Can Laziness Be a Personality Trait in Bettas?

I've been contemplating this post for a while, but I feel like I need to address it, so here's the story: When I first got my Betta, he loved to explore, for the first month I had him he was zooming around his tank. He rarely stopped to rest and would always get excited if I came near his tank. He was so fun to watch and be around. After about a month or two of being in the tank, he became very lazy, not lethargic, he still got really excited when I came over, but he spent most of his day resting on plant leaves. He is a Superdelta Tail Betta, so his tail is a little heavy. But all he would do was rest. He would stay in one spot for 5 to 10 minutes, then move a few inches, sometimes more, and rest again. Sometimes he would investigate things in the sand or dash a bit and spaz out, but he just lost his activity. If I move everything in the tank and rearrange it, he will be pretty active, but not as much as he was and not for more than a day. Now he rarely moves from this one corner, but I'm giving him a break, as he has Fin Rot right now. He is still eating perfectly, and when he started becoming inactive, he showed no sign of sickness (I say this as he's sick right now). I don't know if he is bored or what, but it breaks my heart to seem him like this, he isn't the fish he used to be. His tank is 10 Gallons with plenty of decorations and plants for him to swim around and in, the current is not too strong, and the tank is now always 78ºF and the parameters are always kept at 0ppm Ammonia, 0ppm Nitrite, and 0-5ppm Nitrate. I don't know what's wrong with him if anything. Does anyone else have a Betta like this?

 

I don’t see why that couldn’t be a personality trait. It probably is TBH.

 

Could always try adding a marimo ball (probably spelled that wrong) for him to play with, or put up a mirror to flare at once in awhile (not constantly), add something fun / colorful / something that moves next to his tank for him to look at... Sounds like a personality and/or boredom thing to me.

 

Could always try adding a marimo ball (probably spelled that wrong) for him to play with, or put up a mirror to flare at once in awhile (not constantly), add something fun / colorful / something that moves next to his tank for him to look at... Sounds like a personality and/or boredom thing to me.

Thanks, I have tried adding some things for him too look at before, not too much affect. He doesn't flare, I forgot to add. I will try to get a Marimo Moss Ball if I can, the Stay-at-Home order ends Monday.

 

Moving things around could definitely help. My boys tend to get a little bored and sluggish if things have been the same for too long. He’s in 10 gallons so what about some tank mates? Some snails could be fun for them or if you’d like some fish I used to have pygmy cories with mine. It gives them some company, my very elderly betta loves to constantly follow around his nerite buddy.

 

Moving things around could definitely help. My boys tend to get a little bored and sluggish if things have been the same for too long. He’s in 10 gallons so what about some tank mates? Some snails could be fun for them or if you’d like some fish I used to have pygmy cories with mine. It gives them some company, my very elderly betta loves to constantly follow around his nerite buddy.

Thanks, he does have a Nerite Snail tank mate, which is pretty much a rock to him. I do want to get fish tank mates but I worry about the bioload and that it would build up during vacations (It needs to be fine for at least 2 weeks). If I did get tankmates, I would get guppies or Neon Tetras. As he is very peaceful. I did go to the aquarium stocking calculator (AqAdvisor) and it said I needed more filtration capacity. I do plan on getting tank mates, I'm just not in the place to now. I also don't really have much resources to quarantine fish.

 

I had a betta for about 7 months until he was accidently suffocated by my visiting house guest. He was very lively and energetic. If he wasn't resting on the foliage in the tank, he was busy making bubbles or swimming around checking out the scenery. I bought a new betta as a replacement, and this one puzzles me. He spends most of his time hidden away in the corner of the tank next to the filter. He does come out to eat and sometimes makes his bubbles, but 75% of the time, he's in his corner. I'm not sure what I can do to get him to be more active. He's rather young, so I wonder if that could be a reason for his behavior. I enjoyed Keko so much more than this one. Any suggestions?

 

I had a betta for about 7 months until he was accidently suffocated by my visiting house guest. He was very lively and energetic. If he wasn't resting on the foliage in the tank, he was busy making bubbles or swimming around checking out the scenery. I bought a new betta as a replacement, and this one puzzles me. He spends most of his time hidden away in the corner of the tank next to the filter. He does come out to eat and sometimes makes his bubbles, but 75% of the time, he's in his corner. I'm not sure what I can do to get him to be more active. He's rather young, so I wonder if that could be a reason for his behavior. I enjoyed Keko so much more than this one. Any suggestions?

How did he get suffocated? And you should probably make a new thread for your issue. Is your tank cycled?

 

Just put a bunch of them together. That way they don't get bored. Ok maybe not the brightest idea unless you have a large tank.

 

Just put a bunch of them together. That way they don't get bored. Ok maybe not the brightest idea unless you have a large tank.

hmmmhhh

 

I just had the craziest thought, and I might just be stupid. But I recently found out I wasn't feeding my fish enough, and I always thought if their belly was getting round that it was bloat. But I wonder if because I wasn't feeding enough, his muscles didn't have many nutrients which caused him to be weaker and not be a strong swimmer. Does anyone think my crazy idea could be true? I'm no vet or anything, but that was just a thought.

 

I just had the craziest thought, and I might just be stupid. But I recently found out I wasn't feeding my fish enough, and I always thought if their belly was getting round that it was bloat. But I wonder if because I wasn't feeding enough, his muscles didn't have many nutrients which caused him to be weaker and not be a strong swimmer. Does anyone think my crazy idea could be true? I'm no vet or anything, but that was just a thought.

Haha, it’s hard to underfeed a betta. They need like 2-3 pellets a day.

 

Haha, it’s hard to underfeed a betta. They need like 2-3 pellets a day.

I know, I wasn't underfeeding him exactly but he could use more. I was judging how much too feed him by his width, but I didn't know their bellies were supposed to be round (not bloated) after feeding.