Female betta: too shy??

Question

I have a female betta that has been in a non-heated small betta tank. I decided to be humane (I thought) and put her in a 10 gallon tank with a dwarf gourami, two pristella tetras, a white cloud, and a neon tetra. She doesn't swim around; she just sits under, behind, or around the filter. She eats a little, but doesn't ever play with the other fish or come to the front of the tank. She doesn't look sick--just extremely scared. Should I put her back in the betta tank, or will she eventually perk up? The tank's temp is around 80 (too hot??), and the water is fine--the nitrates were a little high so I did a 75% water change a couple days ago.

I put her in a cup (I didn't have a bag) for at least a 1/2 hour, slowly adding water from the tank to her cup. The pH should be the same for both tanks---the water is just tap water with chlorine remover added. The nitrates were close to 80--they are usually closer to 20, but I went on Easter vacation from college and had automatic feeders, which put way too much food in, so I had to get the food out. All the other fish in the tank are acting normal, so I don't think it's from the water change. My nitrites are usually 0 and I haven't tested the ammonia in awhile, but I'm pretty sure it's fine. My pH is usually around 7.4 or so.

She's been the new tank for 3 days, I think. She has no symptoms of being sick, so I'm not worried about that. The dwarf gourami is a lot bigger than her, but he leaves her alone and I saw him chase her around a little when I first introduced her, but now he doesn't even look at her. Could she still be too scared to come out from behind the filter just because she knows he's there? Bettas do better and live longer in heated aquariums, which is why I put my betta in the heated tank.

Is my temp too hot?

Answer 1

Bettas are generally rather shy fish to begin with and after having been kept alone for a while she is no doubt just a bit scare to come out much. It should improve over time significantly, but she will always be a little shy compared to the active swimmers you have in the tank, it's just the nature of bettas. Your temperature is just fine and it's part of the problem at all. Give her a week or so and she should spend much more time out in the tank instead of hiding.

MM

Answer 2

It could just be that she is getting used to the new tank but also could be stress from a big heat and or pH change. How did you acclimate her when you added her to the new tank?

Also, try to avoid large water changes. They are very stressful to the fish and can swing your water parameters too much causing pH shock. How high were the nitrates? Anything under 80 to 100 ppm is safe although weekly 20% water changes should easily keep them under 20 ppm. What are your readings for ammonia, nitrite and pH?

Edit: Sounds like acclimation was fine. I think i is just the change and also could possibly be too much current from the filter Some bettas do well in a large tank with a lot of flow and others don't. Temperature should be around 78. I wouldn't go much higher. I'm not really very knowledgeable on white clouds but i think the are very active fish which could also stress her.

For future reference, fish can easily go a week without food. You are better off leaving them unfed than using the auto feeders or blocks. The blocks are nothing but junk and the auto feeders can malfunction and put way too much food in the tank causing a huge ammonia spike resulting in a tank of dead fish.

Answer 3

How long has it been since she was introduced into the bigger tank? Usually fish take a while to acclimate to new surroundings, but you forgot to realize that adding a smaller new fish into an already established pecking order in your big tank is most likely causing the "shyness".

Bettas aren't too aggressive (usually males are aggressive) with other fish, so you can't expect them to become top fish where there is a dwarf gourami already. I used to own a dwarf gourami and it was definitely one of the more aggressive small fish in my tank.

I suggest that you give it a day or two to see if she gets any better, otherwise its probably better to keep her separated or the stress from the other fish (especially the gourami) will harm her more than benefit her.

Betta tanks are fine for bettas. They don't need much space and can breathe nicely in tight spaces.

If in doubt, your fish may be sick. Check online fish resources and study its behavior or consult a fish enthusiast in your area.

Answer 4

Its being humane. I have my male betta in a shallow tank with guppies. For a while he was afraid of everything and sat in a corner. He wouldn't eat that much either. After about two days he was fine and has created a territory for himself under a small rock.

Betta are not community fish. Females can do well in groups of their own, but only if there are more than three as they create a pecking order. If there are only two fish then they will fight each other to the death, basically.

Lower the temps to about 76* and it should be fine. Bettas dont like it too hot but dont be fooled, they dont like it room temp either! Good luck with her, and if she doesn't improve in the next day or so, you should probably put her back in the bowl.