# Hyper betta?????



## louisvillelady (Jan 12, 2013)

I have a lifetime experience with fish, and several years (15-20) with bettas. I have just received a giant gold dragon male from thailand. He is absolutely gorgeous and seems to be in perfect health. (he has no noticable ailments.) His appetite is tremendous, typical of giants. He is in full fin, not as much as a single tear, nor a single scale is out of place.

So, Here is the problem. Ever since I received him, Thurday morning, he has not stopped pacing his tank. He was in a 10 gallon planted tank with a cave and rings (a bird toy that bettas seem to enjoy), and IAL. I have since removed him from that tank and place him in an empty tank with IAL. I placed another betta that came in the same shipment in the ten gallon, and he immediately settled in and I think believes he is in heaven.lol The dragon on the other hand, is still pacing. So I have now moved him to a blue plastic container, and still no change. I am starting to wonder if he is just a hyper betta.

I have never know a betta to have this "ailment" although, he seems to otherwise be fine. Its not anything to do with environment or water, because other bettas placed in his previous containers/tank, settle in right away. He is in constant partial flare. Meaning he holds his fins up, but does not do the fighting or flirting stance, dance, or swim. He is not holding out his beard. But he has not once let his fins down. He has not once laid down, or even stopped.

So I am totally at a lose here. I got him thursday morning, this is now Sunday afternoon. He has to be tired, and I am afraid he is going to make himself sick from not resting. He will now focuse on me when I come to the tank, but I cannot hold his attention, like the other bettas will do. He will come to me, then swim around his tank, then back to me. He does this as long as I will stay there.

Any suggestions, or if anyone has had a betta normally behave this way, I appreciate the response. This guy is absolutely beautiful! I have emailed to person I brought him from, and they have a hard time with english. They simply told me to do the typical things, change water, add IAL. Things that if you are experienced you do automatically before getting stumped and asking for advice.

Thanks for the help in advance! Gotta get this guy settled down.

Oh yeah, one more thing, he was in partial flare even in the bag when I pulled him from the box!!


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## DreamerHorse (Dec 22, 2012)

I have a baby female named Azure who never stops pacing her tank except at night. She just keeps going. She has always done this, so I just think of it as part of her personality.


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## Seaman2012 (Feb 20, 2013)

My bettas love to pace their tank. Mine are just really active and always have to be doing something unless at night. Then they rest more on the hammocks. I think it is a good thing when they are really active and swimming around.


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## louisvillelady (Jan 12, 2013)

Thanks for the responses. 

I like it when they are active too. Encourage it really by changing things up and giving them things to explore and such. But this fellow has yet to stop! I mean seriously has not stopped! I work weird hours, and well, someone is always up at my house. Everyone has said he is pacing the tank the whole time. I guess time will tell with this one.


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## Stone (Jan 6, 2013)

My king/giant is more active than all of my other bettas combined, so he is either really active or the rest of my battas are really lazy, he was extremely active the first few weeks of being here and he has settled down but is still more active than his smaller cousins, I have even left his filter in his tank on high and un-baffled he enjoys playing in the current, it's his little roller coaster ride


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## shellieca (Jul 12, 2012)

I have one that paces as well. He was in a 10g tank & every time I saw him he was pacing back & forth in the same area, low to the ground. I swapped with another male who was in a 5.5g tank thinking it might help but no, he does the exact same thing in the smaller tank. I do know that he does rest when lights are out. Does your Betta get a dark tank at night? You may want to cover his tank for some time over night if there are lights on 24/7. I would say he is probably resting at some point, no living creature can go without rest. I have a Betta at work & I know for a fact that our office lights don't get turned off night, but Krusty will go into his cave & rest every day around the same time. Sometimes I'll cover his tank when I leave work to give him a break from constant light.


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## louisvillelady (Jan 12, 2013)

I have three other giants, and received two other giants along with this gold giant in the same shipment. The others seem to act the same as the normal sized bettas. I really see no difference in them. 

