I have had a betta fish for a while, all of a sudden he is extremely scared?

Question

So I have had Oscar (my betta fish) for over 8 months now.
He was always extremely happy; he had a well kept bubble nest, always flaring at random objects outside of his tank to mark "his territory,"  and he actively swam around his tank. Oscar never had a cave or plants to hide in, and I thought he deserves better. So I decided to go buy a nice little cave where he could hide from the light and hide. Everything was perfect, until recently.
It's been about 2 weeks now he doesn't come out of his cave. I know he isn't dead because he swims up for air and for food, but he does it frantically. He darts up, eats a pellet, then darts back down. He does the same when he is in need of air.
It's gotten so bad he doesn't finish his blood worms which he used to eat with no seconds thought.
Tank:
2.5 Gal (I plan to get a bigger one soon, I don't have enough room atm)
filter
water heated at 78
No plants
sea shells, and rocks
water treated with "Betta Basics"
Please help, I want to know why all of a sudden he is extremely scared

noselessman · Answer

If the water conditioner changes the ph, like amber said, well that could be causing the problem.  Ph changes are very very hard on fish.  Many fish species, bettas especially, can adapt to your ph, but no fish can tolerate a ph that switches everytime you do water changes.

Check that the temperature in the tank is stable and near 80.  78 is fine to as long as its stable.

The shells can also be effecting the ph, and if they are not from a fish store, the could have chemicals on them that are starting to pollute the tank.

Thats all i can think of,  I added a hollow peice of wood to my tank and was surprised how much my betta likes to hide inside.

? · Answer

I'd switch water conditioner to seachem's prime. Same thing, except it doesn't do the whole pH changing thing. That is a horrible thing to change, the pH that is. Fish require a stable pH. There's a reason why your pH comes out at 7.8 or whatever it's at. This is where you water is naturally at and adding a pH changer is just a temporary and sudden fix. Such a thing can be deadly. Of course, doing this will require you to re-acclimate your fish to it's tank.

I would add in a few live plants and maybe consider a rock or piece of driftwood in one side of the tank with plenty of open room, but also lots of plants. Some floating plants couldn't hurt, either. Something is making the fish very shy and taking out his hiding place but yet adding so many new hiding places as well as cover at the top should help.

Try doing a few more water changes than normal as well.

Anonymous · Answer

Actually, bettas are hiding fish. They also require filtration and a heater as they are a tropical fish but petstores sell them without one because they can do well without one. These bettas are EXTREMELY hardy and can live under many conditions but given things they need, they thrive and will do what bettas do best. Given a cave, they will hide. The best thing to do is to get floating plants and get rid of the cave. The floating plants will allow the betta to hide yet remain visible.

Trending News

I have had a betta fish for a while, all of a sudden he is extremely scared?

3 Answers