How Much "resting" Is Normal?

[Winterlily]

I've had my male Betta (a bit over 4 months old) for about a week now. Never had a Betta before. I've read on here that their resting on the bottom and on plants and heaters etc is normal, but how do I know if his resting - which he seems to do a lot - is okay or if he has a problem? The tank is cycling with him in it (I know I know - I got pulled in by the "Stability will instantly cycle your tank and you don't need to worry about it" nonsense from the LFS), but I'm doing frequent (1-3 times daily as needed) water changes and, for the most part, keeping the ammonia to zero (sometimes it's .25 when I test in the morning) but he's not, I don't think!, in distress. Nitrites have yet to appear.

He is eating like a little pig - will eat as much as I'm willing to give him (I'm not overdoing it I don't think!). He's active sometimes - mostly when I approach the tank. Then he comes out from wherever he was resting/hiding and swims around looking at me and trying to get me to give him more food.

But when I walk away, SOMEtimes he swims around for a bit, but mostly he goes back down and sort of lays on the bottom (belly on the gravel, not sideways), or on a leaf, or sometimes, he totally freaks me out by laying sort of curled (like his body is like the letter "C") around something. Again, when I come over to the tank, he perks right up and swims quickly out from where he was and comes looking for food.

Is this normal betta behavior? Or do I have a potential problem brewing here or something?

Jeez... have had the fish all of a week and am already the worried "mother"....

Thanks!
Samantha
PS... Should add that he's in an Eclipse 3 gallon tank, no heater yet (can't find one small enough), but the water temp during the day is about 80, and overnight it's about 76.
PPS... Edited to add that for a lot of this evening, he was out and swimming around, not hiding/resting as much. Just need some reassurance I guess that this is just what they do and not indicative of disease or something else. Thanks!

 

[CTlovesKS]

They do like to be lazy and rest whenever they get away with it. I will admit that... Its hard to say thats good and bad. It all depends on your bettas personality... You have to keep an eye on him. Because when I dont the same mistake as you "you dont need heater or Filter from LFS" he got so cold and dirty in the water that he went into resting zone and lost colour then died poor thing... (Not saying thats going to happen to yours though)

If he is happy to see you and become active when ever someone approaches the tank and eating without any problems, then I dont see anything is wrong with him. I think he is a fat little thing that cant be bother to move unless food is involed lol.

Where is the tank put? Could you put it somewhere where you walk past alot so he is always seeing you. He seems to dislike you walking away from him. What Tail type is he... I have noticed that when VT go into a home tank they become more resting and lazy.

Personly I say its normal - but would like some people to back me up on this if possible.

Dont worry as I said in your other thread - We all get a little worried over our bettas at times. Its natural lol

i dont know how small that tank is expect 3 G but i have a 4 G small for that water holdage and I found a heater 25W small enough to fit in there. £7.99 at southern aqautics and pets. though Im sure they sell them at most places.

 

[Honeythorn]

That pattern of resting sounds normal to me. Their long fins mean they aren't great swimmers ( Plakats are the obvious exception ) so they like to rest on anything and everything. If he starts to list over and lie on his side, generally lookng very flat on the bottom, that's the time to worry.

 

[Winterlily]

Great, thanks guys. I'm starting to relax a bit that he's just fine - just a lazybones. He springs to life as soon as he realizes you're out there. Flies into begging mode!

 

[aimsley_87]

Thank you so much guys! I was just about to post a new thread of the same content! I was worried about Midnight resting too much but this post has put my mind at ease!

 

[loraxchick]

to the original poster-
i see you live in NY (im upstate) so howdy neighbor...if you have a walmart near you (who doesnt), go to the pet section and look at the heaters. they sell 25 watt heaters that fit in a 3 gal for about $8. that's where i always get my betta heaters from...they're cheap and very reliable (the only drawback is they are pre-set so you cant raise/lower the temp, but i havent had any probs with over/under heating. they are either whisper or Tetra brand (cant remember even tho ive bought three in the last year or so ) .
good luck!

