Concerning my Beta Fish (Part Two)?

M

Mojo_Puppy

New member
So when I got my Beta, the bowl he came in had colorful marbles, and colorful, glossy stones (about marble size) at the bottom. I decided to leave the stones and marbles in the bowl because they are pretty, and because of a past experience.

I had a few goldfish a few years back, and there was gravel on the bottom of their tank. And I noticed that one of the fish would sometimes swim to the bottom and eat tiny pieces of gravel. They were fed properly and everything, and he was the only one who did that. Needless to say, he did not live very long.

Because of that, I didn't want to change out the stones/marbles for gravel, I figured this was fine. But I noticed my Beta likes to swim along the bottom of the bowl and I assume, search for leftover food. The problem is he puts his face in between the stones/marbles and then... well, I'm not sure if he is trying to move them, or trying to get under them. Either way, he ends up vertical in his bowl, swimming as hard as he can, trying to get between the stones/marbles.

Is that normal?

My main concern is now I'm worried that he is only a Betta fish, and I keep thinking what if he moves a marble and gets between it and another marble or stone, but then can't move it again to get out. In other words, I'm afraid if he continues, 'digging,' like this, he'll get stuck.

Is that something I should really be worried about? Should I remove the stones/marbles? Or is that ok?
Also, as Bettas are tropical fish, I read that if the water is too cold they will just sort of sit at the bottom of the tank and become very lazy.

I just got my Betta about a week ago, and am getting him a proper tank, heater, etc next week. At the moment, he is in a bowl that is about a gallon.

I noticed that he is very active if you go near the bowl, he swims round and round and goes to the top. Or he'll swim to you and just stare, which I admit is sort of cute.

But if you're on the other side of the room or anything, he's just sort of swim here and there, calmly and slowly. To the top, to the bottom, looking for food, looking around the room, etc. But then once in a while he'll stop. Sometimes at the bottom of the bowl, sometimes at the top, and he'll just sit there for a few minutes.

Is this because the water is too cold, or is he just resting? I assume he can't ALWAYS be swimming round and round, but do Betta fish sleep or rest like that?
 
hes just looking for food leftovers, hes fine, he sounds happy he will be better in the bigger heated tank, but make sure you float him first, dont just dump him in the heated water, and you should try to scoop him into a cup or pour him gently in a cup/bag rather than useing a net . cause it could damage his fins.
 
Your be should be fine. They have different personalities, and sometimes bettas do weird things. Also, the bettas behavior you explain in your Additional details section is normal. Bettas do that even in warm water. Chances are if you betta is not always sitting on the bottom, the waters warm enough( 68 degrees plus). I have bettas in room temp water( 72-76 degrees for my room), and they do the same thing.

Hope this helps!!!
 
well, if he is strong enough to move the marbles, im sure he is strong enough to get out if one rolled on him or something.

I have never heard of it,but maybe thats because my friends who have bettas dont use marbles, they use gravel :/

anyways, fish do rest, but it could be that he is resting and that its slightly cold.\

glad to here your getting him a nice setup. Try to get a heater that is adjustable, because the ones that arent sometimes make it to hot or too cold.

im sure he will eventually stop digging under the gravel,

oh and by the way, if bettas can eat a certain type of plant (ask your fish store) then you could get a plant so he wouldn scavenger for food when he is hungry, he would just take a bite off the plant. (which would solve your gravel prob) I do that with my goldfish. It is good for when you need to leave for the weekend (but when i come back little bits of plants are left on the gravel so you should get a gravel vacuum which i guess you should already get anyways.)

hope that helped and good luck with ur betta!!!

Bizz
 
he'll be fine with the marbles, but if you get gravel he won't eat it, it's much too large for his mouth. the goldifsh probably weren't eating it either, they suck the gravel for food particles and spit it back out when they're done. I had a goldfish who used to spit it at the glass while I was trying to sleep, very annoying ;)

he may get more active once you get him the heated tank, he might not. he's young yet I'm guessing? think of it this way, a teenage won't mind the cold as much as an older person who's bones ache in the cold and such. when he's young hes stronger, but as time goes on it will slow him down. my guess is he'll still get a little more active when you get him a heater.
 
He should be fine maybe he feels like hiding many bettas like their privacy so maybe het some plants and some rocks for them and i dont think he would be able to put the gravel is his rock if ur still concerned maybe get some sand which they sell at many local shops it's just white pure sand. Remeber get some plants and rocks for privacy that should be the problem.

Hope it works out for u.
Luck!
 
he'll be fine with the marbles, but if you get gravel he won't eat it, it's much too large for his mouth. the goldifsh probably weren't eating it either, they suck the gravel for food particles and spit it back out when they're done. I had a goldfish who used to spit it at the glass while I was trying to sleep, very annoying ;)

he may get more active once you get him the heated tank, he might not. he's young yet I'm guessing? think of it this way, a teenage won't mind the cold as much as an older person who's bones ache in the cold and such. when he's young hes stronger, but as time goes on it will slow him down. my guess is he'll still get a little more active when you get him a heater.
 
He should be fine maybe he feels like hiding many bettas like their privacy so maybe het some plants and some rocks for them and i dont think he would be able to put the gravel is his rock if ur still concerned maybe get some sand which they sell at many local shops it's just white pure sand. Remeber get some plants and rocks for privacy that should be the problem.

Hope it works out for u.
Luck!
 
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