Cures for bored bettas

This is so cool,
from ultimatebettas.com:

Begin article:

Introduction
One of the number one reason
bettas get placed with unsuitable
tank mates is a poor understanding
of their social needs as a species. A
new owner purchases a betta,
places it in a bowl, and notices it
either lethargic or pacing within
weeks; the automatic reaction is to
assume that the fish is "lonely" and
thus needs "friends." Bettas,
however, are a territorial,
aggressive, solitary species, and
with a few exceptions due to the
variability of disposition, are
unsuitable community fish. More
often than not, an attempt to
remedy a betta's behavior with tank
mates results in the betta or his
new companions being stressed,
wounded, or even killed.
If the fish aren't lonely, than what is
the matter? Under stimulation.
While captive bettas are fairly
domesticated as a species, the
focus has been more on appearance
than temperament, which causes
bettas to maintain most of their wild
instinct. What's more, bettas are an
intelligent species that require an
enriching environment to prevent
neurotic behaviors observed in
chronically "bored" animals.
Small changes in your day-to-day
routine can greatly improve your
fish's well-being, and make him a
more active, dynamic aquarium
fish. Below are some tips for
keeping your bettas enriched and
occupied without the risks of
keeping them with tank mates.

Environment
 The number one cause of death
in bettas is liver disease,
typically caused by a
combination of fatty foods and
insufficient physical activity.
While the accepted minimum
housing for a betta is one gallon
(or 2-3g by the inch per gallon
rule), a larger tank is a
wonderful way to give your betta
appropriate exercise if you have
the space and money. Larger
tanks can also have more
decorations, be safely heated,
 and require less frequent water
changes. A five to ten gallon
aquarium with a mild filter
makes a lovely centerpiece and a
great new home for your betta!
 Unless you have a tail biter,
many bettas find changes in
their internal tank environment
very exciting. You can do this in
different ways. The easiest and
most obvious is rearranging the
ornaments/plants in the tank
with each water change. You
could also keep a spare plant or
cave that you rotate in and out
of the tank so that there is
something new/different every
cleaning.
 Another option is making the
external environment more
enriching. This could be done in
 many ways. You could
periodically change the location
of your betta tanks. This is great
if you have multiple bettas being
housed close together; by
changing the order their tanks
are in, they will be able to see
and display to different bettas
every time they are moved.
 Alternately, if you can't move the
tank itself, you could place items
outside of the tank that would be
interesting; one thing my bettas
love is a variety of differently
colored and shaped plastic dogs.
I put a new one there every few
days, and they spend hours
investigating this new thing
outside of their tank. Shiny
objects are excellent for this
purpose.
  Toys can also interest bettas,
though not all are responsive.
The most popular is the ping
pong ball, or a smaller floating
non-painted ball of some sort.
The bettas can flare at it, chase
it, push it around with their nose,
etc. and seem to be very
interested by it. If your tanks are
bare-bottom, you could also put
a lightweight sinking ball (like a
marble) for your fish to push
around. There is plenty of room
for creativity here; as long as it
is nontoxic and your betta can
interact with it somehow, it can
be a toy.
Feeding
 I personally feed 5 different
types of pellet and 4 different
 types of frozen/live foods to my
bettas. I'm a big believer in
dietary variety for nutrition and
for entertainment. Foods that
have different shapes, textures,
sizes, hardness/softness/etc. can
be a cheap and fun way to
captivate your fish. Making your
betta look for these foods by
placing them all around the
tank's surface instead of clumped
in one spot under the feeding
door is a simple way to keep him
or her occupied.
 Because bettas are predatory in
nature, a wonderful form of
enrichment is live foods, which
can be cultivated with ease in
your own home or purchased at
your local fish store. If you really
want to stimulate a natural
 hunting behavior, feed some live
brine shrimp or mosquito larvae
so they can chase and kill.
Visual Stimulus
 Depending on your individual
betta, your fish may enjoy being
permitted to see another betta or
a mirror for short periods of time
daily. This will encourage
aggressive and territorial
behaviors natural to bettas, and
will normally inspire them to
patrol their tank, flare, bubble
nest, etc. Just be cautious not to
overdo this, as too much flaring
can be stressful and harmful.
 Seeing other fish and other
animals from the safety of their
own territory is a good way to at
least keep a betta interested in
 the environment. If you have a
big community tank, see if your
betta can be kept next to it
without too much stress; the
constantly changing movement
will allow them to be visually
stimulated without the stress of
another betta, or another fish in
the tank that they feel they must
actively patrol against.
 YOU. Bettas tend to enjoy
interacting with their owners,
and by simply spending some
time up at the tank, perhaps
having them follow your finger or
something of the like, can keep
them occupied for short spurts of
time.
Training
 Bettas are highly intelligent and
 can be trained to perform simple
tricks in a matter of weeks.
Activities like swimming through
hoops and tunnels, pushing a
small ball into a plastic net,
taking food from one's fingers,
etc. are all wonderful ways to
interact with bettas in a way that
is challenging and rewarding for
them. Here is a link to a site on
training fish.
Conclusion
A variety of simple, cost-effective,
and minimally time-consuming
changes to your daily betta keeping
routine can result in an
environment that is stimulating and
interactive. By simply rearranging
decorations, feeding different foods,
or taking time for a flaring session,
you can prevent behaviors such as
pacing or lethargy. In fact, some
tail-biters, depending on their
triggers, can even be stopped by
creating an enriching environment!
So please, consider doing for fish
what you would do for any other
captive animal - keep him
entertained safely by providing daily
behavioral enrichment!

