Betta Fish Staying At Top Of Tank: 6 Reasons They Float Up

Last Updated: July 12, 2022 by Flora Gibbins

While caring for a Betta, you’re bound to notice some quirks particular to these gorgeous fish. And when any change in your Betta’s normal behavior happens, you might start to worry.

For example… 

Your Betta may typically spend most of its time at the center of the water column and only occasionally swim to the upper and lower sections of the tank. But what does it mean when Betta fish start staying at the top of the tank?

In this article, you’ll learn about possible reasons why your Betta is staying at the top of the tank and what to do about them. Let’s dive in!

1. Lack of Oxygen

The water surface has more dissolved oxygen than the bottom. Therefore, your Betta fish may be swimming to the top of the tank to get some air because there isn’t enough oxygen in the water.

The average Betta fish has a labyrinth organ that sets it apart from most fish. This organ is akin to how humans use their lungs to breathe air, meaning they’re able to breathe gaseous oxygen from the surface in addition to dissolved oxygen in the water.

Fixing the Low Oxygen Issue

To provide more oxygen for your little fellow, you can install an air stone or a bubbler in the tank.

Air stones are small porous objects you connect to your tank’s air pump to create bubbles that help with water saturation. Installing one should be enough to fix the oxygen deficiency issue.

Additionally, an inadequate water temperature may be to blame in some cases. Warm water contains less dissolved oxygen than cool water, so it could also help to lower the water temperature to fix the oxygen levels.

However, since Betta is tropical fish and doesn’t do too well in cold water, ensure the water temperature isn’t too cold.

2. Abysmal Water Quality and Tank Conditions

Another reason your Betta is swimming to the top of the tank may be poor water quality or less-than-ideal tank conditions. Betta fish are extremely sensitive to their environment and may develop potentially fatal diseases like fin rot if put under stress for too long.

Therefore, you’ll want to provide a conducive environment for your Bettas to keep them happy. We highly recommend that your tank meet the following criteria if it doesn’t already:

Size

At a minimum, your Betta tank should have a three-gallon capacity. Betta fish need plenty of room to swim, so your Bettas may feel restricted in a smaller tank. These feelings of restriction may cause your fish to swim to the top of the tank. In some cases, it might be so desperate for enough space that it might jump out of the tank.

Flora and Rocks

Housing Betta fish in a bare tank without any rocks and plants to hide behind is a sure-fire way to bore or stress them out. This may cause the fish to swim frantically in its tank, often to the top.

Remember that aquariums are artificial homes for these fish, so you’ll want to mimic their natural habitat as closely as possible to keep Betta fish happy.

Water Parameters

Maintaining habitable water parameters for your Betta fish is essential because they’ll try to flee an inhospitable environment. Additionally, it’s often said that heat rises, so the top of the tank may be warmer than the bottom, making your Betta swim upward. Therefore, the water parameter you should give the highest priority is temperature. But, of course, you don’t want it any higher or lower, as neither is agreeable with a Betta.

Water temperature should be around 25.5 and 26.5 degrees Celcius.

Tank Filter

While some people believe a tank filter isn’t necessary, Betta fish love clean water. Therefore, a tank may go a long way to filtering out undesirable elements in the water. However, if the tank isn’t filtered, it could get too dirty for the fish to tolerate.

Other Environmental Factors

A tank full of debris like uneaten food and waste that features dead fish isn’t the best environment for Betta fish.

3. High Ammonia Levels

Ammonia occurs in a fish tank when food and fish waste get broken down biologically. High ammonia levels in a tank will drive Betta fish to the surface as they find it highly poisonous.

Symptoms of ammonia poisoning include:

• Lethargy
• Low appetite
• A change in the color of their gills
• A Betta constantly gasping for air
• Inflamed eyes

Fixing Issues With Ammonia

The first step toward fixing issues with ammonia in a Betta tank is to test the water. If the ammonia levels are above 0.25 ppm, your Betta could be in danger. Additionally, ensure to keep nitrate levels in the water below 0.5 ppm, while nitrate levels shouldn’t exceed 20 ppm.

Where the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in the tank water exceed the levels discussed above, your next step will be to change the water. We recommend a 50% water change to rid the tank of most, if not all, the ammonia.

However, a water change might not suffice in bringing down ammonia levels in your aquarium. In such an instance, you could use an ammonia neutralizer.

4. Crowded Tank 

If there are too many fish in your tank, then your Betta fish may stay closer to the top of the tank to protect itself from the other fish. This may happen when your fish shares a tank with aggressive fish that nip at the Betta’s fins.

Decluttering a Crowded Tank

As a rule of thumb, fish population levels in a tank should be one gallon per inch of each adult fish.

Separating your fish into different tanks is the most straightforward fix for this issue. However, you might not be able to afford a new tank. Where that’s the case, try the following:

Adding More Plants 

Plants in a tank give Betta and other fish more hiding places. Also, they provide the benefit of maintaining good water conditions.

Provide More Hiding Spots 

You can also add decorations to the tank-like driftwood and ornaments to give your Betta more places to hide. However, ensure whatever you include in the tank lack sharp edges to prevent the Betta’s fin from snagging on them.

Remove Bad Fish 

Some fish may target Bettas in a bullying campaign. If such a fish exists among your stock, you’ll have to remove it or else risk your Betta developing fin loss.

5. Swim Bladder Disease

 A swim bladder issue may be responsible for your Betta’s unusual upward swimming habit. Swim bladder disease makes it difficult for the fish to swim straight, making the Betta fish float at the top of its tank.

Curing Swim Bladder Illness

Overfeeding and constipation are leading causes of swim bladder issues.

Solving your Betta’s swim bladder problem involves not feeding your Betta for two or three days. After this time, you can provide your Betta fish with some food to see if it passes waste.

Alternatively, you can try giving your Betta fish an Epsom salt bath to fix its bladder issues. You can make the bath by following the steps below:

1. Mix one tablespoon of Epsom salt into a container filled with a gallon of conditioned tap water.
2. Add a half gallon of aquarium water into the container with the dissolved Epsom salt.
3. Replenish your aquarium with tap water.
4. Place your Betta in the bath for ten to fifteen minutes.
5. Monitor your fish for signs of passing waste.

If symptoms persist, seek professional help from experts at your local pet store.

6. Hunger

Your Betta may constantly be hovering at the top of the tank because it wants to be fed. In other words, it’s begging for food.

Bettas are intelligent, so they know they’re typically fed at the top of the tank.

Feeding Betta Right

Instead of feeding your Betta all at once, you could try feeding it a little at different times of the day. Food that Bettas commonly eat includes pellets and frozen food like brine shrimp. You can give them one or two pellets twice daily to stave off the fish’s frequent tummy rumblings. At the same time, you don’t want to overfeed your Betta.

Overfeeding may lead the poor fish to develop a swim bladder issue, as discussed above, so make sure to feed it in moderation.

Factoid: Gasping for air is never a good sign for your pet fish. They are stricken with a disease that only you can identify and if remedied immediately could save your aqua buddy! There is one affliction that troubles your pet fish (i.e. betta) and we have an article Betta Fish Vertical Death Hang: Top 4 Causes And Remedies you should read for better guidance.

Watch This!

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Conclusion

Bettas staying at the top of the tank is one of the surest warning signs of less-than-ideal tank conditions.

The cause could be anything from hunger to a crowded tank. However, you can quickly solve most issues by taking measures such as providing your Betta fish with enough room to swim around its tank, feeding it more regularly during the day, and so on.