Lethargic Betta?

[CooperS]

Hey,

I've had Marlin for almost a year and a half now, he's a Veiltail male. I just moved back home for winter break from college. While moving him, I put him in the container I bought him in and tried to keep him warm as best I could.

He's at home now, but he's being kind of fishy. His tank is 1 gallon (I know it's small), and I use a heating pad to keep a temperature of around upper 70s F. Over the past day, he's just kind of been sitting at the top of the tank and not moving at all. He still eats, and when I play with him I can get him to move around the tank, but he's not flaring like he usually does. And when he does moves he seems kind of twitchy, rather than smooth movement.

I think he may just be stressed from the move? I am also using water from my home now, could the different water be causing this? In either case, I let the water sit out for at least a day and use a betta solution to purify it. Right now I am planning on doing about a 50% water change a day to see if this fixes anything. Would scrubbing the tank help?

Thanks,
~Cooper

[CooperS]

Bump.

~Cooper

[CooperS]

Bump.

~Cooper

[Xeek]

I don't see how scrubbing the tank helps.

He's eating and that's a great sign! Did you acclimate him to this new water or did you just put him in? If not, he may still do ok and adapt - they can be pretty tough.

New environment and travel? That's likely to clamp him up and make him want to act cautious. When I get new bettas they always seem to clamp or act lethargic and not eat for a day or two. They eventually come around.

[DragonFish]

What is the exact temp at the moment? Does it fluctuate? If so, how much?

How did you acclimate him to the new water? Do you know the difference in chemistry between your water at home and the water you usually keep him in? have you brought him home before, and if so were there any problems? How long was the trip?

What sort of 'betta solution' do you use? Any chance any sort of chemical or soap could have gotten into his water?

Sorry, lots of questions....but you know, sometimes its just the smallest things. xD
Scrubbing the tank(I assume you mean with just hot water)isn't going to hurt anything, but unless you think something might have gotten into the tank I don't know if it will do any good.

[CooperS]

@Xeek That's great news! :) I really hope he's okay. No, I didn't acclimate him, I'm still fairly new to betta (started last fall) and didn't realize that water from different places can have an effect like that.

@DragonFish I don't know the pH of my water at home. I brought him home over the summer and he didn't have any problems. The trip is about an hour and a half but I had the container wrapped in a blanked in a box. The conditioner is called "Splendid Betta Complete Water Conditioner." No soaps or anything got in the tank, but my fingers did smudge the side of the tank while I was resetting up the tank after arriving home - could that have caused something? That's why I suggested scrubbing.

The water is stable now and has been over the day (staying at about 76 F), but when I first got home it was kind of all over the place because I was trying a new heater and eventually settled on the heating pad (I don't use one at school).

Again, it was my mistake. I did not acclimate him to the new water - I didn't know something like pH had such a big effect and he was fine over the summer. Do you think he will be okay?

Also, I thought it was weird, but he was acting normal the first day I brought him home. But I've heard of bettas repressing stress.

[CooperS]

Is algae okay to have in the tank? It's on the Spongebob house in the tank, but I always just leave it on, because I didn't think it was a problem.

~Cooper

[ChoclateBetta]

Why post Bump twice?

[CooperS]

@ChoclateBetta Bumping on other forums brings the thread to the top of the section, does it not do that on this website? I didn't see a button for it, so I just posted something.

~Cooper

[dramaqueen]

Repeatedly bumping threads is against the rules. I do understand why you did it. Please be patient and someone will answer your question.