Odd behavior...

[allyharrison]

Ok, I am new to the betta world and I guess first I should tell you a bit about my set up before I just dive into the odd behavior. My betta is an at work pet that sits on my desk in a nice and cool building. I work an odd schedule so he dosent have a whole weekend of starving as I am here working. His name is Mr. Tudor and I bought him from petco. He is in a 1 gallon fish tank from walmart that is very basic. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/detai...72036854775808

The is no filter or air pump as walmart sold me an incomplete set. :(

I completely admit, I over feed my fish. I am working on not doing that cause I dont want to kill him! It's just so cute! I feed him Freezedried bloodworms consistently and then flakes on a rotating basis for nutrition. He does fast once a week to help his, "flow". I use bottled water in his tank and change it once a week or if it becomed cloudy then I do it earlier. I test the Ph and the NH3 levels consistantly.

In his tank I have a fake plant thingy and some colorful rocks - pic if your curious. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...ct_id=10312312 and http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...ct_id=10536125

So now for the odd behavior.. My betta is pretty happy as when I come into work there is uaually a bubble nest so I am sure he isnt too stressed out. He liked to swim to the front of the tank and just look at me. At first I used to tap the plastic and he would swim off and come back to do the same thing a few seconds later. At first I thought he was just playing so I continued. Later he has progressed into kind of hiding behind the plants and staring at me so I tapped again thinking he was playing hide and go seek for fish!

Today I rearranged my desk and he was catching alot of his reflection so I taped a peice of paper to that side to stop it so he wont be stressed from constant flarring.

Today he is sitting on the other side of the tank behind the plant for long period of time and is not interacting. Or when he does come to do the play thing he does he has several times pretty much nose dived into thoes rocks/jewles. Now having put the rocks in I can imagine nose diving into them would be painful or not pleasant for a human so for a fish it has to hurt. He has also taken to kind of swimming on his side, where he is curved but it is too the side which is really odd. I have never seen a fish do this. Is this normal? Is he playing? Am I stressing him out or scaring the poo out of my fish by slamming my finger against his plastic?

I dont want to kill my fish!
Ally

[AngelicScars]

Are you using water conditioner? If not, I would get some as soon as possible. Also, I would recommend something to keep his water around 78-80 degrees F since he is a tropical fish.
Bloodworms should only be fed as a snack once or twice a week at the most. I agree with fasting once or twice a week. If he misses a feeding it won't kill him, they can go awhile without eating and be fine.
Flakes are fine but very messy, make sure to fish out anything he doesn't eat since it quickly builds bacteria in the bowl.
You can try Hikari Betta Bio-Gold Pellets as an alternative food. They float and are much less messy.
Keep up with the water changes, this is the key to a happy Betta.
The way he is acting, it sounds like it could possibly be SBD.
If this is the case, fast him for a few days and then feed him some daphnia.
I hope that helps. Good luck!

[dr2b]

I agree with what AngelicScars is telling you. I'd get a heater and keep the temperature constant. If his tank is in a cool building...that alone will make him lethargic. I also recommend Hikari Bio Gold. I use this for my betta and he loves them.

[crowntail lover]

The water needs to be a constint 78..And you will need to be changing the water 3 times a week with a 1 gallon as the buildup can kill your guy...Also the flaks are a messy food, so try to find a betta ONLY pellet.
Also..Are you using a conditionar if not you need to! As the clorine will harm him.
I would recommend Jungles right start!

And as for the floating on the side. It is SBD. You will need to fast him and feed his some daphina!
But if you can find this. Look for a Sun Dried baby Shrimp found at Walmart! It has the same perpose!
Oh and you can take the paper of his vace and let him see himself! It is funn for them! :]

[ifish]

what are you saying crowntail lover what are you talking about i want my fish to have fun so what was that you said

[Vikki81207]

Ally said that she taped a piece of paper to her tank so her fish wouldn't see himself and flare alot, and Crowntail told her to take the paper off because it's good and fun for them to see themselves and flare at themselves.

[allyharrison]

Hiya everyone, ok a few questions now cause sometimes the information seems to contradict itself haha.

First, Do I need a conditioner if I use bottled water without chlorine in it? I thought if you use bottled water it was supposed to be ok without a conditioner.

Second, change his water three times a week? I thought changing his water that much would stress him as they dont like huge changes and to just change out 20% or so??

His tank is never that dirty so would I really change it that much?

As for heating the water, I am leaving his light on 24/7 to heat it up some and my work hasn't complained thus far but I will be buying a hearter this weekend for him.

Should I take the paper off? I thought flaring like 24/7 would stress him out? Oh I am soo confused! Am I denying him fun now?

Ok, so now his behavior is odd yet again lol. He is lieing on the bottom of the tank alot which from what I have heard is an indicator he is sick, his coloring is fine and he swims arround well enough. I fasted him yesterday so it can't be constipation can it?

He is also hiding ALOT, where he used to like play hide and go seek now he freaks out when I even move a good 6 inches from his tank. I have asked my co workers to stop tapping on it so if he is freaking out it won't be worse.

I am thinking he is sick but I still come into work each night with a tank full of bubbles at the top? Could he be sick with bubbles?

Thanks for responding everyone and answering my confused questions!

Ally