My Betta has been hiding

Question
My Betta has been hiding in home and spending a lot of time at the bottom of the tank. Appears dead sometimes but I do see him breathing. He's just not swimming around like he was.  When I am near the tank he appers to be skidish and dashes away.   Could this have anything to do with my cat trying to touch the tank?   I've had the fish since March and just recently noticed this behavor.  

Answer
Hi Roberta,

Your cat may be scaring the fish slightly by touching the tank, but I doubt that is the whole problem.

Being lethargic is a sign of a fish feeling not-too-good, but at the moment it is hard to diagnose exactly what is wrong. So make sure he is in the best conditons possible to fight off any forthcoming disease. Make sure your fish is in warm, clean water. All size tanks should have 50% of their water changed each week. The minumum tank size I reccomend is about 4 litres or 1 US gallon.

Bettas prefer their temperature to be about 24-27 degrees celcius.    

If possible, try to buy some AQUARIUM salt (not table salt) and add the recommended dose for treatment of disease.

Hope your boy is better soon,

Prue.