First-time aquarium owner. My betta (under 6 months old) has been acting abnormal.
Symptoms:
• Staying at the top of the tank
• Moving up and down without proper swimming
• Looks like floating/sinking rather than swimming
What I’ve done:
• Partial water change
• Added 1 tbsp aquarium salt
• Added heater
• Added air pump, but stopped it because the flow was too strong
• Feeding morning and evening
Tank details:
• 10-gallon tank
• Tank age: ~1–2 months
• Filter: Yes
• Heater: Recently added
• Water changes: Mostly topping off when water reduces (not regular scheduled changes)
It was already doing this before I added the air pump.
Could this be swim bladder, poor water quality, or stress from temp/oxygen changes?
What’s the safest next step?
Thanks in advance.
https://v.redd.it/lvjwkuj8j1bg1
Posted by Last-Corgi-5603
4 Comments
Hey!
Are you adding your conditioner inside the tank when your doing water changes?
Are you washing out the filter every time too or no? Changing the filter cartridge or not anytime?
Also i recommend changing the substrate if you can to “real” gravel, not colored, since the dyes in that can be toxic.
poor water quality and/or his fins are heavy, you need some vegetation and realistic looking environment that’s not bright like those rocks, i suggest some sand, bio stratum, or other natural substrate. some beginner plants that are easy to care for include dwarf grass, anubius, amazon sword. until you can get those i suggest getting an api liquid water testing kit and test the water, i would also get a floating betta log and/or resting leaf until you can do the other things
Does it just look that way, or is the tank almost completely bare? If so, fish also need enrichment.
What are your water parameters? I don’t see any plants, so nitrate will keep increasing since it isn’t being removed.
If you always top up the tank with tap water after evaporation, the water will become harder and harder over time
He needs something to chill on like a hammock!