[briannekelly]

Hi! I'm new to caring for betta fish as well as bettafish.com. My only real experience with fish in general originates when I was a lot younger when I had my fair share of goldfish. Now I'm 19 and live in a college dorm and I thought having something to care for would really liven things up. Sooo, here I am, proud owner of a Halfmoon male betta fish. I've done a pretty good amount of research on the little guy, I've gotten him some marimo moss balls and a heater as well as other decor. I have yet to get a filter (I know, horrible) but it should be arriving today or tomorrow. He's in a 2.5 gallon tank. I got him a little over a week ago, last Thursday to be exact, and I've recently noticed these past couple of days that he's begun to just sit idle in the top corner of his tank. He only moves for food or if I cause some water movement with my finger at the surface. He sits above this fabric plant I picked up from Petco that he'd grown to like. He used to like to wedge himself between it and the tank and swim around it, but now, like I said, he just sits atop it not moving for hours on end. I've done two 25% water changes with conditioned water since getting him (one today and one two/three days ago), I've switched out his food since he doesn't like flakes but nothing seems to be getting him out of this corner! Googling the issue I get answers ranging from: "Ammonia poisoning, your horrible fish keeper!" to "Oh he seems to have found a nice hang out spot ". From what I can tell with my unexperienced fish keeper knowledge he doesn't seem to have anything visually wrong with him. He's always seemed kind of lethargic but never isolated himself to the corner. Any ideas or help would be appreciated! I've grown to like him a little too much and I'm a bit (very) worried and would be sad (devastated) if anything were to happen to him. Thank You!

 

[ThatFishThough]

Hello! Welcome! Congratz on your new betta. To help, we need a little bit of info, even if you provided most of it in the original post. Thanks!

--> Many illnesses can be traced to water conditions. Your water-changing schedule is the most important element in diagnosing. Please be honest.

Housing:
How many gallons is your tank?
Does it have a filter?
Does it have a heater?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind?

Food:
What food brand do you use?
Do you feed flakes or pellets?
Freeze-dried?
How often do you feed your Betta? How much?

Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change?
What percentage of water did you change?
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water?
What additives do you use? What brand of conditioner?

Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water *before* the regular water change; not after one.

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness (GH):
Alkalinity (KH):

Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms?
How has your Betta’s appearance changed?
How has your Betta’s behavior changed?
Is your Betta still eating?
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how?
Does your Betta have any history of being ill?
How long have you owned your Betta? Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased?

PLEASE PROVIDE CLEAR PHOTOS

NOTE: EMBED YOUR PHOTOS. PLEASE DO NOT LINK. Click on "Go Advanced" and then on the paper clip in the toolbar.

 

[briannekelly]

How many gallons is your tank? 2.5
Does it have a filter? No (will install today)
Does it have a heater? Yes
What temperature is your tank? 78
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Does your Betta have tank mates? Yes What kind? Moss balls

Food:
What food brand do you use? Omega one
Do you feed flakes or pellets? Pellets
Freeze-dried? Bloodworms as treats
How often do you feed your Betta? 2 times a day How much? Very small pinch of pellets maybe 5-8 to be exact/1-2 bloodworms for treat

Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? 2 times a week
What percentage of water did you change? 25%
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water? First time just dipped water out second time I used a turkey bastor
What additives do you use? Conditioner What brand of conditioner? Zoo med

Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? (I don't know how to do this to be honest)
Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water *before* the regular water change; not after one.

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness (GH):
Alkalinity (KH):

Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms? Always lethargic/ sitting in corner for maybe 5 days
How has your Betta?s appearance changed? No
How has your Betta?s behavior changed? Sitting in corner/ kind of skiddish when not in the corner
Is your Betta still eating? Yes
Have you started treating your Betta? No If so, how?
Does your Betta have any history of being ill? I don't know
How long have you owned your Betta? A week Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased? Not that I know of

 

[KaidaAndHachi14]

He seems like he just likes that spot! It looks like he has built a bubble nest, which is what bettas do when they are happy!

 

[ThatFishThough]

Bubblenests are just a sign of sexual maturity, sorry.

He looks to be healthy, but can we have a full tank shot? It looks to be rather bare, and one of the only plants is in that corner.

 

[briannekelly]

There's really not many bubbles, I've never actually seen him make a bubble nest either. Here's a full tank shot from the other day

 

[ThatFishThough]

You really do need lots more plants for him to feel comfortable. Also, it might help if you move the hammock closer to the surface.

 

[briannekelly]

The pictures a couple days old, I definitely moved the hammock up since then, he just doesn't seem to have an interest in it! I guess I'll be making yet another trip to petco after work to pick up some more plants His filter also got delivered while I was out so that will be installed as soon as I get home! Hopefully this all helps!

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

Are the photos of him swimming around from before he started just hanging out? A photo from today would be of great help. Thanks!


And...Welcome to the Forum! :wave:

 

[briannekelly]

All the photos are from today except for the full tank photo. I included 5 pictures some where I coaxed him out of the corner and then some when he grumpily returned

 

[briannekelly]

Update: I added tons of new plants to the tank and he's perked up almost immediately. He still loves that corner spot, but now he at least swims around and explores some. I also introduced the filter which is too strong for him, so I have to research some ways to fix that. In the meantime, he's been resting on top of the filter rather than the leaf hammock I specifically bought. Figures . I mentioned in an earlier reply that he normally wedges himself between the plants, well now his favorite past time has escalated to include wedging between the teeny tiny space between the heater and the wall. Hoping he doesn't get himself stuck in there but trying not to worry too much anymore.

Thank you all so much for your responses! This was a great introduction to the website for me and I look forward to contributing more!

 

[Falcon]

Do you have a place for him to hide? Like a small cave or something?

 

[briannekelly]

Yes! He has a ceramic zoo med log he likes to hide in a lot

 

[Falcon]

okay shall never mind then.

Is he eating for you now?

 

[briannekelly]

He is, he's actually a lot better now that I added more plants to his tank

 

[Falcon]

That's good to hear. I had an Oscar who would not eat when I was in the room. As soon as I left the room, he would eat. He also sulked for two weeks. It's normal behavior with cichlids.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

FWIW, I have found in a well-planted tank "hides" are unnecessary as the plants take their place.