[christinaporreca]

Hi everyone. Today I bought a new betta for a 10 gallon. As soon as I added him he was swimming completely upside down!! But the was fine in his cup before that.. I put him back in his cup for an hour then slowly poured him in. Now he's just laying at the bottom of his tank. Why is he doing this? Was the water in the cup compared to his tank different for him? Maybe like a shock?

The cup was the pet store water.

 

[Bikeridinguckgirl14]

Yes, betta fish and all other fish will go into shock if you just dump them in. You float the cup in the tank till the water temps are the same then keep adding tank water to the cup (about a teaspoon per minute) until the cup is full. Dump some cup water and repeat, total acclimation can take 10min-half hour.

Also, I hate to say this, but that peacock fern in the background isn't actually an aquatic plant, and will die after a month unless you make sure only the roots stay in the water. Petco *sigh*

 

[christinaporreca]

Oh great.. What plants do you recommend? I want something he can really hide in.

This morning he was fine! Swimming around great.

 

[LolaQuigs]

Some good starter plants are java fern and anubias. And Marimo moss balls are awesome and easily available from Petsmart or Petco. I'm experienced with bettas but pretty new to plants, so others will hopefully chime in with more suggestions!

Glad he's feeling better!

 

[SplashyBetta]

Other plant ideas: dwarf hairgrass, java moss, amazon sword, water wisteria...
Do some research on each way before deciding because they have different light and nutrient requirements

 

[christinaporreca]

I'm not too upset about the fern, since it was 75% off.. It was a quick purchase so I didn't have an empty tank for Pierre! I read online theres a leaf that sticks to the side of the tank your betta can rest on? I forget what it's called.

I also need to find some plants for my other betta, he only has a few plastic ones.

 

[christinaporreca]

Would java moss make it hard to clean my tank? I saw a picture and it is embedded and covers the whole bottom of the tank.