My Betta Scared The Hell Out Of Me!

[branjie]

I thought I'd check in with Ernie this morning, as I tend to look in on him every hour or two. He turned around and flared at me, but not just with his fins, he had puffed out the skin behind his head gills, and it looked like his head was exploding! I was so freaked out, it absolutely scared the hell out of me! Has anyone else seen their betta do this? It's truely scary.
I guess that's the whole idea. Anyway, He seems to spend a lot of time flaring at his reflection at each end of the tank (that might be what he was doing before he saw me). Does that means he's not happy . He's got a mega bubble nest that he's maintaining, so I thought he was happy, but I'm wondering if all this flaring is stessing him out. And me!

 

[zakkp8]

Flaring is normal it means he is trying to protect his territory. My aunts flaired at me all the time and it was a happy, but mean fish, that lived for 6 years.

 

[Leahzebelle]

If i were you id try to reduce the reflection a bit on his tank. Flarings is normal, as zakkp8 said. I could be wrong, but him maintaning that bubble nest, does it have something to do with him seeing his reflection in the glass and thinking another male is around?? Correct me if im wrong betta experts!

 

[branjie]

I think you may have a point there leah. If I move him from his current spot, he may feel less on edge. He is next to my kitchen sink which is probably causing a great deal of reflection.

I just checked on him, and he did it to me again. There's no way I want to put up with him doing that to me for 6 YEARS!

I'll move him and see what happens. Hm, where to put a fish.......

 

[bubblesburst80]

sounds like he wants to keep you on your toes!
sure he'll be happy when you find him a new spot

xXx

 

[branjie]

I've moved Ernie to the top of the Entertainment (TV) unit. He seems to be flaring a lot less, and more relaxed so that's good. He hasn't flared at me the last couple of times I checked on him, so that's a relief. I was considering taking him to the LFS and asking if I could swap him for a while there.

 

[Straydum]

on top of your TV?! okay i wouldnt go for that. seriously.

 

[tidytourniquet]

Having him on your TV may stress him out if it's too load, it will cause his tank to vibrate, so just make sure you check on that every once in a while.

I don't get why you would want to get rid of him though. All bettas will flare, that is just something that they do so getting rid of one to just get another seems kind of pointless to me.

 

[Suicidal_AZN]

you wont really have him for 6 years......
bettas life span is 2-3years max!!!!
hope u have the best of times with him.
maybe u should get him a girlfriend

 

[tidytourniquet]

2-3 years may be the average life span but it isn't the max. I have heard a lot of bettas living 5+ years, so 6 isn't that far off.

 

[branjie]

Ernie is well above where the TV is positioned, and we don't have it up loud. It's the best spot I can manage right now. Still, that fish is a nasty piece of work. Now he's flaring, puffy gills and all every time I come near him. I wouldn't get him a girlfriend though. I have read that they can beat each other up, and I don't want that going on at my place. I think now that he has his own tank, he's very territorial. He was friendly to me when he was in the community tank, but now he just sees me as a threat or something.

 

[tidytourniquet]

He could just be scared right now. You say that he was in a community tank and now he is by himself, how would you feel if you were around other people and then all of a sudden you were all by yourself? He could think that something happened to them and is now scared that something may happen to him next so he has to be tough until he feels safe again.

 

[zakkp8]

you wont really have him for 6 years......
bettas life span is 2-3years max!!!!
hope u have the best of times with him.
maybe u should get him a girlfriend

The maximum I've heard of is a betta living 10 years in near perfect conditions.

 

[branjie]

Good theory, but the longer he's in there, the more flaring he's doing. He can see is reflection, and he's flaring at that most of the time. He's trying to show this "other" Betta that he's top stuff. I'm wondering if I can do something to his tank, or the surrounds to cut out the reflection a bit. He built a lovely bubble nest last night, so I think that's a sign he's o.k. Don't they only do that when they're happy? He may be happier at night when the reflection is gone, as the two times he's built a bubble nest, it's been overnight.