How often must a Betta fish go up the surface to breathe?

Question

My Betta fish goes up to the surface every 10 to 30 seconds to breathe. Is this normal?

Answer 1

How often will depend a lot on the conditions in which they're kept. They have a labyrinth organ which ALLOWS them to breathe air at the surface, but they also have gills, which allows them to extract dissolved oxygen from the water. So how often they will breathe at the surface depends mostly on:

1) If you have a filter or airstone to circulate dissolved oxygen throughout the water - if you don't use these, they'll need to surface more often, because they need to exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen at the surface.

2) Temperature - as the water temperature increases, it holds less dissolved oxygen, but the metabolism of the fish increases, so they require more oxygen. Bettas should have a temperature between 76-86oF, but I prefert o keep mine at 76-80o unless I'm breeding them.

3) Water Quality - if the fish is in a bowl rather than a tank, products of it's metabolism (ammonia and nitrite) which are toxic to the fish in relatively small amounts build up faster. Both of these are toxic in that they interfere with the ability of a fish to extract oxygen from the water using it's gills and bind it to receptors in the bloodstream to be carried where needed in the body. This makes the fish "gasp" for air at the surface. (If in a bowl, you should be doing 100% water changes every 2-3 days.)

Answer 2

1. BOTH of those fish REQUIRE 5 gallons to themselves a heater and gentle filter 2. As long as you're not feeding any more than 2-3 pellets a day you're fine. MOST of the time the issue is with water quality and/ or food. And being in one of those tiny split tanks is not going to work. Anything under 5 gallons should be banned from stores. 3. The Best thing you can do for your fish is to get him into the proper set up as soon as possible. No Filter no Heater no Betta!!!

Answer 3

Coming Up To Breathe

Answer 4

Bettas are labyrinth fish, so they must go up to the surface to get air. It doesn't depend on how often they're doing it, it depends on if they are doing it. If they aren't doing it, then they are probably sick because they normally have to get the oxygen from the surface.

~ZTM

Answer 5

well...bettas DO BREATHE AIR! don't listen to these people that say they don't! They need access to the air in their tanks. They usually come up every few mins, but it is normal to see them hanging out at the bottom for a while. don't worry, bettas like to "sleep" i call it. sometimes looks like they're dead, but you can tell by looking at their gills. As long as they have access to the top of the tank for air, should be fine! They will come up every few mins

Answer 6

Beta's don't need to come up to breathe..just stick a REAL plant in a clear bowl to give them oxygen and they will be ok, trust me..just don't put two bettas together..

Answer 7

I am sure I read somewhere that Bettas like to blow bubbles for fun, and they will need air to do this. I am sure it is just stocking up on air to blow its bubbles.

Or, of course, you tanks heater might be too hot.


Edit: Heres a link to what the bubbles mean

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art34674.asp

Answer 8

Bettas are "equipped" with gills and lungs so they don't "need" to come up for air, but choose to. Yes, I would consider it normal for your betta to come up for air every few seconds.

EDIT:
I didn't mean for you to interpret my answer as they don't need air if you were thinking that. I just said they don't need to come up to the surface to get air because they have gills that allow them to obtain oxygen from the water.

Answer 9

there might not be enough oxygen in the water do you have a air tube in the tank your fish could be sufficating

Answer 10

it can be -- there isn't a set rule. sometimes they will just sit and breathe without moving from the top too. other times they will rest at the bottom and not breathe at all.