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New Betta Antics

23 13:57:43

Question

Miso
Hello!


I just got my first betta after a few long months of proving my responsibility to my parents, and now little Miso has me concerned. I was hoping you could help!

1. I just got him today, and introduced him to a new tank that's about a little less than a gallon (with the rocks in there) using tap water, a squirt of Stress Coat (to still be used with every tank cleaning every weekend) and Stress Zyme following the posted directions in a couple of days. (And a filter set to a speed where the water is moving at a decent speed but no noise is produced) a nice plastic plant ( maybe a bit too large)  and a light.
2. He seems to eigther to sit in the same spot occionally, his fins humming like crazy, or swimming around the wall of the tank in short jolts. Is that normal? I don't know if it's because of the new tank or or something else, but It makes me nervous.
3. He hasn't really flared his gills yet, but sometimes he'll turn tail and it'll float upwards a little bit, it almost looks like he's doing a crunch workout.... but I'm just so worried about him.
4. He sometimes looks like he's "sniffing" the tank wall like a puppy, is that normal for a new tank?
5. If rests by the plant, he looks as if he got stuck, cause he's all bunched up, and I didn't know if that was painful, could I trim the plant using normal table scissors so it's less in his way?
6. The first time I fed him, I fed him a lot, (and removed the extra stuff he didn't eat) so I could see how much he ate, but he didn't seem interested in moving to the top to get the food, only if it was near him, he did eat a couple though. (I feed him small bitesize pellets)
7.The filter water looks like it's just rushing over the filter pads and not through it, is that okay?

I'm just so nervous about my little Miso, I'm afraid he'll never get comfortable in his new home!

Thank you very much!

Answer
Hi Pelado,
   He sounds like a normal betta.  It will take him some time (weeks) to get used to his new home.  

   It's hard for me to say whether the plant is too big, but odds are it is not.  

  Do not feed him alot.  Remember he is a tiny little fish.  He only needs a very little food at a time. It is MUCH better for a fish to be slightly hungry than to be overfed.  

  Some of the water should pass through the filter pads, while some will go around.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>