Betta angled hovering?

[valint1016]

Is it normal for bettas to hover on a 45 degree angle? With their head higher than their tail? He eats and swims around and seems happy and healthy, but when he rests it looks like his head is more buoyant than his tail.
If it helps, he's in a 3 gallon unfiltered tank. I do 50% water changes once per week and an all around cleaning once every 2-3 weeks. He eats HBH Betta Bites with occasional Freeze dried bloodworms as a treat.
I'm probably being a hypochondriac over my fish, but I figured better safe than sorry.

 

[gingerinaustin]

Unless he's sinking to the bottom and struggling to swim to the top, or floating to the top and having trouble swimming to the bottom, he's probably ok. How many pellets/worms are you feeding him each day? It's easy to overfeed bettas, they'll founder til they pop (or develop swim bladder disorder, which results in buoyancy and swimming problems). Additionally, 50% water changes in a 3 gallon unfiltered tank is probably less than ideal--have you checked the ammonia level in the tank between water changes? (Ammonia should be zero)

 

[valint1016]

No, he's not struggling. I feed him no more than 4 little pellets twice a day, is that too much? I'll go out to the LFS soon to get some ammonia tests, but in the meantime I'll up my water changes.

 

[spirals]

normally i advise people to only feed betta's 2-3 pellets once a day with a day of fast (not eating) once a week. if that sounds harsh remember their stomach's are only the size of their eyeball! i'd say cut down to maybe 2 pellets in morning and 1 at night and toss in an occasionally pea or blood worm.

 

[valint1016]

Thanks for the replies. I'll cut down on the food then.