Help! My Betta Is Not As Energetic As Usual :(

I’ve attached a photo of my betta Narcissus... He normally will sit on a leaf for the majority of the day like in the picture. I mean there will be times he is moving around the tank but I feel like the pauses between these have grown longer. I’ve owned him for 6 months so I assume he is probably 7-8 months old. He used to be very observant and curious and as constantly swimming around the tank looking at things. When I would approach the tank he would swim to the front and look at me (probably expecting food). Now he does none of these things and it’s really concerning me

I am just trying to pinpoint where this behavior could be coming from ? I went away for a week on a business trip and had the tank on an automatic feeder only to find out that he automatic feeder had shot out way too much food every day while I was gone. I cleaned the tank and changed the filter, tested the water as well and it looks like the levels are fine.

Maybe he over-ate while I was gone ? I feed him every other day so maybe returning to this sort of diet is making him sluggish ? Considering how much he probably ate while I was gone due to the automatic feeder.

As far as water temp, it is always 79-80F.
Sorry for the information overload, it’s just that I wanted to make sure I laid everything on the table before I posted this.

 

Does your betta tank have a filter? Does he look sick? As long as he's eating and doesn't have any noticeable symptoms of illness he should be fine.

 

Oops sorry did not see that you said changed the filter

 

He might just be bored with his surroundings if nothing has changed in a while. I have had mine for almost 5 months now and while he is still active and comes to the top front every time he sees me, he is resting at the bottom under plant leaves more than he did before. He perks right up when he sees me though and he still swims around the tank. Just not as much as when I first got him. His fins have also gotten a lot longer and he seems to be developing into a Rosetail. They are not as active because of the long heavy fins.

 

If your tank is at least 10 gallons maybe get some tiny nano fish like chilI rasboras that he can interact with. I wouldn't really add anything else unless it was a 20 gallon. You could try ghost shrimp too he'll prob chase them around. Bare in mind he will eat small shrimp like cherries.

 

He might just be bored with his surroundings if nothing has changed in a while. I have had mine for almost 5 months now and while he is still active and comes to the top front every time he sees me, he is resting at the bottom under plant leaves more than he did before. He perks right up when he sees me though and he still swims around the tank. Just not as much as when I first got him. His fins have also gotten a lot longer and he seems to be developing into a Rosetail. They are not as active because of the long heavy fins.

That’s true I might rearrange things just to get him curious again, but the thing you mentioned about the fins being too heavy I think that might very well be it. I am looking at him swimming right now and I see he has a hard time maneuvering when it comes to turning and when he stops the lower half of his body will sink down as if his fins are really heavy. This is probably what is causing him fatigue.

If your tank is at least 10 gallons maybe get some tiny nano fish like chilI rasboras that he can interact with. I wouldn't really add anything else unless it was a 20 gallon. You could try ghost shrimp too he'll prob chase them around. Bare in mind he will eat small shrimp like cherries.

There are two dwarf frogs in there that would keep him mentally stimulated, haha. It’s just that I find him ignoring them more and more recently.