I brought home my male blue halfmoon betta last Thursday, so I’ve had him for almost a week. Before adding him, I cycled the 5-gallon tank for four weeks.
On the first day, he showed interest in food but ate only one pellet. He would take the other pellets into his mouth, spit them out, return to them, and spit them out again. I removed anything uneaten to prevent it from adding waste to the tank.
For the first few days, he ate only about one or two pellets per day. Since Saturday, his appetite has gradually improved. He usually eats the first or second pellet I offer, although he sometimes spits it out before eventually swallowing it. Yesterday was his best day so far, he ate five pellets spaced throughout the day.
He began building a bubble nest on Sunday. I did a 40% water change yesterday, which disturbed it, but he rebuilt it today, and it is now almost three times larger. He spends a lot of time near the nest/that area, although he also swims around the rest of the tank, but the majority of the time it seems him in that left side of the tank.
At night, I often see him resting on one of the heater’s suction cups and wrapping his fins around the section marked “Top Fin” in the highlighted picture (not dangerously but like he sits on the suction cup and his fin wraps/follows the curve of the heater). The thermometer is on the opposite side of the tank near the filter and reads approximately 25°C.
Are these behaviours normal for a betta during his first week in a new tank?
In particular:
– Is his eating pattern concerning, or could he still be adjusting?
– Can a bubble nest indicate that he is comfortable, or can stressed bettas also build them?
– Is resting on the heater suction cup normal?
– Does anything I’ve described suggest stress or discomfort?
– sometimes he sits there no moving then goes up for air but then swims around.
– anything I’m doing wrong?
– his top fin always doesn’t spread out, only sometimes
I’ve added a picture of on the first day as well.
Tank details:
– 5-gallon tank
– Temperature: 25°C
– Black sand substrate
– Silk plants for now, with plans to add live plants once he is more settled
– Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate normal.
First ever tank. I’m really stressed about making sure he is comfortable.
I’m still learning and want to give him the best care possible, so I’m open to any advice or changes I should make. Please let me know if any other details would be helpful.
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1va9zrj
Posted by Altruistic_Serve_368
4 Comments
Unofficial, self-appointed fish psychologist here. The feeding pattern is perfectly normal. The low initial appetite is consistent with anxiety about his new surroundings. The fact that his appetite increased over the last couple of days shows he’s settling in. The nest building also shows how he’s getting comfortable with his new environment. He thinks his tank is a great place to have kids. As for the heater, he humping it.
Pretty normal for a betta. The fact that he’s eating and swimming and has established his space shows he’s settling in well. I’d worry a little about him burning himself on his heater but others might chime in. You might consider getting him a floating log or a betta leaf to give him somewhere more appropriate. As for the spitting out food thing, most of my Bettas have done that regularly. Some just seem more fussy. As long as he’s eating some, he’s probably fine.
One of my bettas (the smaller one) spits out food if its too big. He will spit it out then eat it again. I noticed it only happens on the bigger pieces (Fuval Bug Bites are of varying sizes). He ends up eating all his food though as long as it doesn’t sink.
Both bettas like to hang out on suction cups sometimes. They both rest on the silk leaf hammocks I have in my tanks but sometimes they like to rest between the bottom of the leaf and the suction cup instead.
I notice your filter has a replaceable pads, idk if you know this or not but please avoid replacing that pad. You understand cycling, alot of the bacteria lives in the filter and tossing the pad kills them