do betta fish hibernate?

Question

he has the proper tempuater(76) he eats like he is suppost to, he has a heater and a water cycler thing. but for the past few days he has not been getting up. i have to put the net in the tank and move the water back and forth for him to get up. he is in a 10 gallon tank. i dont understand what is wrong with him. i have had him for about 4 months. i have looked every where for answers but i keep on getting diffrent answers from diffrent sites

Answer 1

First off, never use the net or anything to move him if he appears stressed or sick. All that will do is stress him out more, causing lots of problems.

He has been in there plenty long enough that the tank is cycled.

Do you change water? How often? Water changes should be performed in small amounts every week.

Also I would up the temperature by at least 2 degrees. 76 is a little on the low side. In my experience they do best in at least 78 degrees.

Answer 2

It sounds like he is sick. 1st I'd raise the temp to 80. Bettas are tropical fish, and prefer a temp of 75-85F. Then I'd check the nitrate levels in the tank. Then stop feeding him for 2 days, and feed him 1/2 a cooked pea. (Basically this is treatment for contipation, and over feeding. Bettas happily over eat themselves to death.) If this doesn't work a course of antibiotic are in order. (trisulfa, maroxy, or other broad spectrum antibioics.)

Aslo looking over the betta talk disease link may give you thing to look for.

Answer 3

Not really, sounds like he is sick. Have you changed the water recently? Slowly raise the temp to 80. Sounds like his set up is appropriate. Many bettas get hereditary swim bladder disease and they can't float properly. They swell up and sink like a rock. Not much you can do about that, unfortunately. Or sometimes they get mild bacterial infections, a slow raise in temp should help and he will be feeling better soon.

please, don't listen to Kristan... I agree w bleedsea

Answer 4

No, bettas do not hibernate. It doesn't even get all that cold in S.E. Asia where they are originally from.

Answer 5

Betta's do not hibernate.
bring your temp down to 75-74 too, 76 is a degree to hot.

Your fish might be sick, You might try cleaning his cage, and doing a 25-75% water change. Making sure to add water conditioner and ideally some "slime" protector.

Is there any noticable signs on him? gills red, scales look like porcupine ?? You might try some Melafix or Pimafix
They are a good all around do good type agent.

Answer 6

They don't hibernate and as for the melafix you should resd this celtic k:

http://www.fishlore.com/Forum/betta-fish/all-betta-owners-read-melafix-alert-read-read-danger.0.html

Answer 7

Don't worry, he's fine. They are simply lazy fish. I've had mine for 3 years. And I never freak when he gets lazy.