Hello all, well the thing is I have a female betta in a heated, filtered, 3 gallon tank by herself. she looks fine , eats fine, but she can't stay afloat. She can swim around ok but as soon as she stops swimming she sinks. She is either sitting on the bottom of the tank or laying in her plant. She is the first female I've had and none of my guys ever did this, any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Is she really fat, by any chance? A lot of times females get eggbound. It happens when they go from living in a dirty crowded tank at a pet store to a nice, clean filtered, heated tank. The reason for that is that you are providing ideal breeding conditions for her so shes filling up with eggs and is ready to breed. However with no male there the eggs will just sit in her. I lost a beautiful blue female earlier this year to this same thing. I didnt know there was a thing as too good of care! I was heartbroken when I lost her to dropsy. If you think this is what your girl has, slowly lower the temp in that tank. (They prefer it around 80, so anything lower than that should be okay). Also fast her for awhile, and since her ideal conditions have been taken away the eggs will start to reabsorb inside her. I hope you can get this straightened out. Good luck with her!

Oh thank you! I turned the temp. down to 78. She is so sweet I'd hate to lose her! I got her from nnnnnn, I felt bad nobody wanted the females and her colors not that special, but she has the best personality (and since I'm not breeding her who cares what she looks like). So how long should she fast for do you think? About 3 days? Also should I leave the temp. lower from now on? Thanks again for all your help.

if she dose have eggs try putting a pic of a male betta next to her tank somtimes that can get her to dropp them. no i wouldnt keep the temp low all the time just wen she has eggs.