Strange Betta behaviour

Hi,
I've got a male Betta that used to be fairly happy just swimming
around. The temprature and light where I live have started to
increase a bit and he looked happier. Unfortanelty I went away and my
girlfriend forgot to clean the tank. It wasn't that bad (one week, in
a fairly small tank, and yes I want to get a bigger one), however I
came home and he was floating on the top, leaning to one side (Swim
Bladder disorder?) every now and again. He seems to have gotten over
this in a couple of days, however a new "mental" problem has
developed.

He has recovered from this floating thing, but now is very "skittish".
Everytime I walk past he rapidly swims down the bottom of the tank,
slamming into the side or base of it trying to get away. He hides
down there when I try to feed him (have taken to placing food on the
top of the water and walking away). Its been like this for a week or
so. Starting to worry about whats going on with him. Is he still
getting over the problem eariler or has he developed a fear of me?

Thanks

Nigel

Sounds like Nitrate OD. Do a large water change regularly.
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**

"npercy" wrote in message
om...
Hi,
I've got a male Betta that used to be fairly happy just swimming
around. The temprature and light where I live have started to
increase a bit and he looked happier. Unfortanelty I went away and my
girlfriend forgot to clean the tank. It wasn't that bad (one week, in
a fairly small tank, and yes I want to get a bigger one), however I
came home and he was floating on the top, leaning to one side (Swim
Bladder disorder?) every now and again. He seems to have gotten over
this in a couple of days, however a new "mental" problem has
developed.

He has recovered from this floating thing, but now is very "skittish".
Everytime I walk past he rapidly swims down the bottom of the tank,
slamming into the side or base of it trying to get away. He hides
down there when I try to feed him (have taken to placing food on the
top of the water and walking away). Its been like this for a week or
so. Starting to worry about whats going on with him. Is he still
getting over the problem eariler or has he developed a fear of me?

Thanks

Nigel

This spazzy behavior is not uncommon in bettas and usually indicates a
physical problem with the environment and not a mental issue. It can be
caused by ammonia, nitrite or nitrate poisoning, exposure to chlorine
chloramines or heavy metals or even parasites. It's really hard to
guess without more information on your tank and fish care.

Can you tell us more about his living arrangments.

Tank Size
Is the tank cycled?
Amount of water you change and how often ?
What water conditioners are you using?
What kind, how often and how much food are you feeding him?
What is the temperature and are you using a heater to keep it stable?
Have you noticed anything physical on his body, white spots, soars or
cottonlike tufts?
Most importantly, do you test your tank/bowl water for ammonia, ph,
nitrite, nitrate, gh, and kh? If yes, what are the results? If not,
please consider buying test kits right away.

Every fish keeper must test the water regularly even if they only keep
one fish in a bowl at home. Bettas are very sensitive to changes in
their water and for some reason fish store employees hardly ever tell
their customers that they must be testing weekly and at every water
change.

I've heard of this behavior many times before. Go ahead and answer the
above questions as best as you can and I suspect we'll be able to at
least find out what is causing the problem. (one step closer to fixing
it)

The tank is a small "vase" style one (thus the reason why I want a
bigger one), holds about 2.5 to 3 litres. I do full water changes
when I do it, so I can clean out any buildup that occurs, with
multiple water rinses, and wiping down of the sides of the tank.
Food has been of one type, small amounts of a beef heart (with added
nutrients), called "Fish Dinner".
I've been looking hard for any signs of disease, such as spots or
sores, but I havent seen any. I figure the attention I've been giving
my also be causing some problems!

Havent done any tests for the levels in the water, mainly because I do
full water changes. The symptoms have occured just after the last
water change, hmm I'm wondering if there was something to do with that
water change. I might get one of the test kits and check it out.

Thanks for the info guys, sounds like I know what I need to do now.

Nigel


" wrote in message roups.com...


Tank Size
Is the tank cycled?
Amount of water you change and how often ?
What water conditioners are you using?
What kind, how often and how much food are you feeding him?
What is the temperature and are you using a heater to keep it stable?
Have you noticed anything physical on his body, white spots, soars or
cottonlike tufts?
Most importantly, do you test your tank/bowl water for ammonia, ph,
nitrite, nitrate, gh, and kh? If yes, what are the results? If not,
please consider buying test kits right away.

Every fish keeper must test the water regularly even if they only keep
one fish in a bowl at home. Bettas are very sensitive to changes in
their water and for some reason fish store employees hardly ever tell
their customers that they must be testing weekly and at every water
change.

I've heard of this behavior many times before. Go ahead and answer the
above questions as best as you can and I suspect we'll be able to at
least find out what is causing the problem. (one step closer to fixing
it)

Doing full water changes makes it even more important that you test
your water. In fact, an uncycled tank requires more testing then a
cycled tank. You'll need to purchase test kits that read the ammonia
levels, pH, gh (general hardness) and kh (buffering capacity) for an
uncycled tank. Having nitrite and nitrate test kits are good too if you
ever plan to put him into a cycled tank

Just remember that dangerous toxins in the water have no color or smell
so even if your water is perfectly crystal clear it could still have
deadly levels of ammonia, chlorine, chloramines or heavy metals. You'll
need to test and condition your water to be sure he is safe from them.
You didn't say how often you do your 100% water changes but in a 3
litre vase you should be doing these water changes several times a
week. (2-4 times is probably needed but you won't know for sure until
you start testing)

Could you answer the other questions too. It'll help to figure out what
the actual cause is.

What water conditioners are you using? Are you using any?
How often and how much food are you feeding him? (overfeeding can cause
ammonia levels to raise very fast)
What is the temperature and are you using a heater to keep it stable?

By thew way, beef heart is great nutritious source of food that is
easily digestable for bettas. I'm glad to hear you're using it. You may
want to add in a second type of food too to make sure he's getting
everything he needs in his diet. (This is a seperate issue from the
spazzy thing) Maybe frozen bloodworms, daphnia, brine shrimp, black or
white worms, just to name a few.