Is my betta stressed or bored?

I rescued my Betta, Fishy, maybe 3 weeks ago from a life in a mason jar and he's been happily living in his 10-gallon tank, heated at a steady 78 F and low filter, with his mystery snail Gary. What I noticed when I first added him was that he likes to glass surf a lot. Not 24/7, but enough for me to feel concerned. He'd go nuts for a few minutes and then suddenly be zen and would go off to swim around his tank and check out what the snail is doing. He definitely has control and doesn't run into things though. Best I can explain it is that it looks like zoomies, but I've read they don't happen that frequently.
He has a good appetite, comes to greet me when I come to the tank, and just made his first bubble nest, but I am not sure if the surfing is indicating that he's stressed or just bored. His tank is kind of bare at the moment except for a cave and some roots to swim around, but I plan to get him some silk plants soon. I am not sure if I should also try for some tankmates as well. I plan to also get his tank parameters checked today too, but Gary seems fine and active.
I cycled the tank with Seachem stability for 2 weeks, treat my water with API stress coat, and do 20% water changes weekly. I think there's a possibility he can see his reflection, but he doesn't flare or act aggressive. I've turned off aquarium lights and even in near darkness, he'll still surf.

 

I wouldn't worry about it too much, especially if you are planning on adding plants and possibly some tank mates. To me, it seems like that could just be his personality.
(note that I'm not an expert on betta behavior or anything, I've only kept a few over the years, this is just based on my experience)

 

Well, Bettas are very curious, he might either see his reflection, or he sees the outside world. I wrote an earlier article about betta stress "toys", if you would like to check it out!
Betta "toys"

 

Thank you! It was a good read! I tried a ping pong ball before, but it only seemed to spook him at first and then he ignored it lol. I do have a laser pointer sitting around so I might try that.

 

Welcome to Fishlore!!!!

It's always good to meet another betta parent!

If you would like to try your hand at some real plants, I found that my bettas always liked them and would spend time swimming around and investigating. They also help with water parameters.

He may be seeing his own reflection. You can also try taping up some black construction paper or non-reflective paper on the back of the tank, and maybe even the sides, and see if that helps.

 

Thank you for the warm welcome!
I've tried black paper before but didn't change the behavior, so I took it down. Decided to pause on tankmates because my test levels showed some ammonia (between 0-0.25). Looks like my tank hasn't finished cycling so I removed the gravel and washed out any extra food that was in it. I was a bit liberal with food in the beginning before I knew better . I added the new silk plants and put him back in his tank after acclimating. He's a bit skittish now and still surfing, but otherwise as normal as I started.
I have some amazon swords, but they seemed to do bad, so I removed them from the tank and put them next to a window in a cup of water to get more light. My tank may still be a bit too new for plants perhaps?

 

The plants, especially if you can get live floaters, seem to engage my guys, along with the hunting & eating of pest snails & tiny feeder shrimp.

Thank you for the warm welcome!
I've tried black paper before but didn't change the behavior, so I took it down. Decided to pause on tankmates because my test levels showed some ammonia (between 0-0.25). Looks like my tank hasn't finished cycling so I removed the gravel and washed out any extra food that was in it. I was a bit liberal with food in the beginning before I knew better . I added the new silk plants and put him back in his tank after acclimating. He's a bit skittish now and still surfing, but otherwise as normal as I started.
I have some amazon swords, but they seemed to do bad, so I removed them from the tank and put them next to a window in a cup of water to get more light. My tank may still be a bit too new for plants perhaps?

Do you have a gravel vac? That will help remove excess food & won't kill the beneficial bacteria you need for cycling the way removing gravel & washing it can. Too, your plants will also help with cycling. If you have a light of some kind & some fertilizer tabs your swords should do better in the tank. Being new, they may look bad just because they're experiencing melt from submersion.

As for the ammonia - API drops often indicate 0-.25 when no ammonia is present. It's the nitrites & nitrates that will tell you more about your cycle. If there are still nitrites, you're still cycling. If there is that smidgeon of ammonia, 0 nitrites & 5+ nitrates, you're cycled. Just my experience. I have tanks years old, well cycled & API ammonia dropd always indicate 0-.25 ammonia - even on distilled water.

 

Gravel vacs for my tank size are out of stock for the moment, but it is on my next shopping trip. Till then I was planning to just be more careful with feeding since I have a better idea now on how much he eats, and I feed my snail in a separate container anyway since Fishy can be a pig.
Plants are still submerged but I felt better on having a closer eye on them.
My nitrites are at 1.0 and nitrates are 0-2.0 so I think I am close but not there yet in terms of cycling.

 

We would love to see a pic of Fishy if you have one!!!!

 

Of course! His tail is a bit of a mess but he's definitely on the mend.

 

He's a lovely little boy!!!!

 

Until the vacuums get into stock, you could get a short length of clear hose and a dowel from a hardware store and use that for now if you like. Just be more careful around Fishy and Gary. Put a finger over the end in the bucket for flow control.

 

It will probably take a week or so until I get one so I might hold off till then to be on the safe side.
I think I figured it out! It prob was stress because the flow of the filter was a bit too much for him and he'd have to sprint to get to the other side of the aquarium or swim up. Right now I am using the water bottle hack to slow the flow more and it seems to have worked. He surfs still but for a much shorter time, maybe across the tank once and done.
I think I am going to try taping the sides again just for good measure.
Update: Thank you everyone for your help! Fishy's surfing days seem over thankfully. He seems pretty alert but probably because he cannot find his reflection anymore. I will probably let him see his reflection every now and then for stimulation, but I feel like both me and my betta can finally relax. Thank you guys again!