Usual Betta Behaviour?

[scooterchick]

Hi,

I know nothing about betta's but I quite fancy getting one! I had a look at some today in my lfs, no intention of buying, I want to be properly set up first as I know a little, as in, they're not really community fish and wouldn't do well in my community tank. The ones I saw in the lfs looked very poor. They were in a cold water tank, about 8 females and 1 male. The filter was off as the girl said they wouldn't eat with it on (fluval 1 it looked like). Some of the females had finrot and all of them were just hanging about, some lying on the bottom, some kinda bent. Is this normal behaviour?

 

[Amunet]

That is definitely not normal behaviour for bettas. They're very curious fish. Sounds like the bettas you saw were very ill, poor things.
I'd go somewhere else to get one. Or if you get one from there, be prepared to treat it with meds if it needs it.

 

[scooterchick]

That is definitely not normal behaviour for bettas. They're very curious fish. Sounds like the bettas you saw were very ill, poor things.
I'd go somewhere else to get one. Or if you get one from there, be prepared to treat it with meds if it needs it.

I thought that, I asked them before on another occasion about them, told them I was a bit concerned about it and they said they were really lazy fish and that was normal. Their betta's never look good, I def won't buy from there. Are they really happy in a cold water tank given that I live in Scotland? Think I'd prefer they had a heater.

 

[Amunet]

They're tropical fish, so a heater would be best if your home isn't very warm. The water temp should be around 80F (27C) give or take a few degrees.

 

[cursedblad3]

Well amunet put it like this... Scotland is bloody cold!

 

[blue_betta]

Well amunet put it like this... Scotland is bloody cold!

no always!
the wst coast is warm enough to grow hardy palm trees!

 

[ReMz]

above 72 degrees is fine. anything lower is not natural to their environment. closer to 80 is better. the higher the water temp, the better their immune system and energy level (82 max though).

dont buy from that store. if you care enough, inform the store of their mistreatment and lack of knowledge about bettas. that's very unfortunate, but you do not want one of those bettas, unless you are prepared to nurture a sickly fish. Instead, find a better lfs or online seller and get yourself a healthy, unique male.

they do not need filters. just frequent water changes. however, if you filter a larger tank (2.5-5gal), you do not need to perform once a week water changes and they seem to be much happier. that said, if the bettas were not eating with the filter on, they are most likely stressed out by the current and/or conditions.

my side note.... don't consider sympathy in your purchase.... just tell that lsf that they need to reconsider their reputation. you should go elsewhere.