new betta owner

[Korrigann]

Hello! First post, first real betta setup! I've owned one betta fish before, but it was many many years ago and he was kept in a tiny bowl. Now that I've learned what they need, I feel bad about the life poor Sushi lived.

But now, after researching, I've decided to adopt little Whiskey. He's a dragon scale betta, and a lovely red/silver color. I have him in a 3 gallon tank, with the water temp currently at 80.7 degrees. (I intend to move him to a 10 gallon tank, but right now I have limited desk space) I'm using live plants in his aquarium: one small anubis plant and one java fern. There is a filter in the tank, however it is set to the lowest flow possible. I've seen him playing in the current every so often. So far he seems to be okay, but I have a couple questions about his behavior.

I bought him some TetraBetta mini pellets, and I've noticed that when he goes to eat them, he just spits them back out again. He'll go after the pellet again, then spit it right back out! Is this normal for a new betta? Does this mean he doesn't like the food? And how often/how much should I feed him? I've heard of fasting a betta, but haven't researched it much.

He also tends to swim rapidly at the glass, mostly on the side of the tank I'm sitting on. I'm a little concerned that he may be showing signs of stress or disease, especially since he was bought at petsmart from one of those icky little plastic cups. Is this normal for a new betta?

And lastly, the heater I have in the tank is specifically for a 3 gallon tank. I was running it all day yesterday and noticed that the temp climbed up to nearly 83 degrees, even though the heater is supposed to be factory set at 78 degrees. I don't have direct light on the tank, and my room is kept fairly cool. I've turned it off and the temp has settled at 80.7 degrees, which I know is ideal. Has anyone else had any issues with a heater causing the tank to get too warm? Would it be better for me to alternate having the heater on/off depending on the temp, or would this cause unnecessary stress on Whiskey?

I've attached a picture of him, please let me know if there's anything else I can do for the little fellow to make his life the best it can be. Thanks!

 

[TL1000RSquid]

Pretty normal for them to spend alot of time in a certain area they decide to claim. Does he ever eat any of the pellets or is he always spitting it out? Mine will spit food out occasionally but most of the time eats it, I'd try something different, I use Aqueon Betta Pellets which is what they feed them at petsmart I believe, and every couple days I give them some freeze dried blood worms as a treat.

Sounds like the heater is defective I'd return it, seems to be a common problem especially with the smaller heaters from things I've read. Though not knowing what sort of 3g setup you have it could be possible if it uses an incandescent light bulb that could raise the temp too.

 

[Juice]

It's hard to regulate temperature in tanks under 5g, even with set temp heaters. I agree with squid on the incandescent light being a source of heat (if that is what you use). You could try one of those Hydor Mini heaters if you only want to up the temp by just a few degrees. As for him spitting out the food it could be a sign that he just isn't too keen on the taste OR if he is like my betta he likes to get it a little soft before eating lol. Beautiful fella btw and I love his name.

 

[aussie pride]

Sounds like you are doing everything right . He is probably spitting them out again and again because he is getting used to the different food texture, the different taste or like my betta (who also happens to be a platinum/red dragon except he is a delta) is just playing with the pellets for a bit. Beautiful betta btw

 

[Korrigann]

Thanks for the replies! My tank has an LED bulb, so I don't think that's the problem. The temp had gone up to about 83 degrees last night so I unplugged the heater and found it dropped dramatically by the morning. I feel like it's either cooking him or freezing him. I did a little bit of research and found that many people have the same problem with this particular brand. I'm going to see if I can find a better one, if not then I may get an automatic timer to have the heater turn on/off at set intervals.

I think he may be waiting for the food to get soft before eating it. I didn't think to ask the petsmart guy what food they fed him, and I'm starting to wonder if they gave him flakes instead. I did notice this morning that he ate a pellet, but not before spitting it out a few times and letting it get really soggy first. I love his personality when eating! He likes to stalk the food. He'll bite it, then swim away and hide behind his rock, then dart out and bite it a few more times before swimming away and "stalking" it again.

I got him some freeze-dried bloodworms, but I've seen the frozen kind sold as well. Is one better than the other as far as nutritional value goes, or perhaps even taste (I wasn't about to taste-test for him! :grinno?

