My Betta

[Kayra101]

Hi everyone ,I purchased a tropical tank 5 weeks ago ,took a while to cycle ,I have my own test kit so I would check every week ,anyway ,it finally cycled and I brought some fish yesterday ,2 guppies,bristlenose and a betta (now I know that it’s not the best idea to put these together ,however it’s not an aggressive betta and everything seems to be fine between them ,no aggressive behaviour)

Now I’ve been observing my betta and he is obsessed with my filter ,he is always below it ,beside it or behind it ,when he goes behind it’s such a tight area and he like bends his body and it looks so weird and uncomfortable and this seems to alarm me.Im worried that there is a problem with my anmonia or nitrate

The readings of my ammonia is:0/0.1 ish
The readings of my nitrite is:0.15/0.25ish

None of my guppies or bristlenose have been doing this ,just the betta
Also ,my betta isn’t 100% of the time around the filter ,he does come out and looks amazing and looks fine here and there but some times goes to the filter and does that like 70% of the time.

Also another thing that alarmed me was sometimes when he swims he kind of wiggles his body is this static way ,not sure if that’s normal.

Sorry for the overload of info,hope you can tell me what’s up,thankyou

 

[Essjay]

With any reading of ammonia or nitrite above zero, you need to do a water change big enough to get them to zero. As long as the new water is dechlorinated and at the same temperature as the tank, big water changes won't do any harm.

How big is the tank and what filter do you have? The betta's behaviour suggests to me that the water flow from the filter is too strong for the betta so he keeps to the places where there is less water flow - right next to the filter but away from the outlet. Bettas need only slight water flow because of their big tail and fins.
He may also be trying to avoid the guppies.

 

[Kayra101]

Right so I did a 50% water change and the ammonia looks a bit better however the nitrite is the same ,the Bettas behaviour changed for 20 minutes ,he was out and about but then he went back behind that god damn filter and squeezed himself in there ,I have a canister filter ,water flow is minimal ,I’m not sure how I could make it even less powerful??

What can I do to see if the guppies are the issue ,take them out for a while??

 

[Kayra101]

Also ,my tank is a 65 litre.

 

[Essjay]

If the tank is 60 cm or more long, it is fine for the bristlenose.

To be honest, a betta should be kept on his own. Is there any chance of getting a tank about 25 litres just for him?
It is difficult to know if the guppies are annoying him because fish tend to change their behaviour when we are watching them. Humans = food and they don't behave normally as they expect to be fed. You can try sitting somewhere not too close to the tank and keeping motionless for at least 15 minutes. They'll forget you are there and start behaving more normally.




Can I ask, when you say you cycled the tank, what exactly did you do?

 

[Kayra101]

I mean I would be up for the 25 litre but I wanted it to be a nice tank with all colourful and happy fish.Oh and when I said bristlenose I think I made a mistake ,I just have a small plecco ,it’s not the big ones though.i think ur right about me being around ,because when I go and come back he is around but gets a bit scared when he sees me ,that kind of adds up.

To cycle my tank was sooo long and I just purchased it and got all the filter and heater,I added filter start and then it took very long for the bacteria to build,My other tank cycled so I put a plant from it in there to speed it up.

 

[Essjay]

So you didn't add any ammonia while cycling? You need to feed the bacteria while cycling.From your ammonia and nitrite readings the tank wasn't fully cycled when you got the fish. You need to do as many water changes as necessary to keep ammonia and nitrite at zero.

Can you find out exactly what kind of plec you have. There are enormous plecs (common, gibbiceps etc), small plecs (eg bristlenose) and a huge number of in between sizes. Not all of these are suitable for 65 litres. And plecs create a large amount of waste for the size of them which won't be helping your water conditions.

As you have another tank, you could try moving the guppies into that (unless there are incompatible fish) and see if the betta's behaviour changes. if it doesn't, at least you'll have eliminated a possibility.

 

[Kayra101]

Well I just added some seachem which is supposed to do that right?ill do a bunch of water changes over the days and keep testing the tank,Thankyou for that.

So earlier I moved the guppies all into another tank but the betta was still doing the same thing.Wht I have realised is that when I turn the light off at night ,he comes out a tiny bit more.Also I tried to feed him flakes earlier and he didn’t really eat any ,so on Wednesday I’m going to get bloodworms and see if he like some that ,and then I will try to find a food that is specifically for Bettas
I have a tiny plecco which is Definately in the right size tank ,doesn’t grow any bigger ,it’s about 3 or 4 inches long

 

[Kayra101]

YAY YAY YAYYYYYY ,I discovered what the problem was ,behind that filter on the outside of the tank was a kind of metallic warning sticker ,well from the inside it’s reflective ,so the reason the betta kept going up there and flaring it’s gills was because in the reflection it could see another betta and wanted to fight it.So I peeled the sticker off and now he never goes up there and is out and about ,im still going to get the ammonia and nitrite to zero though.

Thankyou so much essjay ,I’ll post if I have an issue in the future

 

[Essjay]

Ah, that would account for it. I have problems with backgrounds on my betta tank as many bettas I've had can see their refection. Even matt black card against the glass turns it into a mirror, and they spend all their time flaring at their reflections.