[juanitawolf]

I caught Magnus bitting his caudal fin and im a bit worried.

Housing
What size is your tank?: 1 gallon
What temperature is your tank?: 25-26 C
Does your tank have a filter?: nope
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?: nope
Is your tank heated?: nope
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?: none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?: tetracolor betta pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish?: 2 times a day 1 pellet in the morning and 2 before i go to bed

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?: twice a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?: 50% and 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?: just water conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?: nope


Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?: he looks the same
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?: i caught him bitting his fins
When did you start noticing the symptoms?: today
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?: no i havent
Does your fish have any history of being ill?: he used to have a pinhole in his caudal fin but now is healed
How old is your fish (approximately)?: no idea, but he is really small compared to other bettas

 

[juanitawolf]

also he has this energy jolts and panting-yawning although they are rare

 

[haveyouhadyourteayet]

It sounds like he's really stressed, can we get a pic of his tank and the area around it?

 

[juanitawolf]

sure!
i changed his tank and added a plant but it had this moss looking thingy that began to fall off and im soaking it in a bucket...in the end i took a ''dog bed'' from a toy set and made him a lil cave he seems to enjoy
i will upload some pics when i find my camera's cable
but here you have the tank with the ''plant''

http://oi60.tinypic.com/ofvk2g.jpg

i only take the lid off to feed him

 

[haveyouhadyourteayet]

I think he might respond well to a less wide open tank. A quick easy fix for that is buying some anubias and just letting that float in the tank, it's a hardy little plant, and he'll nuzzle up in the leaves. I would also see if you can get him a little cave. Coffee mugs and terra cotta pots make great quick solutions.

 

[juanitawolf]

can you send me a pic of those plants you are talking about?
he already has a cave btw

 

[haveyouhadyourteayet]

http://www.bamaplants.com/images/Abarterinana1.jpg
A cave is great, but they'll want to explore the room they have without beong totally exposed.

 

[Doting Mama]

Haveyouhadyourteayet - thanks for the idea! my boy is also a biter. I see the site that you got the above pic from sells them - I'd like to purchase a couple but am unsure how they're placed in the tank. Do they just float around? Or do they need to be anchored some how? Also, these help keep the ammonia levels stable as well - correct? Does that mean I won't need to continue my 2x weekly water changes? (Tues - I do 25%, Fri -I do 50%) plus I have the charcoal aqueon filter in there

 

[haveyouhadyourteayet]

Ideally, if you have enough plants, it will help consume the Nitrate in a tank, and will reduce water changes... But unless you want to delve into a NPT, I would just do changes as you already do.
You can either anchor them to driftwood, plant the roots, or let them float - if you do plant them, make sure the little knobbly thing isn't planted, just the roots. It will die otherwise.

 

[juanitawolf]

thanks for the advice!
i did some research and the tank i have seems too small for the anubias
got any other idea? also...how do you change the water in a planted tank?

 

[haveyouhadyourteayet]

How would it be too small for a tiny plant?
Can you link me to what you found? I have no idea how to maintain a NPT, there is a section on this forum designated to those...

 

[juanitawolf]

http://www.ehowenespanol.com/cultivar-anubias-nana-como_207155/
is in spanish but it says that it needs at least an aquarium of 45cm

 

[haveyouhadyourteayet]

I'm trying to remember "I don't speak Spanish" in spanish, and all I can remember is 'Me llamo'... so lo siento?
I have them in 3 MUCH smaller tanks and they do fine... They're like hand sized, there may be bigger variations?

 

[juanitawolf]

''yo no hablo español''
lol. well there may be variations i will ask my dad if can get one

 

[peacock]

You just change it regularly, but remove the plants by their roots.

 

[juanitawolf]

thanks Peacock! i thought it would be more difficult

i also did a water change and he seems a bit calmer now (no panting) but he is still bored :/
in other news, i taught him to eat from my finger