Rules for Distribution:

I welcome you to share this
information and any other articles I
have written with other forums and
websites under the following
conditions:
1. Do not claim this work as your
own.
2. Provide credit to RandomWiktor
somewhere in the posting.
2. Provide a link back to
UltimateBettas.com
__________________
12 Gallon Eclipse:
7 Harlequin Rasboras
4 Ghost Shrimp

5 Gallon Hex:
Crowntail Betta
#2
,

Bernie Join Date: Aug 2006

Super Moderator Posts: 1,756
 Re: Cures for bored bettas

That is a great article, very

informative....Thanks fishead

I found the bit about placing things

outside the tank very interesting...I
think some bettas see bright
coloured objects as being a rival
male and will often investigate. I
often wonder what fish can actually
see through the glass.

When I had a betta, I did put a

marble in his tank (like the article
mentioned) and he actually did
push it around, I didn't have gravel
in his tank so it was pretty easy for
him to push. It was very funny to
watch actually.

BTW, I have made this thread a

sticky, so it won't get lost.
#3
,

fishead Join Date: Sep 2007

Senior Member Posts: 197

Re: Cures for bored bettas

I love the ping pong ball idea too,

and actually never thought of
rearranging the tank as a good
thing. I wonder if that would apply
to other fish as well?

Beta (named by by wife) is clearly

very inquisitive. I still have several
pond snails in the tank (I'm picking
them out as they become available
at the top) and the other day I put
a few pellets in for Beta, and one
was against the glass. There were
three snails, and then the pellet,
each about a half inch or so apart.
He went to each snail, inspected it,
and moved on as if deciding
whether or not it was food. When
he got to the pellet it was like "a
ha, here's the food!" and chomp it
went.
__________________
12 Gallon Eclipse:
7 Harlequin Rasboras
4 Ghost Shrimp

5 Gallon Hex:
Crowntail Betta
#4
,
Join Date: Feb 2008
StormySkiez
Location: TN
Senior Member Posts: 598
Re: Cures for bored bettas

Very good article indeed.

I set up my 2.5 qt tank right next
to the 20g. My betta patrols both
sides of the tank. On the left side
he blows bubbles on the right it
seems as though he watches the
fish in the 20g tank. He will charge
to the right side sometimes flaring,
so I'm guessing he can see the fish
in the 20g. He is sooo cute!
__________________

55g - 2 green spotted puffers in

brackish conditions
20g- 6 leopard danio,2 glofish
danios,4 whiteskirt tetras,shrimp &
neritas
10g- ramshorn & pond snails,3
neon tetras, cherry shrimp
10g- QT tank-empty
2.5- QT tank-
nerita,amano,anacharis
TTF Album
TPF Gallery
#5
,
Join Date: Dec 2007
sandygirl
Location: Orillia Ont, Canada
Senior Member Posts: 258
Re: Cures for bored bettas

What a great articel about Beta. My

Beta is in a over crowded tank and
it seems that his cave has been
taken over by the other fish in the
community tank. I always feed him
seperatly from the other fish and he
knows where his feeding station is.
The last couple of days he has been
very droopy and staying at the top
of the tank. I just held a mirror up
to him for a couple of minutes and
he pirked up. He is just about a
year old and my LFS said that they
only live for a year. Is this right? I
also have a 1 gal tank that I could
put him in if it would make him
happier to be on his own. I just
want to do right by him.
________
Toyota Corolla E110
Last edited by sandygirl : at .
#6
,
Join Date: Oct 2008
Gymno
Location: Dora, Alabama
Member Posts: 11
Re: Cures for bored bettas

Sandy, i think your LFS might be

wrong about them only living one
year. i found this site that says they
live 2-3 years.
http://freshaquarium.about.co
m/cs/anabantids2/p/betta.htm

Steve
#7
,
Join Date: Oct 2007
Dano
Location: Goose Creek SC
Senior USA
Member Posts: 1,892
Re: Cures for bored bettas

I also have heard that they can live

as long a several years. The biggest
misconception about Bettas is that
they will live in small unheated
bowls and such. Bettas are tropical
fish and require temperatures of 75
to 80*F constantly along with the
type care you give all tropical fish.
Most difficulties and shortened life
spans of Bettas are because they
are cruelly exposed to
cold.........................
__________________
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#8
,
Join Date: Mar 2008
Pwat
Location: Maryland
Senior Member Posts: 328
Re: Cures for bored bettas

My betta is a female so she doesn't

flare as much as a normal male
betta would. However she is always
preoccupied by her tank mates in
the 10 gallon. She makes sure that
the cory's clean up her garbage! I
really like the ping-pong ball idea
and would take it up if i found a
ball. A very good article.

And since my 10 gallon is near my

computer when i put on some
relaxing music i think that also
makes her intrested outside of her
tank. She's always very happy
when i sit by her near the tank,
intrested at what i'm exactly
doing.
__________________
10 gallon: Female Cambodian Betta, 2 cories

20 gallon: planning to put some

livebearers
Outside Pond: empty for the
winter
"Speak your mind, even if your
voice shakes."
-Maggie Kuhn
#9
,

sandygirl Join Date: Dec 2007

Senior Member Location: Orillia Ont, Canada
Posts: 258
Re: Cures for bored bettas

I have been paying more attention

to him in the last day and he seems
to be a lot happier. I hold up a
mirror and he flares. I thought that
that practice was mean so I didn't
do it in the past. I guess we all love
a challenge and the right to fight
for our place in the community.
Thanks everyone. Hopefully Pretty
Boy will stay in the community for a
couple of more years.
________
jugalettes
Last edited by sandygirl : at .
#10
,

Bernie Join Date: Aug 2006

Super Moderator Posts: 1,756
 Re: Cures for bored bettas

In a way it is mean if it is done too

often that is. Flaring means that he
is angry and because they are
solitary and territorial fish, when he
sees his reflection or anything else
that may resemble a male betta, he
perceives it as a threat and this
causes him to become momentarily
stressed.