I couldnt get any pictures clear, so I took a video clip, the first half is a little blurry but you can see him better at the middle. Here is what is happening; I have a 10 gallon tank, with 9 fish in it, after lots of research and annoying the local pet store for weeks, (I visit almost daily to ask questions and learn) anyway, the beta has been with us from day one, as with all the fish, no new fish are there that he dislikes, he was acting fine until this evening, and honestly, i think he 'might' be fine today LOL, I am just overreacting.

anyway, we got a new bubble wand today, with 'low bubbles' it isnt alot of current and he seemed to love it, we also got a new ornament that is like a little cave, (rinsed everything really well- no soap, etc) and for the last hour or so he has been in this little cave not moving alot--- as I am typing he just came out for about 45 seconds and swam around a few bubbles, they did not push him up or anything, so he seems to be swimming ok, but he has never just 'sat' anywhere that I noticed, everything else looks ok, fins, eyes, (I think, i only got a glance, as he is facing away.

here is a vid-- like i said-- not 100% clear... is this normal? I have been using salt and the temp is at 78 and we tested the water today, everything is good, they said the amonia was a 'little' high, so we added amonia solution to the 15% water change today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFvCnzLGAho

any ideas? am i being over-protective? is he depressed? LOL thanks in advance!

Hi evelester,

Sometimes when we change something in our betta's environments they love it and get really curious about it. Other times it takes them some time to get used to it. If he has no other symptoms, (like open sores, scratching against things, etc) I really wouldn't worry about him. However, the comment about a little ammonia kind of worries me. How long has your tank been set up? A cycled, matured tank should never have any ammonia. (Meaning ammonia should always test at 0 ppm after the initial cycling). It is possible that he is feeling the effects of the ammonia depending on how high it was. In short, his behavior doesn't bother me, but the ammonia does.

thanks for your reply, he is doing much better today, and the amonia is almost gone, it is still a new tank, so it is cycling, I didnt know about the 'cycle' till after i added the fish, now that I know i am mad at my LPS for not telling me, but the level is almost unreadable, going down daily, and he is much more active now.

Oh I'm glad! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />) A lot of LPSs "forget" to tell about cycling. I have the ""s because most of them (believe it or not) either don't know about it, or don't think it's important enough to tell customers about. (afterall, when your fish die, you come back and buy more right? GRRRR) At least you know now and will be better prepared in the future. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />