# My betta lays in the bottom of her tank...



## bobbysgrl (Jan 5, 2008)

Is something wrong with her? The only time she moves is to get a breath of air.


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

bobbysgrl said:


> Is something wrong with her? The only time she moves is to get a breath of air.


The water is probably cold. Bettas become exteremely lethargic if they have water under 76 degrees.

What is the size of the tank and the temperature?


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## bobbysgrl (Jan 5, 2008)

It's a 1 gallon tank(I'm on a limited budget right now, I'm saving up for a 3 gallon). I'm not sure of the temperature. Right now I have a powerful light next to it, to heat the water, but I am also saving up for a heater.


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## KikiNBatta (Jan 2, 2008)

You know to turn the light off at night, right? Bettas need light/dark cycles like we do. Maybe, if you keep it on at night, it will make them tired? I don't know, just a random guess. I hope your betta gets better


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## bobbysgrl (Jan 5, 2008)

Hmm, I didn't know that. Thanks for the advice.

But, the only reason I haven't turned the light off is because I don't want the water to get too cold in the night. I live in Indiana and because it's winter the house gets very cold at night.


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## KikiNBatta (Jan 2, 2008)

Here's something that I used to do:

Take a sock, fill it with rice, knot the sock closed, and microwave it. It works like a heating pad.

Maybe you could also try wrapping a heating pad around the tank? Make sure there's someplace that is away from the heating pad, too, though, so that if a fish gets too hot it has somewhere to go.

I don't know if it is in any way bad for the fish, but that's what I used to do (the sock thing) to boost up my fishes' temperature in their tank when it was cold. I live in TX, so it doesn't get too bad, but anyways, that's what I used. Hope you find something out


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## kevinoh33 (Jan 1, 2008)

I live in Louisville, Kentucky and Other red fish Gets along fine even though i din't have a heater. Since you don't have a heater, try raising the room temperature at night. maybe it will help


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## bobbysgrl (Jan 5, 2008)

A sock heating pad...never thought of that! haha. I think I'll try that.

Would it work if I heated a rock and placed it in the tank?


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## Sushi (Dec 31, 2007)

Wow, what a great idea! Ill try that. Lately ive just been scooping out a bit of water and replacing it with warmer water. I'll try that.


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## bobbysgrl (Jan 5, 2008)

Another weird thing is...she likes to lay underneath the filter where it sucks up the water...


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## KikiNBatta (Jan 2, 2008)

:shrugs: I don't know if a rock would work the same way or not - seems more direct, so it'd probably warm the water up quicker, but I'd (personally) be worried that my fishie might touch it and get burneded........sorry, I baby talk about fish XD


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## bobbysgrl (Jan 5, 2008)

Yeah I don't want Baby(my fish's name) to get burned...but still, why does she lay under the filter?


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## KikiNBatta (Jan 2, 2008)

I have absoltuely no idea. Maybe she just likes that spot? Blaze is a hyperactive fishie like I haven't ever seen before. He also seems happier than most of the bettas I've had. He usually has his fins 'extended' (not exactly flared as in battle-mode, just bigger than usual), so I figure he's okay, he's just hyperactive  
Each fish has their own personality...I don't know about staying at the bottom of the tank - that doesn't really sound good, but maybe the filter thing is just a place she likes?


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## amandalynn (Jan 4, 2008)

My fish Henry likes rest in between the heater and filter in my tank, so I think different fish just have their favourite places to hang out. So, I wouldn't make to much of the fact that she lies under the filter.


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## bobbysgrl (Jan 5, 2008)

Yeah...I'm a new to owning a Betta(I've always owned dogs) and I'm not really sure what their behaviors are. For example, I placed a mirror near her tank, is it bad for her too, or only the males? And are they supposed to eat right when you put the food in the tank or do they just find it later on? I want to know a lot about her because I want to give her a better life than the one she had in the dirty plastic bowl in Wal-Mart.


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## KikiNBatta (Jan 2, 2008)

rant...Better than her life at Wal-Mart? That wouldn't take much  Walmart takes horrid care of their bettas.../rant

I feed Blaze Hikari Betta Bio-Gold. So far I think that's the best food there is - not that I've tried all of them, but Blaze and any other betta I've ever had loves it. It hardly took him any time (like less than 4 minutes) to get used to it - and bettas are known for pickiness when it comes to food, so it's surprising that he took it that fast...what's more, I switched foods immediately instead of over a period of time (though over a period of time is better for them - if he'd shown signs of not liking it, I'd probably have done it slower) Anyways, that's the end of my advertisement for Hikari Betta Bio-Gold ;-)
They usually take it pretty immediately (the food).


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## amandalynn (Jan 4, 2008)

If she hasn't eaten any of the food within five minutes or so, take the food out of the tank with a net or something or else it will rot and that can make your fish pretty sick.


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## bobbysgrl (Jan 5, 2008)

I've been trying to give her Wardley's Essentials Betta Food. She's eaten it once, that I've seen and another time she has spit it out. She also doesn't like the Tetra Min Tropical Flakes....Where can I find this fabulous food you speak of?

I tried the sock thing and it didn't make the water warmer it just clouded up the water.


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## KikiNBatta (Jan 2, 2008)

Hm...that's strange that it would cloud up the water. I don't remember it doing so when I did it - you did put it on the outside, right? 
You can find it at Wal-Mart, I'm not sure where else you can. Here's a picture of what it looks like, along with other products that they have:

http://www.vivarium.cz/images/hikari_betta_bio-gold.jpg


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