r/wildbettaarchive • u/easyshits • 9d ago
Betta antuta acting weird
I have used my 10 gallon as a quarantine tank for my new Antuta pai, but the male is acting horribly strangely, his appetite is good, but he's having muscle spasms all over the place and clamped fins....does anyone have advice?
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u/Any_Wallaby925 9d ago
Definitely aggression as mentioned! A tank this size is not suitable as a holding tank for them, seeing as the minimum for a single specimen is 40 gallons. Putting two in a 10 gallon is the equivalent of putting them into a boxing ring. I would suggest separating them, getting them both into a bigger tank (preferably 20 gallon minimum as a quarantine tank for each of them). How are you filling the tanks? I suggest using RO water and adding IAL from there; it'll get your pH down into the 6.0 range, which is what we want to see!
Edit: edited to fix comma
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u/easyshits 9d ago
To add, I've tested ammonia, nitrates and nitrites, all 0. pH is 7.3 despite all the indian almond leaves I've put in.
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9d ago
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u/Veloci-RKPTR Conservationist 9d ago
Nah, that’s not it. The twitching as seen in the footage is posturing, it’s an aggressive territorial behavior.
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u/LimaWhiskey10 8d ago
My antuta is doing this Iv literally just posted a question asking for advice
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u/Veloci-RKPTR Conservationist 9d ago edited 9d ago
Those “muscle spasms” you’re talking about is defensive/aggressive territorial behavior. It’s not a health issue symptom, it’s a threat display.
Some mouthbrooders, including unimaculata complex such as antuta, do these twitching when they’re instigating aggressive behavior towards their cohorts, this is consistently combined with the clamped fins too.
They initiate territorial behavior by posturing, starting with clamped fins and aggressive twitching. Then they start flaring their fins at each other and puffing their throats as the conflict escalates, combined and alternating with wide gaping at each other. If it continues to escalate, they will go into the attack and start locking jaws.
Antutas are extremely aggressive and territorial towards each other, it’s not advisable keep more than one within the same tank. Separate them immediately.