[VivianKJean]

Ok. So i got my third betta form Petco back in April.

Since I have brought him home he has been one of the most ACTIVE bettas i've ever had. Constantly swimming around his tank. He was scared of me for a bit but warmed up to me after a couple of weeks.

However, he is starting to be less active. Now he is occasionally resting at the bottom of the tank. His fins are not clamped, he is not breathing heavily and there are no other signs of illness what so ever. He doesn't rest for long and does not look he is "stuck" at the bottom. He is not bloated. I feed him 3-4 Omega One Betta Pellets every day with fasting one day a week. He is always hungry during feeding and eats his pellets immediately.

He is in a 2.5 gallon tank with a heater heating the water to 80F. His tank has a filter and the tank is fully cycled. I do two 50% water changes every week, cleaning the gravel during one of them. I condition my water with Prime.

I just tested his water
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 0
PH - 7

The light in his tank did break a few weeks ago (stupid Mini Bow lights...) and I am working on getting a replacement. I just don't have the money yet. I'm in college with a part-time job but I still don't make a lot of extra money.

Could the lack of lighting be an issue? The room he is in does get a lot of sunlight and I keep the room lights one during the day when I am home. I open the blinds to let the sun in at about 8am, I am home by 3pm and turn the room lights on, I turn the room lights off at 11pm - midnight.

Or am I just OVERLY paranoid?

 

[beautiful Betta]

I think you are probably being paranoid. Did his activity levels drop around the same time the light broke?

If so I am guessing he was chasing his reflection a lot, and now the light has broke he is just a lot more relaxed because he cant see another betta in his territory. And actually he is probably happier if that is the case, because that can be stressful for them if they are constantly chasing their reflection, they don't know it is a reflection.

 

[VivianKJean]

yeah pretty much be became calmer when the light broke.

I'm seriously probably being paranoid. I love my fish so much and am so paranoid about them getting sick.

I'm looking at the tank right now and he is swimming around, exploring his cave.

 

[beautiful Betta]

That's why I opt for silk plants and don't bother with lights betta's don't like them anyway, they prefer the natural darker light, plus they don't have the stress of their reflection and damaging their fins through darting around.

 

[VivianKJean]

I have silk plants in all of my tanks but the plan is to upgrade to live plants eventually since my tanks are small and I don't have the room for larger tanks in my apartment.

All my other bettas have no issues with the lights, but maybe this one is just more sensitive to lights

 

[VivianKJean]

I have figured out the problem!

Tonight while I was feeding him, I tapped the water to show him where the pellets will be and i noticed the water seemed a bit cold but my glass thermometer was reading 80F. I decided to take one of the thermometers from my other tanks and check the temperature and it said it was 75F. I turned the heater up and now the tank is at 80 and he is much more active. I'll be going to buy another thermometer tomorrow replace it.