Unusual Female Behaviour

[MrCashew]

My new female betta does nothing but swim frantically back and forth at the back of the tank, as though she's trying to get out. She is in a 5L tank with lots of gravel, a plant, a rock, UV light, heater and air stone. The air stone does create current which my be more intense at the back, but she does this regardless of whether its running or not. She does stop to find food and 'sleep', but otherwise she's doing figure eights on the back wall. I don't currently have a background there, only white paper and a small gap. Any ideas what the matter could be? She has been doing it every day since I got her (about a week ago).

 

[sheffieldlad]

Have you tried changing the decor in you tank around?
Is she in with any tank mates?
Also what are your water stats, temp, amonia etc

 

[Finny Business]

She's probably under-stimulated and doing it out of boredom. A lot of betta keepers call it 'glass surfing'. One of my females used to do it when she was housed in a bare-bottom temp tank.

I prefer to house my females in at least 10-15L as they are much more active than the males and like to have more room to stretch their fins. However, in a 5L I would remove the rock and put in a couple more plants.

I'm not sure on your water conditions, but the presence of ammonia/nitrite can trigger stress in fish and depending on your parameters, might be contributing to her behavior.

 

[Liquid skills]

i agree with the under stimulated when animals (regardless of species ) is under stimulated they got to a form of behavior where they try and amuse their self this is called :
stereo typical behavior its a repeated action like when you see an animal pacing back and forth trying to pass the time try some enrichment programs like spreading her food among her environment so she has to look for it or try some bubble rap floating on top of the water (not the whole size of the tank surface about 1/4) or try putting a plastic cat ball in that will float on top so she can bat it around (some of u may be thinking WHAAAT?) but its true even fish like to play with plastic balls try some of that see if that helps

resources: my level 1 diploma and level 2 diploma 4 years of college im only 18

 

[MrCashew]

I only changed the decor yesterday, but i've had trouble finding a filter small enough for the tank. A five litre tank is the best i can do right now, I'm afraid. I am trying to clear out a bacterial bloom so its possible that the ammonia is high, but i've been doing water changes regularly and every physical sign indicates that she's okay. She did have tank mates, two white cloud minnows, however both of them started to waste away so i removed them. I've had 3 other fish deaths recently in both my tanks. Water temperature is 26 degrees, pH is neutral, not sure about the ammonia but i'm trying to keep it low. I'll take your advice about entertainment for her and new decor, and i'll definitely try to get a coloured background. Do you think I should get another female or two, or at least some more companion fish? Right now i'm just trying to keep her healthy and get the new tank going right.

 

[MrCashew]

Also she only does it when the UV light is on.

 

[sausagewinkle]

How regular are you doing water changes with having no filter?
Also in a 5litre there is no way you could add more tank mates, a snail or a shrimp yes, but certainly not any more fish.
Female bettas need to be kept in groups of 6+ ideally to spread the aggression, I would certainly not recommend adding another female in there.

Can she see any other fish from where she is??

she has probably always lived with others and now she is alone.

 

[MrCashew]

That was my feeling, why i put other fish in with her. But since they've died and i just don't have the room or resources for more females there's not a lot i can do. should she be in view of other fish? The only others I have are a small golden loach, one lemon tetra and my male betta. All the others have died from the same fungal infection that affected my male. I do have a 10L tank (which contains these three fish) but I'm reluctant to swap my male into a smaller tank when she is only a small, fairly juvenile female. At least she doesn't seem depressed, just insane Do you think placing a mirror permanently on the side of the tank would make her feel better? I'll definitely try other entertainment. And I've been doing 50% water changes every day, and treating the water with stress coat and bettafix to try and avoid infections from the fish that have been dying. Man I am never going away for that long again, pretty much the tanks have gotten a bit out of control.

 

[MrCashew]

The water is looking much better today, and now that i've added a background her behaviour is much calmer. I'm not sure if its the security of a background, the water balance or the absence of tank mates but she seems much better, thanks guys