My Betta Keeps Butting its Head!

[jgibb]

Hello
I'm hoping somebody can help me, I don't think my betta (Bruiser) is sick but he is worrying me. He keeps swimming into the rocks at the bottom of his tank and into the wall of his tank.

The tank is 12 litres and he in there by himself. There is some plastic weed for him to hide in and some rocks on the bottom. It gets cleaned weekly.

Does anybody know why he keeps doing this and is there anything I can do to stop it - I don't want him hurting himself! :?

Any advice would be welcome.
Cheers,
Juliette

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi jgibb and welcome to Aquarium Advice!

Do you test the water parameters -- ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH? Can you post these values? Sometimes if the parameters don't stay stable, the betta will swim around fast or look like it's in distress.

Does the temperature stay stable? Do you have a heater and filter? By "rocks on the bottom", do you mean aquarium gravel?

Bettas often do better with silk (fabric) plants. Plastic plants may tear the betta's long fins. You should have enough plants that he feels secure, and not too much out in the open. That may be one reason that he's swimming around fast or bumping into things -- he's looking for a hiding place to feel secure.

There also may be a reflection on one side of the tank. He may see this reflection and not realize it's the side of the aquarium. One of my bettas occasionally bumps his nose into one side of the tank. I think that it's a reflection that only he can see and it confuses him sometimes. Maybe some more plants will help cut down on any reflections from the room light or tank light.

Moved to Freshwater forum.

 

[jgibb]

Hi An t-iasg,

I haven't done any pH testing - it was recommended when I originally set it up to use some special nuetraliser drops which I have. It gets cleaned out completely every week so it shouldn't need any additional nitrate or ammonia.

Its in a fairly stable atmosphere - directly beside an everyday reading light and that keeps the temperature is stable without being too hot.

I will definatly try the silk weed - come to think of it Bruiser has only been acting funny since that was put in.

I think your probably right about the reflection so I might change and add some more to give him a few more hiding places.

Thank you for your help you've given a few ideas to try. I'll let you know how it goes.