I have one I got a couple weeks ago probably the same size as yours & she's all over the place. I got another one yesterday & she was all over at 1st then kind of found a spot she seemed to hang out in but would still explore. I'd make sure to do the water changes & keep an eye on her, fish are like people, every one is a little different.

[NeoViking]

Originally Posted by homegrown terror

fish hanging out exclusively at the top a lot of times can't find wnough oxygen anywhere else. you might want to consider getting an independent airstone for the tank so she can breathe further down.

When I tried her in the 64 ltr tank on her first day she did the oppersite. rather than hang around at the top she hung around at the bottom corner and wouldn't surface which was why I moved her to a small tank, I was worried she'd drown herself in the larger tank.

She does have an air spray in her tank but I'm not sure if that'd be enough?
Its one of those filters with an extra tube that comes out of the water and pulls air into the tank in the form of an air spray.
The same filter I'm using for my other betta "Vega" and he's always been happy as pie.
If it's not enough I'll get her an air stone (:

Maybe I'll post a video showing Vega and showing Chun Li. their tank set up isn't much different apart from his is 20ltr and hers is 15ltr.
Might be useful to see what she's doing too.

[NeoViking]

Sorry to double post ^^;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yazMQ...=youtube_gdata I've put up a video of her and Vega.
I added him as a comparison to her, there's nothing wrong with him other than he wants his castle back XD (I had to take it out to be able to film him)

Chun Li though, she's just been floating like that.
Had she been on her side I'd have put my finger straight on swim bladder, but she's not at all off balance, she just doesn't move!
She's not dead, though she sometimes looks it.
She's gotten worse since yesterday.

Yesterday she responded to food and would attack my finger, today she doesn't want to know.

[NeoViking]

Sorry to triple post, but this board can finally come to an end (:
I found out what was wrong with her, and now I feel kind of silly ^^;
She didn't like her filter, I think maybe the current was a little too strong for her.

I turned her filter off while I syphoned her tank and noticed that without a current she was swimming around just fine.
So I left her filter off over night and went to pets at home the following morning.
I managed to get hold of the most perfect filter ever!
It was cheap, only £12.49, its made by marina and trickles the water back out of it so there's very little current!
She loves it! she's now swimming around quite happily.

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/i25-i...y-marina-83213
This is the filter I got her, I think I'm going to stick to these for my bettas from now on.