Hey Guys

I just popped in to ask a few things as I got a Betta a week ago but lately its been acting really strange.

I am new to owning fish and I dont really know what normal behaviour of a Beta is but when I first got mine, he was active all the time. Always swiming around, seeing what was going on and to be honest, looked a very healthy and lively fish. Over the last 2 or 3 days though he has become very slow moving and tended to swim close to the surface of the water alot. I was wondering if this is normal behaviour or would you say something is wrong.

I have been feeding frozen bloodworm cubes every other day and some flake food the other day but he wont eat none of the flake food.

I recently carried out the 30% water change and used filtered water. I have the under gravel pump constantly running, keep the light on for about 6 hours a day and there is plenty of folage for him to hide. The heater is set at 25.5 C and I also placed the recommended few drips of Haloex which is supposed to protect fish against tap water. Please help

Much thanks, Roger

Hi Roger,
Your betta's behaviour doesn't sound quite right to me. My bettas behave as you described yours at the beginning. Very lively and active. Other than having a quick nap on a leaf once in a while, they are pretty much on the go.

I am wondering about a few things. How much bloodworm are you feeding him, and are you removing any leftover food that isn't eaten within a few minutes? Bloodworms can harbour harmful bacteria, and I am wondering if there is a build up of bacteria in the tank because of bloodworms decomposing in the gravel. When you did the water change, did you do a gravel vacuum also?

What kind of filtered water? I would probably use water that hasn't been filtered if that is possible. You are using a water conditioner, so that is good.

Also, since your tank is new, the undergravel filter hasn't had time to build up a beneficial bacteria colony. After about a month of operation, billions of beneficial bacteria will grow in the gravel bed. These bacteria will convert ammonia and nitrite which are deadly to fish into harmless nitrate. Nitrate is only harmful to fish at extremely high levels, and regular weekly water changes will take care of it.

If it were me, I would do another water change, complete with a gravel vacuum. I would take out about 50% of the water, and replace it with water the same temperature as the tank water, treated with the water conditioner. I would use unfiltered water, if that is possible.

Also, to have the undergravel filter work properly, you will need about 1 1/2 - 2" of gravel.

If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask, and maybe some of the others will have some ideas as well.

Hey,

Thanks so much for the help you gave. About the bloodworm, well the tablets are say 1.5cm by 1.5cm by 1cm. No I have not been removing the bloodworm. the lady in the shop just said to feed one of those blocks into the tank. I also do not have a gravel vacuum. How much do they cost?

The filtered water is through a Britta filter.

I didn't think that the bloodworm would be a problem

I think it is too much food. Bettas should only be fed very sparingly. I give mine 3-5 betta bites, twice per day. Betta bites are very tiny pelleted food made for bettas. The thinking is that their stomach is only the size of their eye, so they should only be given a bit of food at a time.

I would probably only give him a bit of the bloodworm. I would also buy some betta pellets. My bettas seem to like HBH betta bites more than they like the Hikari betta bio gold pellet. Then alternate between bloodworms and pellets. I think that the betta pellets provide some necessary elements that a solely bloodworm diet cannot.

I would probably fast your betta for a day to clear out his system. Then start on the more restricted diet. After his fast, you could give him a bit of pea. Peas act as a laxative for fish. Use a frozen pea, thawed out a bit in hot water or in the microwave. Remove the skin. Then take a bit of that a squash it between your fingers and see if your betta will eat it.

I don't think the Brita would be harmful, but it isn't necessary, either. I would probably bypass it, if it is possible.

Gravel vacs are very cheap. Between $5 - $10 here in Canada, depending on the size. They are basically a rigid clear plastic tube on a flexible plastic hose. You plunge the tube into the gravel and syphon the water out of the tank whilst moving the tube around from place to place. The gravel is sucked up into the tube, but only goes up a few inches, then drops back down. This cleans the debris from the gravel. It is important to do this, as the gravel can become quite dirty.

I think if you do a good cleaning, plus another water change, and cut back on the feeding, your betta should perk up.

Keep us posted on how he does, and please feel free to ask any questions

Thanks for your help Touchofsky

I went out today and brought myself a gravel vacuum and I carried out a clean of his gravel and also washed all of his plants as some of the old bloodworm had got caught up in it. I also put a little rock/cave in there for him to hide away and now I guess its just fingures crossed time.

Its so difficult with fish to tell what I should do but I just got to hope everything goes well ).

His name is Terry and I'll try getting some pictures at some point. He's dark red and a little beauty hehe.

I hope that your betta comes around. Keep me posted on how he does.

He sounds like a beauty. I have a red fringetail called Flame