New Betta Is Acting Strange

[bernermad]

Well this weekend we bought a betta for our daughter's 10 gallon fish tank. There is a heater and also a filter in this tank as well as fake plants. The fish seemed very active and colorful in his little cup at the store but since being put into the tank he rests on the top of the water, rarely swimming at the bottom or middle of the tank. We are feeding him betta pellets and freeze dried bloodworms. We bought the same pellets he ate at the LFS but for some reason he won't eat them. He'll suck the pellet into his mouth and spit it right back out. The bloodworms he will pick at but won't eat much of those either. Is this normal betta behavior? I never had a betta before so I'm not sure how they are suppose to act. The LFS said when I called that he is acting perfectly normal. The temp is at 74 degrees and I did do a 100% water change 1 day before he was introduced (we put our goldfish in a 30 gallon tank, emptied the tank completely, filled it and treated it with water conditioner and Cycle, let it sit for the day and night and added the betta the next day). Other than that though he does seem healthy when he does swim around he swims good and is really active.

 

[mommyof2bettas]

The food part sounds ok, bettas usually don't eat the first couple of days they are introduced to a new aquarium. The temp. is a little low though. Raise it to about 80F, slowly. What other fish are in this tank? Can you post the water parameters? Did you cycle this tank?

Other than that though he does seem healthy when he does swim around he swims good and is really active.

so he swims around? does he only go up to the surface sometimes? For how long? Bettas need a gulp of air every once in a while so they will go to the surface but not for long, it looks like they are swallowing something.

 

[*Fishkies*]

Here is a LINK to help you out with your betta. He may not be a pellet eater either, maybe try some betta flake food.

 

[bernermad]

Ok, I'll raise the temp up a little every day. The LFS told me that they didn't need a heater but we could use one and put it at about 75. No the tank was not cycled because I was told by a member on this site that we could just do a 100% water change and add the fish without cycling and when I asked the LFS when I brought my sample in before we bought him they said the same thing. I did do a water change of 2 gallons today, and did a double dose of cycle before adding the fish and then added more cycle when I added the fish the next day and I add the cycle every week (double dose for the first 2 weeks).

When I just went in there now he was swimming all around agian. He only goes up sometimes I guess but usually he'll be swimming and then when we go in the room he'll go back to the surface.

I did call the LFS agian today just to ask them about the fish and I did ask if maybe he was suffering from the water not being cycled but they said probably not he's probably still adjusting. Should I maybe replace some of his water with either our alrady cycled 30 or 75 gallon tank?

 

[mommyof2bettas]

I think you should, maybe that's why it freaked him out, being in a different type of water all of a sudden.

 

[bernermad]

Ok he does stay in the middle part of the tank, in the fake plants, and will come up and fulp every once in a while and stay up there for a minute or so and then go hand out in the plants again. No other fish are in te tank either, he was the first to get up in.

I am going to take out 5 gallons of his water and put in 5 gallons from our 75 gallon, which has been established longer than the 30 gallon. I will be going to work in a few minutes to get a water test done and I will post the parameters. My boss never sells bettas either though so she does not know anything about them really.

 

[celaeno]

Well this weekend we bought a betta for our daughter's 10 gallon fish tank. There is a heater and also a filter in this tank as well as fake plants. The fish seemed very active and colorful in his little cup at the store but since being put into the tank he rests on the top of the water, rarely swimming at the bottom or middle of the tank. We are feeding him betta pellets and freeze dried bloodworms. We bought the same pellets he ate at the LFS but for some reason he won't eat them. He'll suck the pellet into his mouth and spit it right back out. The bloodworms he will pick at but won't eat much of those either. Is this normal betta behavior? I never had a betta before so I'm not sure how they are suppose to act. The LFS said when I called that he is acting perfectly normal. The temp is at 74 degrees and I did do a 100% water change 1 day before he was introduced (we put our goldfish in a 30 gallon tank, emptied the tank completely, filled it and treated it with water conditioner and Cycle, let it sit for the day and night and added the betta the next day). Other than that though he does seem healthy when he does swim around he swims good and is really active.

the temperature should be at 78F, you should have waited at least 3 days after doing the 100% water change (while adding pure ammonia daily to keep the nitrifying bacteria in the filter alive), and i'm not sure using cycle will help much.

also, what kind of filter is it? bettas prefer filters that produce little to no surface agitation.

if the betta does not improve after 2 more weeks, the problem has to do with either filter type or the water conditions.

 

[bernermad]

the temperature should be at 78F, you should have waited at least 3 days after doing the 100% water change (while adding pure ammonia daily to keep the nitrifying bacteria in the filter alive), and i'm not sure using cycle will help much.

also, what kind of filter is it? bettas prefer filters that produce little to no surface agitation.

if the betta does not improve after 2 more weeks, the problem has to do with either filter type or the water conditions.

The cycle will keep ammonia down and prevent big spikes with ammonia and everything. I have the whisper filter that came with the tank. There is very little movement to the water surface. The filter is not really good but it gets the job done and we can't find any other brands of filters for a ten gallon that are good.

 

[Tessla]

Considering that bettas can be kept long term in unfiltered, uncycled bowls much smaller than 10 gallons, I doubt it's the water quality at the moment and more the new surroundings. Get the temperature up to 78-80 degrees gradually and keep an eye on ammonia and nitrites. Mature filter media from your larger tanks would instantly cycle this tank.

They'll often be very active (and stressed) surrounded by all of the other bettas in the cups at the store, try holding a mirror up to him and see if he flares at his reflection. I've found quite a few bettas to be lazy buggers when they don't feel threatened, it isn't at all uncommon for them to lie on a leaf near the top of the tank so that they don't have to swim all the way up to get a gulp of air. Try a larger variety of foods, sometimes they can be picky eaters, especially when kept by themselves. Frozen bloodworms and most freeze dried treats tend to be very popular with mine.

About filters: I have an AquaClear for a 20 gallon on my ten gallon tank which replaced my Whisper filter. I like the filter media much better and it provides very little surface agitation so my betta is fine with it. Overfiltering is fine, just make sure that you keep the surface agitation down.

 

[Amunet]

Sounds like he's probably just adjusting to the tank.
Make sure you don't overfeed him when he does start eating properly. My bettas would eat 24/7 if I let them.. and then die of constipation :\
Also if you haven't heard.. it's a good idea to fast the betta for a day and to give them a cooked shelled pea once a week.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

moving water won't do anything, you only risk cross contamination so don't do it.

the filter bacteria you need is sessile, it lives attached to things not free swimming in the water.

however taking some filter media from the 75g and putting this in the filter for teh 10g will undoubtedly help make sure the water quality it spot on, and you should definately do that

 

[bernermad]

Well he seems to be doing better today. He's swimming alot more and ate 4 pellets this morning. Although I think he may have a slight case of tail rot because his tail fin around the edge is brown so I ordered medicine last night and it should be here tomorrow. Even if he doesn't have tail rot though we need to have that medicine so it had to be ordered.