My betta, VanGogh, has been acting very different from normal the past couple of days.
Usually when I come up to the tank, he immediately swims out from wherever he is to see me. If I open the tank, he's always there waiting for food.
The past two days, he's been sitting on the bottom of the tank. He knows I'm there because he turns to see me, he just doesn't swim up to see me. He wouldn't come when I opened the tank. Eventually, he did swim up and ate his food. He even jumped out of the water for it (which is what he normally does). For awhile after that, he was swimming around the tank acting normally...then he went back down to the bottom and is still there today.
I checked the water conditions, and everything is normal. VanGogh looks perfectly normal...no strange spots, etc.
Could it be that he's stressed? I guess I'm not sure how to tell if a fish is stressed out or not. The only change to the tank recently has been the addition of harlequins. They've been there for a week now and he's never really seemed to mind them. He's ignored them for the most part. But they have been the only change to the tank. Perhaps there is just too much action in the tank now for him? I'm just guessing here, so maybe I'm way off.
His old five gallon is still set up, and I've been putting fish food in there every now and then to keep it cycled. I could always move him back to that.
If it is the harlequins that are stressing him out, I'll probably buy another ten for him and just put cory cats in with him (he's never minded the cory cats.)
He's my favorite fish and I can't stand seeing him acting like this. I never realized how much a fish could mean to me until he started acting like this.
Any advice or opinions are welcome. I just want to help my baby.
Usually when I come up to the tank, he immediately swims out from wherever he is to see me. If I open the tank, he's always there waiting for food.
The past two days, he's been sitting on the bottom of the tank. He knows I'm there because he turns to see me, he just doesn't swim up to see me. He wouldn't come when I opened the tank. Eventually, he did swim up and ate his food. He even jumped out of the water for it (which is what he normally does). For awhile after that, he was swimming around the tank acting normally...then he went back down to the bottom and is still there today.
I checked the water conditions, and everything is normal. VanGogh looks perfectly normal...no strange spots, etc.
Could it be that he's stressed? I guess I'm not sure how to tell if a fish is stressed out or not. The only change to the tank recently has been the addition of harlequins. They've been there for a week now and he's never really seemed to mind them. He's ignored them for the most part. But they have been the only change to the tank. Perhaps there is just too much action in the tank now for him? I'm just guessing here, so maybe I'm way off.
His old five gallon is still set up, and I've been putting fish food in there every now and then to keep it cycled. I could always move him back to that.
If it is the harlequins that are stressing him out, I'll probably buy another ten for him and just put cory cats in with him (he's never minded the cory cats.)
He's my favorite fish and I can't stand seeing him acting like this. I never realized how much a fish could mean to me until he started acting like this.
Any advice or opinions are welcome. I just want to help my baby.