 

[BettaFishMommy]

the problem with freeze dried food is that it floats, and also tends to swell up a bit in the fish's digestive system, potentially causing bloat and constipation. i would feed frozen bloodworms over freeze dried. if you do feed the freeze-dried ones, soak them in a bit of tank water first, to swell them up before they hit the fish's stomach, so that the bloat/constipation won't be so much of an issue.

i know the petsmarts here only feed betta pellets to the bettas in the store (and then leave uneaten food in the cups until the pellets get fuzzy, yuck!). it's possible your pellets are a different brand/taste/texture than your betta is used to, but if he is eventually eating them, i wouldn't worry one bit.

my various bettas over the years ate flakes, but seemed to much prefer frozen foods. i found that bettas kept with other community fish were more likely to eat whatever i was feeding the tank that day, probably because they saw the other fish eating and took their cue from them.

varying the diet is good for a betta, so rotate the pellets, frozen foods, flake, and freeze dried. a little bit of the inside of a pea is good once a week or so, to keep your betta from getting backed up. soak the pea bits in garlic juice to entice him to eat, if he isn't keen on it.

i would just get another heater, or upgrade to that 10 gallon and a good 50 watt heater sooner than you anticipated. playing around and 'trying' to get a faulty heater to work is not safe IMO, and not worth the risk.

 

[Jumko]

Nice plakat. First, from the picture it seems like the plant behind the betta is the anubias you bought? If so, you want to make sure the rhizome (the thick horizontal trunk looking thing) isn't buried in your gravel. Leaving it buried will cause it to rot. As for food, I've found that most chain store bettas don't actually know how to eat pellets despite that being the primary food source the store feeds them. I can only assume that they're fed something else from the farms they come from and because of their high turnover rate at the pet store, never get used to eating the pellets they're fed. They'll learn to eat them eventually, but it seems like they transition to flake food more easily. If you want a food recommendation, atison's betta pro is high quality and I haven't had a single betta refuse them after the first couple of days. Unfortunately, they're only available at the International Betta Congress website (http://ibcbettas.org/eshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=2).

 

[aussie pride]

If you want a food recommendation, atison's betta pro is high quality and I haven't had a single betta refuse them after the first couple of days. [/URL]).

Agreed! I love my tub of Atison's Betta food. I feed it to my platy fry and bettas and they love it. Definitely worth buying, they even come with a little feeding spoon

 

[saram521]

I bought him some TetraBetta mini pellets, and I've noticed that when he goes to eat them, he just spits them back out again. He'll go after the pellet again, then spit it right back out! Is this normal for a new betta? Does this mean he doesn't like the food? And how often/how much should I feed him? I've heard of fasting a betta, but haven't researched it much.

Most commercially bred bettas are fed live food at the hatcheries, which is why they won't immediately take to dry food like pellets or flakes once placed in a home aquarium. Bettas will eventually learn that dry food is acceptable and appealing to eat and consequently, will turn into little piggies with almost any food that hits the water's surface! Keep trying either pellet or flake (brand is generally unimportant as long as it's a tropical fish food), and just be patient. As bettafishmommy said, deshelled green peas are good for lowering constipation and can be fed once a week. You can use canned green peas, just make sure they're unsalted. Fresh and frozen green peas will be fine, too, you'll just need to soften them by microwaving them for a few seconds in water. Lastly, bettas love frozen foods like bloodworms, brine shrimp and the like, but do avoid using these as a staple diet, as they are nutritionally incomplete. As far as fasting bettas, it's unnecessary, as long as you're not overfeeding (a betta's stomach is about the same size as it's eye). Some people do like to skip feeding their fish a day or two every week.

He also tends to swim rapidly at the glass, mostly on the side of the tank
I'm sitting on. I'm a little concerned that he may be showing signs of stress or
disease, especially since he was bought at petsmart from one of those icky little plastic cups. Is this normal for a new betta?

This behavior is typical of male bettas in particular. Males are fairly aggressive and will display it by flaring and swimming feverishly back and forth at anything they view as threatening. Once your betta is accustomed to seeing you daily, he'll probably stop reacting to your presence as intensely.

 

[vwill279]

Took my betta a week to stop flaring at his reflection on the back of the tank lol.