Scared Betta?

[Lacuna]

the original shrimp died because my betta caught them and had them for dinner lol, this was almost a year ago

tested the water using the tetra test kit (NOT test strips)

ph- is between 7.5 and 8

nitrite - less than .3

ammonia - is 0

If your nitrite levels are anything other than 0 you should do a water change to bring them as close to 0 as possible. Nitrite is very harmful even at low levels as it can affect respiration, stress fish and lower their immune system. Although he's been in the tank a while and you have a filter, it seems like your tank isn't fully cycled. I'd recommend testing the water at least once a day and doing water changes as required until the levels remain at 0. After that, just do regular water changes as Loraxchick suggested

 

[atistang]

the original shrimp died because my betta caught them and had them for dinner lol, this was almost a year ago

tested the water using the tetra test kit (NOT test strips)

ph- is between 7.5 and 8

nitrite - less than .3

ammonia - is 0

If your nitrite levels are anything other than 0 you should do a water change to bring them as close to 0 as possible. Nitrite is very harmful even at low levels as it can affect respiration, stress fish and lower their immune system. Although he's been in the tank a while and you have a filter, it seems like your tank isn't fully cycled. I'd recommend testing the water at least once a day and doing water changes as required until the levels remain at 0. After that, just do regular water changes as Loraxchick suggested

thats the lowest level on the test kit, less than .3 is probably zero as the color of the water changed to the exact color of the chemical i put in to test. its cycled, i made sure of that a year ago and i am running the same filter media since the beginning.

 

[atistang]

well i'm gonna switch him and my other betta sunday night when i change their water

he seems to be fine first thing in the morning before feeding, then when i turn on the light he is fine for a bit then starts acting funny

he seems to do much better with the light off, not normal but better

his tank is planted and the other isn't so if he freaks out in the other tank with the light on then i can just leave it off

I'm honestly just starting to think that he is getting old, he is almost double the size of my other betta, and he was almost that big when i got him

 

[atistang]

since i switched them both bettas seem to be happy, my scared one isn't so scared anymore, i only run the light in his tank for about 2 hours every other day for the little bit of java moss i have in there. he doesn't just sit on the bottom any more, and doesn't freak out every time he goes to the surface