Hi y'all! I'm new to betta keeping.

[ChoclateBetta]

An Apple snail in a 1.5 gallon is a bad idea.

[uzanybug]

Wow. Prada is really fancy.
I'm new, too.

[ChoclateBetta]

Remeber Apple Snails create tons of Ammonia.

[Prettyprada]

(sorry I was not notified that people had replied to this! oops!)
The tank is not shallow.

Thank you, LebronTheBetta! I'm aware about the plastic plants. He has silk ones now. Yep, the snail is real! Should I take it out, though? I think he makes everything slimy... :/ or is that OK? I also have ghost shrimp in there to eat any dirties. Are they ok to keep in there? They don't seem to create any problems.

And thanks, madmonahan about his bubble nest! I was so proud of him!! but when I changed the water it got destroyed :( so that leads me to my question... (i may post this as a separate thread later on)

He has a 1.5 gl filtered tanks (although right now I turned the filter off because it is DIRTY!(its only been a week, is that normal for it to get so dirty?) and I haven't been able to go to the city to buy a new cartridge thingy)

Anyways... when I first got him and put him in the tank with his betta water and stuff, he was so hyper! he was always swimming around and playing and when i came close to the tank he would always come to greet me and beg for food (which i gave in and gave to him...but I realized I was being a bad mommy and over loving him so I put him on a feeding schedule now).
BUT now he looks sad and bored and somewhat shy... especially after his little nest got ruined (not intentionally).
It kind of has me worried. My roommates say I'm just overreacting and that he is fine, but I don't know! I want him to live for a long time!

He is still somewhat active, I mean he chases the shrimp when he notices them, and he winds through the little leaves but its not as much as before! Actually, before I thought he was psycho because at some points he would act like he wanted to hop out of the tank at me. But now he's like "whatever." So I am confused! what is his "normal" behavior?

The odd stuff I noticed:
he is slower
his tail fins look like they got thinner to me (but i also think my eyes are playing tricks on me, i think its because i'm worried...but I don't know!)
yesterday he was hiding under the filter (while it was turned off)
and he was leaning on his decorations a lot yesterday as well

but today he is being more social!

so am i over thinking things.. or is this "normal?"

Sorry for the longggggggg post! :/

[Prettyprada]

It is not an apple snail.

[eaturbyfill]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

[ChoclateBetta]

Then what is it? It looks exactly like one. He ma have fin rot and ammonia poisoning.

[Reefing Madness]

Take out the cartridge and rinse it out, then put it back in and turn the filter back in. If the tank has been up for over 4-6 weeks its not an ammonia problem.

[ChoclateBetta]

It still could be. http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233 Fill this out.

[Prettyprada]

He most certainly does not have fin rot, thank you Chocolate Betta. I know what that looks like.

Thank you, Reefing Madness. I plan to fix the filter back up.