My Lazy Fish!

Hello all!

I'm new but I've had an aquarium set up for just over a year and a half now. I had some bad luck in the beginning but now I've had a Betta(Chewie) for almost a year and he seems pretty content. He's in a 10 gal ( tank @ 82F ), which some people say is too big for him but he was very happy when I put him in it. I also have 3 Kuhli Loaches in there with him (Yakko, Wakko and Dot) and they keep to themselves, they are far too fast for Chewie to catch them and they stay inside the bell and under the bridge during the day.

I've been noticing that Chewie tends to sit in the little marble archway or in the corner on the bottom of the tank among the plants alot. I don't think anything is wrong with him, far as I know. He is very responsive if I move over to the tank or if cat comes over to pester him, he'll swim up to the front of the tank to greet a visitor (Teases the heck out of my cats too and comes back for more, its odd). I just want to be sure his off and on laziness is normal?

Look forward to hearing from you!

From what I remember when I kept bettas, it's not unusual for them to rest on ornaments or plants. I'm going to move this to the betta section where I'm sure they can give you a more informed answer.

Chewie is adorable, and I love the loaches names, I used to watch Animaniacs all the time.

IMO there's no such thing as too large for a betta, or any sort of fish =P. And yes, it's perfectly normal for him to be that way. my halfmoons are exactly like that...it seems sometimes the extra finnage gets tiring to carry. They'll perch on plants/on the bottom until they see you approach, then swim up in hopes of food.

perfectly normal. they find a nice resting spot and use that all the time. being in that set up for so long hes comfortable and doesnt feel the need to patrol all the time for "invaders". IME, the older the fish, the lazier he is. he also is a beauty! nice job you are doing with him.
and i too watch Animaniacs a lot. love their songs! funny stuff
all the best

As the others said

All my boys seem to be pretty laid back like this. How bout adding some taller plants for him to perch on too? Mine love chilling out near the surface

Thanks so much for your input guys! My fish means as much to me as my cats do so it's important that he's happy. I'm going to go look into some taller perches for him too.. the more things I put in his tank the happier he seems. He LOVES swimming through his bell over and over and over again.. and he also 'plays waterpark' as I call it with the filter. He will swim around the water fall and then float under it until the current flips him over and pushes him around the tank. And then he hurries back to do it all over again for almost 20 minutes at a time until he spots me watching and comes looking for food.

I adore my little betta, he is so beautiful!

Yakko, Wakko and Dot tend to be cheeky with him.. swimming up the sides of the tank to get his attention, circling him and then darting off to hide or burrow leaving him swimming in frantic circles. It keeps him pretty busy!