 

[Winterlily]

loraxchick: howdy neighbor indeed! You are just 2-3 hours from me. And thanks, I will check out the heaters at WalMart. I did find one, Hydor's Mini Heater, but it works in a funny way - raises the temp a certain number of degrees above what it already is - no way to set it at all. As the water temp here with no heater is already from 76-80, I didn't want one that did that.

It's soon not going to be as big an issue - once the new 55 gallon is cycled, he won't be in this tank anymore anyhow!

 

[loraxchick]

the heaters from walmart you cant set either. they are preset for i think 78...so when the water is warmer than that(or at that temp) it just turns off...i have thermometers in the tanks to monitor the heat, and ive never seen it "cook" the water. they work well. the only drawback is if you suspect there to be a disease where you need to lower or raise the temp, you cant. other than theat they are great little heaters, get the job done and work well (i have three of them with no probs, one being almost a year and a half old)
good luck

 

[Winterlily]

Ahh okay - that sounds good, actually. The preset type is fine for this tank! (I'm not even going to keep it - I was going to use it as a hospital/quarantine tank once the 55 gallon was going, but it's really too small. I just got, and set up, a 5.5 gallon that will be used as the hosp/quarantine tank - I got a MarineLand Visi-Therm 25 watt for that - working nicely.) I only had issues with the other one because I understood that it automatically raised the temp a certain number of degrees above whatever it was - no preset. Made no sense to me. I will look for the one you suggest this weekend! Thanks!

...Edited for dopey grammatical mistake...

 

[loraxchick]

no problem...and id just like to reiterate that it doesnt raise it above what the water is now...it heats to a predetermined temp (i think it is 78) and when it gets to that temp, it turns itself off...water starts cooling off and it turns back on...just have a themometer in there to make sure it is accurately heating the water...but like i said, ive had no problems with any of the three im currently using.
have fun...and i want to see pics

 

[Winterlily]

Thanks loraxchick! Yeah, that's why I like the one you were talking about - makes total sense not to raise it above current temp (unless that's under 78!). I meant the Hydor Mini that I didn't like - I understood worked that way of raising it however much above current temp. Maybe I misunderstood, but it's only a couple weeks, tops I think, more for him to be in this little tank, so!

Pics! Yes I promise! Will post them in the Betta section when I get decent ones! Right now I've only got closeups of his damaged (in shipping) fins and of his injury from me and the stupid siphon. When I get decent ones of just him without all the issues (!), I will indeed post 'em - promise!

Samantha

 

[Syphoniera]

I'm using a little bitty skinny Hagen 'Radiant' heater which seem to work very well and is adjustable, in a little 3 gallon.
I suppose they're a higher wattage than those those little preset thingys, and might make someone a bit nervous, but I wouldn't want to use them - I like a steady temperature.


http/www.petdiscounters.com/c87/Radiant-Heaters-p989.html

 

[Jpmc™]

Another thing to add is, if you put in a silk plant, they love to rest on those, because they can be lazy and get air at the same time.

 

[Winterlily]

Loraxchick: Went to Walmart today (you're gonna love this) and found the heaters you were on about (I'm pretty sure!). Made by Tetra. But here, they were $19 and change!

So, no heater for the Eclipse 3. I have the new 5.5 gallon, which will serve as the hospital/quarantine tank, and it has a Visi-therm 25 watt heater in it. The fish will be moving out of the little 3 gallon and into one of the divided sections of the 55 gallon as soon as it's cycled (which should be, I hope!, quick because of all the mature media going into it), so I don't want to put another $20 into this tank that I won't even be keeping.

Can't believe it's more than double the price here! Unless it's a different heater, but I don't think so. It was a preset (78 degrees, like you said).

Boy oh boy!

Thanks, Syphoniera - I will see if I can find one of those around here. By the time I order it online and it arrives, I will no longer be using the tank!

And yup, Jpmc, there are multiple silk plants in there! Thanks!

 

[loraxchick]

wow...that is ludicrous...i could prob buy and send one(or meet you somewhere in the middle) for less than that.
i honestly paid NO more than $8 for mine.
wow...well done Walmart. well done!