Betta won't stop hiding

[mcgdz86]

So I recently purchased my first tank.. A 36g Aqueon bowflex. I added an Aqueon quiet flow 30 filter and let it run for 5 days before adding fish. I added 3 fish to start... 2 Dalmatian Mollys and 1 Betta

The fish have been in the tank for five days now. The mollys immediately acclimated and have been looking healthy and happy from the start. The Betta... Not so much

He seems to have no energy or motivation. He is constantly hiding inside the decorations or in the back corners of the tank. I've seen him hide behind the filter once or twice, but he rarely leaves the bottom... Not even to feed. I've also caught him laying on his side at the bottom.

From what I've read this can be caused by a lack of heat... But the thermometer is reading at a steady 79*. I have a 100w Aqueon heater in the tank.

I've also read they can take time to get acclimated... But 5 days seems like a lot of time with no headway. As far as I can tell he looks healthy just not happy.. But to be honest I'm not quite sure.

I've been monitoring the water and the numbers have stayed steady at the following levels
Amm: .5
GH: 180
KH: 180
PH: 8
Nitrate: .5
Nitrate: 40

Any advice? I'm not sure what I can do for the little guy

 

[SpaceFish42]

It sounds like you didn't cycle the tank before adding fish. How did you acclimate them, and what sort of setup do you have?

 

[mcgdz86]

I did not do a fishless cycle. As a beginner it seemed rather complicated and intimidating.

I chose 2 mollys and the Betta because I was told they are hardier and good to start a tank.

As far as acclamation for the mollys i let their bags sit in the tank for 20min... Then added tank water to the bag and let it sit for another 20min.

For the Betta it came in a cup.. So I put it and it's water into a ziplock bag and then let it sit in the tank for 20min. I then added him to the tank. I didn't let him sit in the tank for another 20min with 50/50 water because I worried the ziplock bag wouldn't let him get enough oxygen.

I'm not sure what you mean by setup

 

[Jessy2363]

Betta fish don't tolerate Ammonia or nitrite, even low levels of it. Molly's are much hardier than Betta fish and could tolerate a tiny bit of it. Unfortunaetly i know this as when I was a beginner I killed about 3 betta fish from an uncycled tank. (please don't judge as I do fishless cycling now)

If its hiding its definitely a sign that something is wrong. (mine did this also). if you can't get it into a clean cycled tank then I suspect it will die eventually.

 

[mcgdz86]

That surprises me... I've kept bettas in the past in solo Betta bowls and have never had issues with them and have never done any kind of cycle. Do they produce less ammonia and therefore can tolerate it that way? If that's the case should I put him into a solo container for a few weeks until the cycle is done? I'm actually surprised at the levels because I've never seen the ammonia go above .5

 

[katana]

I would think just doing some partial water changes every day or every other day would keep the ammonia down and help keep the betta happy.
In my experience, Bettas are very hardy fish. Perhaps the mollies are picking on him?


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[Jessy2363]

I have NEVER found bettas to be hardy. They have long fins that are prone to rot. I killed 3 with an uncycled tank. That's not hardy. Then i put one in a cycled tank and its happy and healthy and still alive months and months later.

No fish should have to tolerate any ammonia or nitrite. I say this now as I didn't realise how cruel was I back then thinking they could put up with an uncycled tank. Maybe the betta survived in that bowl because you were doing heaps and heaps of water changes as a bowl is easy to do a water change on compared to a tank I assume. Give it time and it will die if ammonia is present for long periods of time and it won't be happy and will no doubt hide for ages. Especially if its scared. I tried putting my betta in the community tank once and it hid as it knew the others would nip its long fins. They are pretty smart I think

 

[newgirl]

from my experience with bettas (I have 9 and am still not an expert) they often hide initially when introduced to a larger body of water. Assuming you do regular water changes to control your levels during the cycle.

It is like being kept in your car for your entire life then being introduced to a three story house - you would be hesitant to explore initially and insecure from all new space.

If you watch him and mollies are not bullying him let him hide - plants (not sharp - either betta safe silk plants or live) or a betta floating log (which will also help him rest near the surface when he needs to).

Give him time - he is adjusting to a whole new world! 5 days is not enough yet for him to be confident.

If he is laying on his side I would be more concerned - make sure you have a test kit and check your levels although the ammonia in the little cups at the store is usually much worse still not good if he is getting ammonia.

Is he eating? What are you feeding? The mollies will likely eat his betta food if he isn't fast at feeding so the log will help with that too as you can drop food in the top. My bettas love defrosted brine shrimp and with chopsticks you can wave a couple of shrimp in front of him to get him interested. Hope it helps.

 

[mcgdz86]

Hi newgirl thanks for your insight. He seems to be doing a little better now he's coming out more and more it seems. I've never seen the mollys mess with him although they have been fighting a tiny bit with each other.

I'm just feeding them all the same TetraColor Tropical Flakes. The guy at the LFS said it would work for both mollies and bettas.

The mollies are greedy little buggers. They start eating right away. The Betta usual stays at the bottom and grazes whatever food they let slip buy. I'm afraid to buy separate foods because I feel like the mollies would get to the Betta food first anyway. The chopsticks are a good idea for the shrimp but probably wouldn't work for general Betta food right?