Another Questions on Betas

[Wy Renegade]

Ok, so I have a question about Betas. First off, I don't keep them myself, haven't for many years. Tried to get them to breed at one time, but the male kept killing of the females (which were hard to get at the time), so I gave up on them.

That said however, this year I ended up with one of my groups in my aquatic class caring for one for another teacher. Long story short we ended up moving the thing into a 55gal community tank.

So here's my question - this beta (which I was told is older) spends almost all its time sitting on something rather than swimming around. Usually the bottom of the tank. Is this normal behavior for betas? If so, is there a reason that they do that?

Appreciate any insight you all can give, thanks in advance.

 

[dudeofrude]

My betta does exactly the same thing but only since I moved him out of my 36g and into his own 8g. Might be some kind of adjustment behaviour or something??

 

[siva]

This could be because of it's age, or it may just be it's personality. One of my males lays around on everything. He's quite hilarious. Sometimes he seems to be sound sleep in a completely vertical position, nose down, in a plant. It's rather cute actually.

Because it's a labyrinth fish it does need to be able to rise to surface easily. It's possible the filter flow is a bit much for him and that's why he hangs at the bottom. I provide a nice wad of floating pennywort for all of my bettas in community tanks. They love to rest in it, especially at night, and can easily take oxygen from the surface w/o exerting much energy. I'd consider it a must for older guy.