Total contrast to yesterday......settling in??

[Elisew]

Well, Lamai my new Betta was swimming around, seemed to be really happy and even had a flaring fit at himself and my mobile phone taking photos of him last night after I`d sorted his tank in the afternoon. He was looking so beautiful, his fins were all looking brill.....but today is a different story

Since I got up this morning Lamai hasn`t really moved very much at all. The filter in the tank has a very subtle flow but I turned the filter off in case that might have been upsetting him, that doesn`t seem to have made any difference. I put a small dollop of daphnia in the tank to see if I could get Lamai to eat.....no joy, he hasn`t eaten anything since I got him yesterday.
He seems really sad, doesn`t seem to want to do anything except sit at the top of the tank with his fins and tail all quite close to his body. The heater is on 82 and the water is warm so I really don`t think it`s because of the water temp.....could he just be settling in to his new surroundings??

Any advice would be very much appreciated as I`m really not sure why he`s so different today to what he was like yesterday Hopefully it`s just a case of him getting used to his new home.

Lise x

[dramaqueen]

Since you just got him, he may have just worn himself out yesterday and is just resting today. Offer him some more food later and see if he takes it. I had one that was so active for the first few hours after I got him but by late afternoon that day, he would hardly move! He's probably still adjusting to his new home. Just keep an eye on him. :)

[Elisew]

Thanks ever so much for your reply dramaqueen 8)

I have wondered if he just wants some `chill time` after being so active last night. Maybe I`m just worrying about nothing....it`s so easy to worry about a creature that`s been in the house for one day!! lol

I haven`t seen Lamai expel any waste at all since I brought him home, (not even in the bag used to transport him home) so I tried about half an hour ago with the squishy pea thing but he`s just not interested and turned the opposite way.
I`ll just have to keep an eye on him for the next day or so and keep my fingers crossed very tightly that its nothing serious.

[dramaqueen]

A lot of times they won't eat after you get them home. I just had that problem with my new female. She wwas spitting the pellets out but she's awfully small so I got her some Hikari micropellets. I think actually they are for neon tetras but they are tropical food so I'm trying that until she gets a little bigger. You might want to try some daphnia. Its really tiny and its good for constipation. That also may be why he's not eating.

[Elisew]

I did try him with some daphnia and I tried him again this morning with it but he`s really not interested. On the plus side though he`s started to swim around his new home a bit more again now and his tail/fin are well open again so it looks like he`s coming out of himself now.

I`m not too concerned about his eating as I know Bettas are capable of going without eating for a while, maybe once he`s up to full speed he`ll be munching away. I should have some Hikari pellets (baby) this morning so I`ll see how he goes with them. Lamai is pretty small so I`ll keep my fingers crossed that he`ll be ok with them.

Sadly, I came downstairs this morning to find that Shimmer my blue betta had died, not sure why though. I`m gonna test the water again to see how that is.

It feels more important to me now that Lamai is fine and dandy so time will tell

[dramaqueen]

I am so sorry about Shimmer! I'm sure he had a good home with lots of love during the time he was with you. I'm glad Lamai is doing better. You could always try bloodworms or brine shrimp to entice him into eating then try the pellets again.

[silverd]

Hey I am having the same problem, I just got my new fish, Black Jack, last week. Then two days ago I moved him into his new 3 gallon tank and he loved it! Well, today he has been just sitting at the bottom, then now he is just sitting at the top. He has been eating, and I am pretty sure he has been going poo, and there is no other visible signs of sickness. Hopefully he is just settling in and after I got hims some new hiding places he is starting to be his old self. Hopefully he will be his usual self tom. :)

[Elisew]

Hi silverd,

I found it quite worrying when Lamai went really quiet, it`s all trial and error I guess.
It took about 3 days for Lamai to comeout of himself, he`s now swimming around, eating and looking really well, he only takes bloodworms if I feed them to him though (fussy fish) but at least he`s eating now.

I made the mistake of thinking my newest Betta Chimlin was also just `settling in`, turns out I was wrong, he was quiet and hiding away.....Nataku has given me great advice and help as it turns out Chimlin has ich (whitespot)?

It`s made me realise how important it is to keep an eye on our new little friends as we just never know how they`re gonna be when we first get them.

Hope your fella Black Jack brings you lots of fun!

[Chicklet]

It usually takes up to 48 hours for a betta to become adjusted to their new environment,
Some adjust quicker then other, Some a tad longer, Some take longer if their put in bigger tanks,
You should notice a big difference withing that time frame,
If not then you may very well be looking at another possible problem.

Each betta is different so you have to take that into account,

[silverd]

Yeh Black Jack seems to be doing better today. He still has no visiable signs of illness, and his fins are more spread out then they were yesterday. Funny that he adjusted more quickly to his .5 gallon tank (he was blowing so many bubbles!!) I guess it is the space-he seems so small in his 3 gallon. The fish tanks was smelling bad this morning, so I did a 20% water change and that seemed to help A LOT. I think I might try to fast him for two days. I also got him some more places to hide. Seems funny to love a fish so much, but I don't want him to go. I think he is just depressed cause he is in such a large tank right now. (oh the irony) but he is swimming a bit more today. still watching him! The temp is around 76, and i have been using the conditonor. If only fish could talk then it would def be easier to identify problems. (reminds me of the incredible mr limpit!)