It's my first ever tank, and to be clear I made sure I properly cycled it before introducing any of the critters and I'm still keeping a close eye on the parameters. It's a 5gal with just some shrimp and a betta I've had for only a few days.
First thing, he's super duper active and it scares me. Is this normal or is he stressed? From the videos I thought bettas were these majestic chill fellas but this dude seems to just be a ball of ADHD. He ate since day 1 no problem though, and he gets along with the shrimp, only checked them out the first day and now doesn't care about them.
Second, is he underweight or just young? The third photo shows him from the top down view. I've been giving him super small portions but perhaps I should try to give him more? I feed him flakes.
Third, will he change colour?
Fourth, I have some bubbles in one corner, he keeps going in them like a dumbass, do they stress him out or is he enjoying it? Should I turn them off?
Thank you for reading my lil rant. Any tip will be appreciated.
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1p6qpyn
Posted by Wasted-sperm-
8 Comments
I’m not gonna answer your questions, because i still consider myself beginner, i don’t wanna give you bad advice. I just wanted to say that i fcking wish my first tank was this beautiful, you did a great job!
don’t worry about how active he is. He’s happy. That’s normal(: Bettas are active swimmers. Especially because he’s short finned. He does look pretty skinny in my opinion though. Make sure he’s eating good. once or twice a day would be perfect. Also flakes aren’t the best option for an everyday thing, I would recommend pebbles. and, i’m not really sure about the bubbles but i’m sure it’s okay.
your doing great so far, try to feed him pellets instead of flakes. make sure your not over feeding him either, bettas will eat for an entire country so just make sure not to feed him more than 4-5 pellets
Oh my god, I just posted the same sort of question about my new girl who looks a lot like yours. She’s been here for about a week and has NOT stopped swimming 😂 I suspect it’s because they’re short finned and just have more energy, but I had the same exact concern as you if it makes you feel any better lol.
First thing relax and enjoy your tank.
Every Betta is a unique individual and they have HUGE personalities. He could very well just be young or have fishy ADHD. Shorter finned Bettas like yours also tend to be more active than the ones with huge majestic fins. It COULD be a sign of stress, and Bettas do tend to get a bit more relaxed when they get comfortable. However I wouldn’t look too deeply into it as long as he stays looking good and is eating! As long as your parameters are good and you have a few hiding spots for him, he will get comfortable quickly and show his true personality. My smaller privately bred hybrid/mutt Bettas are all super feisty snail murdering machines who won’t tolerate tankmates. Meanwhile my Giant Halfmoon is cool as a cucumber and super apathetic to his shoal of hyper Panda Corydoras.
If he likes the bubbles, then he likes the bubbles. If it bothered him he wouldn’t swim in them. I use sponge filters for my Betta tanks and they have never been bothered by the bubbles. If you want gentler bubbles look into using an airstone or doing the airstone mod to a sponge filter. The airstone mod is one of my favorite tricks and every single tank I run has a modded sponge filter in it, even with other filters in use.
Yes, it is very possible he will change or deepen in color. My smaller Bettas are privately bred and very well kept so didn’t change much. However cup Bettas especially tend to undergo a transformation when introduced to a healthy tank. Which BTW your tank looks GREAT! If that’s all live foliage and the shrimps are doing well, then it’s definitely heaven for a Betta. If he is going to change color at all, he certainly will in such a cozy tank!
Pellets are much better for Bettas than flakes and feed a Betta specific food for best results. Feed every other day and feed less than you think he needs. Fasting every other day or so is much better for their digestive systems. One of the most common causes of early Betta death is overfeeding. It’s extremely easy to do. Fish simply aren’t built to eat super high quality food every single day. They hunt and peck and scrape to survive in the wild and eat inconsistently. 3-4-ish pellets is enough for a normal sized Betta and they expand after a while in the water. A Betta’s stomach is about the size of its eyeball.
Also, don’t overfeed to “make up for it” if you miss a feeding. Fish can go a long time without regular food. Just feed normally at the next scheduled time. If you underfeed, a fish will get skinny and beg for more food. If you overfeed, a fish will get bloated and die. Start at the smaller end and SLOWLY work your way up. There are charts floating around that show healthy Betta weights and what shape their bodies should be. He does look skinny from above but not emaciated. I usually start my fish at 2 or 3 pellets per feeding and work my way up over weeks or months. My Giant Halfmoon eats 4 or 5 micro pellets or 2 or 3 large pellets per feeding while my smaller males all get 3 or 4 micro pellets and my females all get 2. All my fish are a tiny bit plump but not overweight. My girls especially are all super feisty and active swimmers <3
It’s okay for your fish to be hungry. They are like cats and will beg for food immediately after being fed. Bettas especially are very emotive and are experts at looking extra pathetic so you feel bad for them. Don’t fall for their shenanigans! haha. A hungry fish is a healthy fish.
Also try to feed at least two different foods with different ingredients for optimal health. Hikari Bio Gold Betta pellets and Northfin Betta Bites is a popular combo of foods. I also like Xtreme Betta pellets and New Life Spectrum Betta pellets both of which are extra stinky so good for picky eaters. All foods mentioned are nutritionally complete and suitable for use as their main diet. Hikari Bio Gold does have some fillers in it but also has the perfect amount of protein so is one of the most popular staple foods.
Also, it’s possible to change water too frequently, especially with smaller tanks, and especially with planted tanks. It can stunt the cycle when the tank is young and is stressful on the plants and fish. I’ve been told to do changes every single week but I started doing smaller water changes every other week and I have much healthier fishies. ALWAYS do water changes on fasting days as it’s not good to feed stressed fish. When I ran 5 gallon tanks I did roughly 1/2 to 3/4 gallon water changes every other week and had great results. I felt like a full gallon(20%) was too much. I don’t even do water changes on my largest tank, a 40 gallon breeder, until it’s had a certain amount of loss due to evaporation so maybe once a month in the winter.
If you use fertilizers use half to a quarter the dosage recommended on the bottle. They tend to cause nitrate spikes and can be rough on fish and shrimps at recommended doses. I like NilocG Thrive-S for shrimpies but have had no major issues with Thrive-C as well. Thrive C recommends one pump of liquid per every 5 gallons every single week. I have out of control plant growth using one pump per 10 gallons once a month.
I hope some of this was useful advice. This is all stuff that helped me a ton as a beginner.
He will change color due to him being a koi betta.
It’s perfectly normal for a betta to be active in a new environment as they get settled in, and they’re actually much more active than they look, especially short-finned ones. They *love* to explore!
He looks to be a marbled betta so odds are he’ll change color, which is perfectly normal for them. A part of their genetics!
And as the others say feed him pellets as a staple but make sure the first few ingredients are animal protein (not plant-based fillers) and that they’re small enough to fit in his mouth 😉