[monet19]

I’ve had my fish for about 2 years and have owned bettas almost my whole life. I also work at a pet store but wanted to get some feedback. For reference, my betta, his name is Monet, is in a 3 gallon tank, (getting a 5 gallon once I finish college), temperature is always at least 77° fahrenheit, ammonia is at 0, so are nitrate and nitrites, pH is between 7.5-8.0, filtered tank, regular cleanings every 2 weeks. He is fed TopFin pro series betta crumbles and gets the occasional frozen blood worm treat.
Anyways, my betta, for maybe a year or so, doesn’t swim much and just hangs out in his plants or on his betta hammock near the top of his tank. He swims some and still has plenty of appetite, he does a little dance when he’s hungry. His water is oxygenated and he’s never gasping for air. He can swim down, he just doesn’t usually. Because if that I don’t think it’s swim bladder issues. I’ve also heard water parameters could be an issue but all his water tests came back good. I really love my fish but it seems this isn’t normal behavior for a betta. He also used to make bubble nests and doesn’t anymore. I’m not really sure what I’m doing wrong or if maybe he’s okay so if you have any insight please let me know!

 

[FishFlex]

He sounds like he needs a lil pep in his step, his nature is territorial and he’s the king try a mirror let him flare up and stomp around a bit he may go back to building a nest that day but your good care for him seems to hve made him comfortable I had a male who acted this way zoomed makes a floating ball with a mirror to allowt “exercise”

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

Welcome to the Forum!!!

Did this behavior start around the time his fins were fully mature? I have found that Betta with such heavy caudal fins tend to do more resting than moving.

As noted above, flaring will help along with exercise. Current is a good way to get them to exercise. If yours is a hang on back, set the flow up so there's some surface current. Not a lot; just some. Every week or so turn it up a notch. The goal is to have good current but not enough to blow him around the tank. He should have calm areas to rest and eat. I have found my Betta seem to like swimming against the current or swimming over to it and letting it push them down. I know it's on purpose as I've watched them do it. A bubble wand is another thing mine enjoyed using.

Another help would be plants which float near the top. I like Narrow Leaf Anacharis or Hornwort. Anubias can be floated at well. These give him places to rest and provide shade.

He's sure a beauty and your care is spot-on and a great example of how to keep Betta long-lived. Thanks for sharing.

 

[monet19]

Welcome to the Forum!!!

Did this behavior start around the time his fins were fully mature? I have found that Betta with such heavy caudal fins tend to do more resting than moving.

As noted above, flaring will help along with exercise. Current is a good way to get them to exercise. If yours is a hang on back, set the flow up so there's some surface current. Not a lot; just some. Every week or so turn it up a notch. The goal is to have good current but not enough to blow him around the tank. He should have calm areas to rest and eat. I have found my Betta seem to like swimming against the current or swimming over to it and letting it push them down. I know it's on purpose as I've watched them do it. A bubble wand is another thing mine enjoyed using.

Another help would be plants which float near the top. I like Narrow Leaf Anacharis or Hornwort. Anubias can be floated at well. These give him places to rest and provide shade.

He's sure a beauty and your care is spot-on and a great example of how to keep Betta long-lived. Thanks for sharing.

Hi, thank you so much for your kind words! I do think that it started around when his fins were fully developed and he does have very large, fluffy fins on a rather small fish. He’s getting some live plants this weekend so I will look into getting some plants that float for him. Also I’ll definitely try turning up his filter to create more of a current, it’s at a rather low setting right now so hopefully that will help him get more exercise. He doesn’t flare much, but I’ll give the mirror a go. Thank you so much for all your feedback!