Do Betta ever just get lazy?

[BettaPirate]

My betta Jack Sparrow is usually pretty lively and acts like he hasn't eaten in years when I feed him. I have had him for about 6 weeks and he has a heater with temp at 79 to 81, he has a 3 gallon tank, he has a hiding place, a plant, and two ornaments, and I do two %50 water changes a week and one %100 change a month. Water prams are fine and I just did a water change yesterday.

The last few days he has been a lot less playful and it took me a good 15 minutes of mirror time to get him to flare. He only eats one pellet a day, which I know is ok it's just a drastic difference from three to five pellets a day. He does not have physical signs of illness like bloat or any other disease but he is acting a lot like when he did before I got him a heater.

any thoughts?

[ChoclateBetta]

I think temp problems.

[callistra]

Don't force him to flare.. you have to understand what you're doing when you do that is you're causing his adrenals a super overload. Lots of stress on the adrenals is not healthy. 5-10minutes of mirror time a day some people say is healthy. Others will say don't do it at all. If he's acting like that I'd let him be.. This is play time for you but for him it's a physiological stress response time superoverload.

Can you share photos?

What are you feeding?

[BettaPirate]

Well i will be sure not to stress him more then!

so he seems to be more active tonight, I wonder if he was lonely because I have been out of the house a lot for the holidays?

I feed him Aqueon Betta Pellets.

I attached a few pictures, sorry it's my iphone camera, not great.

[callistra]

Well he doesn't appear clamped at all and no rot that I can see.. which is all good..

Is your tank filtered and fully cycled? It looks like you just have an air stone inside a tube not a filter.. unfiltered tank of that size needs two water changes a week - one 50% and one 100% with 100% being a thorough rinsing of gravel and tank ornaments. If it's filtered and fully cycled your water change routine is probably good. I would test your water just to be safe.. have it tested with a good drops kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.. you can buy the kits and do it yourself or your local fish store might do it for free. Just make sure they're using drops and they give you actual numbers.

Aqueon's not the worst but its' not that great either. A good quality pellet will have the first two or three ingredients as whole fish. Not fishmeal which is just fishbyproducts (think McDonald's chicken nuggets if you know what I mean..) and even worse is wheat. Omega One Betta Buffet and New Life Spectrum Betta are the two I've found which fits the criteria. Omega One can be fed 3-4 a day split up into two smaller meals with one fast day a week. NLS can be fed 5-8 (most of my boys seem to do well at 6) split up into two or even three smaller meals with one fast day.

I would just increase water changes and watch him carefully and not worry too much at this point. You might keep a stock of Seachem Kanaplex on hand just in case. It can be hard to find and it treats quickly and usually very effectively.

[BettaPirate]

I do not have a filter but do test the water and use a gravel vacuum for all water changes. he just hadn't acted like that before, but he seems back to normal at the moment.

Would adding in some freezedried bloodworms on occasion help? I can't afford them all the time but maybe as a treat for some variety.

[callistra]

Would help about as much as you or I eating potato chips.. maybe make a nice treat but would do nothing for our health :)

[BettaPirate]

ok, lol, good to know

[ChoclateBetta]

Originally Posted by BettaPirate

Well i will be sure not to stress him more then!

so he seems to be more active tonight, I wonder if he was lonely because I have been out of the house a lot for the holidays?

I feed him Aqueon Betta Pellets.

I attached a few pictures, sorry it's my iphone camera, not great.

What are the first 5 ingredants?

[BettaPirate]

it has fishmeal and wheat flour in the top 5 ingredients so when I go get my new betta, hopefully this weekend, i'll get them both better food