My Betta Has Been Sleeping For 20 Hours+

[hudd]

Hi people!

I'm sort of new to caring for Bettas so I'm not 100% sure what to do. My Betta, Sashimi, who I picked up only a couple of days ago (18th of July, 2022), has been sleeping for 20 hours+, occasionally waking up for no reason. I have done so much research and I still have no clue. I researched a lot and I'm thinking the reason he is sleeping for so long is he is still getting used to the tank since that is what they do, (I think...). It could also be the ph levels but, again, I'm not 100% sure.

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Assuming the water quality is good (no ammonia or nitrite, and less than 20ppm nitrate), and the fish doesn't have a disease, it could be suffering from jet lag.

If the fish was newly imported and travelled a long distance, it could be use to one time zone and is now a bit messed up by the change in day and night on your tank. If this is the case, it should settle down in a week or two.

If you post some pictures and maybe a 1 minute video of the fish, it might offer more information.

Post a picture of the whole aquarium too so we can see if anything needs modifying.

 

[hudd]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Assuming the water quality is good (no ammonia or nitrite, and less than 20ppm nitrate), and the fish doesn't have a disease, it could be suffering from jet lag.

If the fish was newly imported and travelled a long distance, it could be use to one time zone and is now a bit messed up by the change in day and night on your tank. If this is the case, it should settle down in a week or two.

If you post some pictures and maybe a 1 minute video of the fish, it might offer more information.

Post a picture of the whole aquarium too so we can see if anything needs modifying.

Thank you for the reply!

I will try to post videos and photos asap. I only have plastic plants as well as a 3.5 gal. tank so it'll probably need some work.

I don't know what "ppm" is so you might need to enlighten me on that, nor do I know how to measure the ammonia or nitrite levels?

Thank you again for the reply.

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

I don't know what "ppm" is so you might need to enlighten me on that, nor do I know how to measure the ammonia or nitrite levels.

ppm stands for "parts per million" and you will need a water test kit or you could take it to a local Petco where I think they will give you a free test. make sure you test for ammonia as that is the most deadly.

 

[Colin_T]

When fish are kept in aquariums, any fish food, fish waste, dead fish or rotting plants break down in the water and produce ammonia. An established biological filter can convert ammonia into nitrite and then nitrate. When we test for ammonia, nitrite or nitrate, the test results are measured in ppm (parts per million as mentioned by Dragonscales).

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What sort of filter is on the tank?
Did the shop tell you how to clean it?

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Plastic plants can sometimes have sharp edges that can catch or cut the Betta's fins. Silk plants are better than plastic and live plants are better again. You can use some smooth grades of sandpaper to remove some of the sharp bits on plastic plants or replace them with silk, or live plants if you have a light unit above the tank.

Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta0 is one of the better plants for Bettas. It is a floating plant with lots of branches and the fish can sleep among them. If the plant grows too many baby plants, you can plant them in the gravel.

 

[hudd]

I do have the softer plastic version of plants with very soft leaves. The filter came with the tank, but it was already on a slow mode so I had to do no adjusting. I cannot provide photos currently since my phone is dead, but it looks a little something like this: https://www.google.com/search?q=fis...iw=1807&bih=898&dpr=1.06#imgrc=1EQLT33HNSuW5M

 

[hudd]

And I also have a Golden Mystery Snail called Escargot so it can eat some of the waste.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Welcome to TFF

Have a look here, pay special attention to "Fish-In Cycling": https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycle-your-tank-a-complete-guide-for-beginners.475055/

You will need a GOOD QUALITY test kit, get this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255NCI/?tag=ff0d01-20

You will also need a GOOD QUALITY water conditioner, get either Seachem Prime, or API Tap Water Conditioner

More than likely, especially in such a small tank (5.5G is the minimum for bettas), the betta is suffering from ammonia poisoning, from being in an uncycled tank

 

[hudd]

I got a Nutrafin water conditioner.

 

[Slaphppy7]

I got a Nutrafin water conditioner.

Use that for now, when you run out, get one of the others I mentioned above.

For now, do a large water change, following the conditioner directions....DO NO CLEANING of the filter, or anything else in the tank

Most importantly, read that fish-in cycling sticky linked above

 

[hudd]

HE'S UP AND MOVING! Thanks, everyone for the help and advice! I'm not sure why?, but hey, he's up, I'm not complaining.

 

[Colin_T]

Probably jet lag, He came from Indonesia or somewhere around there. Flew around the world. Landed in Canada. Got sent to a shop and put in their tanks. Then got taken to your house. I would be tired after that too

 

[Big Boy Fish]

So firstly since your new so what tank size and do you have a pump ,filter and heater. Getting to your problem it is probably from the long journey explained by Colin_t or he just haven't slept in a while lol