I am the one that is up at night. He is in the living room and the only thing on is the tv. He really doesn't get much light at all from it even because of the angle it is at. I put him in a small solid blue container for a while to try and get him to rest, and still he just went back and forth even though he really could swim too far forward. I have placed him back in the ten gallon. I'm hoping in time he will settle down. I have one more day of work, and I'm off for four days. I think I'm going to try and focus his attention on some trick training. Maybe this will help him exert some energy, and be able to relax. He doesn't seem to focus as well as the others though. If I go up to any of my other fish, they intently watch me,hoping for a treat.lol He will look at me, take a trip around his tank, then back to me for a second, then around again. He will keep doing this as long as I stay there, but its like he can't sit still. 

The stillest I have seen him, is when I feed him live food. He will sit still to watch and "hunt" the food, but as soon as he spots it, he is off again.

He ha a cave in his tank, and he hasn't even as much as looked at it. Most bettas are very inquisitive. He doesn't seem to be so. I've also added a dose of stress coat hoping it may help him, but no response. Wish I could have some of that energy! I know one thing, he is beautiful! And I certainly love seeing his fins held like he does, but I feel sorry for him. I'm hoping that maybe he is anxious from the trip. I left him in the ten gallon for two days before trying other containers. Wanted to give him a chance to settle down, and when he didn't I moved him. Maybe a couple weeks in the same environment, he will settle in a little. I can only hope.


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## GailC (Feb 13, 2013)

I have a plakat male who does the exact same thing. He is constantly moving back and forth against the glass near the bottom.
He shows little to no interest in things around him and feeding can be difficult since he never seems to look up and see the food.
He is nearing two weeks of this behavior, I really hope he settles down some.


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## louisvillelady (Jan 12, 2013)

Gailc, how long have you had him? You said it is going on two weeks, has this behavior just started, or is he a new fish to you? I'm very concerned with the way mine is acting. I don't see him having a very good, or very long life like this.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Does your king dart or rub, or is it just pacing and glass surfing? 

Can he see other fish from his tank, especially females?

For the most part, unless he is showing indications of external parasites, I don't know if I'd worry too much. The exercise is good for him. Only be concerned if he starts to lose weight even if he is eating normally.


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## louisvillelady (Jan 12, 2013)

No, he isn't rubbing, just swimming, pacing. He cannot see any other fish of anykind. I have inspected him quite closely, and do not see the first sign of parasites or fungus, or anything out of the norm. 

He has a good appetite. The only thing is, he never stops. I am considering showing him a female to see if he will settle down and build a nest. Gonna wait a few more days at least before I try that though. Trying to see if he will settle down on his own.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

He may just have more energy than other fish, just like some types of dog are considered more hyper than others. If that does turn out to be the case, maybe a longer aquarium and a strong filter flow to swim against would help him burn off that excess energy.

Does he ever rest on plants or anything to sleep?


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## louisvillelady (Jan 12, 2013)

`We have not seen him rest AT ALL! Not once! Now, we don't keep vigil over him, but I am up at night, and my son, and his friend (who also lives here) are here during the day. One of us is here and up at all times. No one has seen him rest, and we have all been checking on him at the times when we may not be sitting in the living room.

Today I strted trying training with him, and it was like he did not focus at all. I did three short sessions with him today, but he did not even come close to getting it. (follow a pen) I was thinking about the current thing as well. I was hoping he was just anxious and worked up over the trip. I have never heard of a hyper betta, but that doesn't mean that there isn't some. I am going to continue the training with him, and if he doesn't settle down in a few more days, I'm going to show him a female, and see if he will focus on building a nest. If that doesn't work, I will be adding a filter with a current. I was thinking the same thing. 

He doesn't even relax his fins. He doesn't show his beard, and he isn't stiffening his ventrals, but he holds all his fins up. Very beautiful! but cannot be good for him to be like this 24/7


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## Starfish1 (Dec 9, 2012)

My giant girl used to pace the tank. She'd go back and forth across the front of the tank and never stopped swimming except in the dark the entire time I had her. She would get super excited over fish in a tank next to hers and then would go and pace back and forth next to it, all day. She'd practically jump out from excitement when I'd open the top to feed her. I just think she was a really happy fish. Maybe it's just a thing with giants?


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## bettacrazygirl86 (Jan 21, 2013)

Both of my bettas are really hyper. I have seen them rest, but they zoom all over the tank and up and down the walls, especially when they notice you looking at them. It's kind of adorable.


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