Fish Help!

[Anon1213]

Hey guys, first time on a forum and looking for some help and or info, i currently have a red Betta named gimbal and ive had him for roughly 6 months and had absolutely no problems, hes extremely active eats often and seems extremely happy, however that all changed recently, we had him in a 3 gallon tank and decided it was time to upgrade him, the 3 gallon tank had no heater, as we live in an area with a constant temperature, and the most the temperature has ever dropped in his tank is 1F, he also has a filter and is fed once to twice every day. Anyways we recently wanted to get him a larger tank and some tank mates, this is where it gets interesting, hes now in a 10 gallon tank with a filter, no heater still and the tank temperature hasnt dropped or raised (wondering if thats the issue) and 5 small Glowlight Tetras, the first day he was shy, and a bit terratorial but never aggressive, and i thought all was well, watched for a while and saw no issues, and went to bed. fast foward to day 2 and 3, the fish are co existing perfectly fine, but hes starting to exhibit some weird behavior, he was hiding behind a piece of coral today when i woke up and i assumed he just felt shy or nervous due to his new tankmates, no other issues on day 3 observed. Day 4, he has now decided to reside at the top right corner of the tank, flaring at himself and never moving, he also goes dormant every 30 minutes or so and stays entirely still, im assuming hes just resting, im just concerned about the fact he wont explore the tank, or move from the top right corner, the other 5 fish are on the bottom swimming around and playing, just not him. any ideas?

 

[Fishboy_Max]

Hey, welcome.
Do you mind sending some photos of the tank and the betta please.
And if I may ask did you cycle the tank before adding any of the fish.
What are your ammonia, nitrates and nitrites?
Do you know the temperature in the tank?
Because if suddenly he is less active and sort of dormant it may be that the water is to cold.
Bettas prime temperature is 26°C or 77-9°f
Sorry for all the questions but the more we know the better we can help.

 

[Byron]

Agree on the above post's questions. There is also another issue here, and it is likely involved in this. Bettas are not community fish, and should be alone.

This is a two-way street. The betta is naturally territorial; this plays out differently with individual fish, but it is still programmed into the fish's genetics and we cannot change their behaviour. The fish may or may not exert its dominance. The other side of the two-way street involves the glowlight tetras. They need a group of 10 or more; scientific studies have proven that shoaling fish like all tetras when kept in groups below 10 will react negatively as this is frustrating for them since they expect larger groups; this too is in their DNA. Peaceful species usually develop aggressive behaviour. Even if there is no physical contact, fish communicate via chemical signals, pheromones that are read by others in the species, and allomones read by other species. We cannot see this, though we can see the resulting behaviours, which may be the betta's change here.

Since neither fish is in a suitable environment, trouble is likely to ensue. It would be bet to put the poor betta in a smaller tank, 5g is fine, even the 3g, and increase the glowlights to 9 or 10. However, a 10g is really not sufficient for glowlights, or most of the common tetras, so returning them may be the best option. We all want what is best for the fish.