Betta refuse to flare

[BettasRFriends]

Have anyone have the problem of their betta NOT flaring? Mayo, my male betta, would not flare anymore even if he is looking at the mirror. He used to flare all the time when he sees the mirror. He's a happy betta in a 5 gallon tank, heated (78f), and with a small bubble nest (current destroys some of it so it remains small). I recently moved him in there. The first day he would flare but afterwards he would just ignore the mirror.

 

[yeeviabetta]

Mirror mirror on the wall, who can flare the best in the world. You! LOL He talk to the mirrors all the time so he know the answers. LOL Why not get another male betta and tease him again? Sure he will flare back because he got competitor.

 

[BettaMomma]

They go thru phases.
And, it depends upon what he's interested in at the moment.

Bettas are very moody diva'ish things.
If they decide they don't wanna look at you, or that blasted mirror again, they're not going to. IF they had hands as opposed to fins, they'd be giving you the "talk to and look at the hand, cuz the face don't wanna hear it, bub".

Some days Amos will flare, some days not.
Some days he'll flare only at me, some days only a mirror. Some days neither, some both.
Ditto with Harvey. Archie's too new to his home and still very jumpy so he flares at EVERYthing.

Do you have hidey places for him? Plants, cubbies, or what do you have? That might help.

 

[Raechal]

My betta rarely flares. He only has ghost shrimp in his tank now. There were some cories in there and he didn't flare at any of them except the larger one which was as big as the betta. I guess he felt threatened. Now he doesn't flare at anyone anymore. He is just a sweet little boy...although I can't explain why a ghost shrimp was dead and missing his head the other day. Maybe my betta isn't so sweet afterall.

 

[BettaMomma]

LOL

Maybe the ghost shrimp kept saying "OOoooOoOOOOoooooh" "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooOOOooh" trying to scare mr. betta and he got ticked off.

?

 

[RandomWiktor]

Nah, my betta Pulpul doesn't even flare to the male right next door. He is very passive, mellow, and friendly. He builds huge bubblenests, has great tank conditions, etc. but he'd sooner swim away and hide from another male, a mirror, or a teasing finger. Just depends on the fish, methinks.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

myabe hes bored?

 

[RandomWiktor]

Seeing as most of them only flare when they're agressive, upset, or really worked up about something, I guess its not a bad thing if they don't.

 

[reddeerhobbiest]

one out of my 3 bettas never has flared. hes in a heated 10 gallon all by himself, and has the biggest bubble nest of them all. and my other two will flare at me even when i feed them. some are just more aggresive than others.

 

[Yenko]

My betta rarely flares anymore; he has not been able to maintain a bubblenest since I began filtering his tank. The tank did need some circulation, and a small air filter was not an option because I am trying to grow plants.

 

[BettasRFriends]

He has lots of hidey-holes from pvc pipes. He loves the current (its like a slide for him, up and down up and down). He would build bubble nest but the current destroys it so . He seems very happy in the 5 gallon so maybe it's just a change of mood.

 

[BettaMomma]

Are you sure he loves the current? Just cuz he's going up and down in it doesn't mean he's really got a choice in the matter, and he's probably not doing it on purpose... Generally bettas don't do well at all with much current.

I have a teeny airstone with a very slow bubble trickle going and Archie gets really mad and swims away frantically if he accidentally gets hit with a bubble that goes up...

 

[BettasRFriends]

He actually does love the current. I mean only like 1/5 of the tank has the current and he always go there. When i turn it off he swims away to another place.