My beta fish is acting very weird?

Question

my beta fish is acting very weird. he always floats to the top of his cage and his gills dont really move that much and he just floats there like he is dead and so i flicked the bowl and he got scared and "woke up" and started swimming around like crazy and his gills were moving very fast. he has been acting like this for the past 3 days and he isnt eating much!! i put a mirror next to his cage and when he does come out of his "trance" he is very territorial about that, but then he just swims away after a while and the floats back up again, sometimes when there is food around he bits at the surface but never hits the food, just pops the bubbles, whats wrong?

Answer 1

firstly its betta not beta

secondly fish live in aquariums not cages

thirdly a bowl is no place for any fish

he needs a 2.5+ gallon  heated aquarium

edit:

bettas dont live in puddles they live in rice paddys

http://www.cultureshocktherapy.com/pic/i...

Answer 2

Well first of all you are keeping him in a cage not a fish tank that's a problem.  JK I get what you mean.  

How long have you had the fish for?  How often do you change the water?  Sometimes all they need is a proper water change.

PS

To the guy bellow they don't live in Corn fields.  It is Rice patties where the water is about one to 2 feet deep.  Yes they can live in a puddle until the rain comes but they do not live in this permanently.

Answer 3

oh wow....something is up.

I want to say that it's dying

but it doesnt take that long

ive watched my fish die before. It swims frantically and slows and then again until it floats to the surface

sad thing....

I really wish I could help you with this

and I truly hope you can do somehting for your fish

Answer 4

He is looking to mate, what he is doing is blowing a bubble nest for the babies. Beta's breath air not water that's the reason they are able to be kept in the small containers.

If you decide to get a female first put her next to him in a separate container when he starts with blowing the bubbles put her in with hi, you will see him put his body around hers (like a bear hug) he will be squeezing the eggs out of her as soon as that is done get the female out of the tank and watch Him he will be blowing the eggs on the surface of the water so the new hatching's can breath, he will do this for days until they can swim to the surface on their own. Feed them brine shrimp.

As they start to mature all males must be placed in individual containers as they will kill each other.

They are fascinating to watch!

As they  

Answer 5

well your betta might have a disease, go to this website and go to "betta health" and then to "betta diseases" on there and see if you can diagnose any disease

http://www.bettatalk.com

otherwise the only think i can think of is that the water is too cold or the water quality is not the greatest. change the water and try to get the water to atleast 70 degrees, but 75-80 degrees is best.

Answer 6

Actually, Bettas don't need a filtered aquarium.  They are the only fish that can thrive in a 1-2 gallon bowl their whole lives. In the wild, bettas actually live in puddles in cornfields and similar tiny bodies of water.  Even though they are very hardy and don't really need a filter, you MUST keep on top of your water changes.  I change about half the water once a week for my bettas.  Don't forget to use water conditioner to remove chlorine, chloramine, and ammonia that may be in your tap water EVERY time you do a water change.

If you don't see any kind of fungus or parasite on the outside of your betta, it's probably internal and may be from poor water quality.  Make sure you are doing your water changes at least once a week (while you're trying to fix it you can do one every few days) and you can go to your local aquarium store and get a general betta medication, such as "Betta Revive", which you can also add with every water change.

**Also, don't flick the poor guy's bowl!  He's probably stressed out enough as it is from being sick without the huge shock of sound and vibration that comes from even a small flick on the bowl!**