Some questions

[Dart]

So i just happened to come across some really cheap 1 gal goldfish bowls/vases so i decided that all of my bettas would be much happier in them, as they used to be in 1/2 gallon kritter keepers, it's all i could find/afford to have.

I put gravel on the bottom and each bowl has a little plant that they can go under or rest on. And i've seen quite a few little bubblenest from all four guys.

My problem is with my rosetail, although he looks quite perky it seems like he's been chewing on his tail. i know it's not fin rot because it's just his tail and it looks like little bite marks not ragged like fin rot looks. anyone know what i can do?

 

[Durbkat]

Do you put a mirror in the back of the tank so the betta flares? If you do how long a day? Or do you let the bettas see each other for long periods of time? And a betta usually bites his/her tail when their unhappy about something. One of my bettas bit his tail and I found out he was being stressed out because he saw his self in the mirror. How much do you feed your bettas?

 

[Dart]

well he lives next to "shiney" my red betta who he's been beside all of his life (that i've had him). So i don't see why all of a sudden he would find it stressful.

I feed them 2 times a day with 3 pellets each, i feed them biogold. He actually doesn't usually flare at mirrors and i don't have any near his tank.

 

[BettaEddie]

my boy has been periodically biting his own tail since I got him 7 months ago. i looked all over the web for answers why he would do this and the best explaination i found was: he is bored. I got him when he was young, about three or four months old, and he was always full of energy. I couldnt keep track of him in his tank sometimes, he would swim/race around soo fast. I think he had too much energy and not enough to do with it. i started adding new "toys" to his tank, new plants, rocks, etc to interest him. It helped a little. now he's older so he's slowed down a bit and rarely nips his tail, its finally growing long and even!

 

[Synirr]

They usually tail bite from lack of stimulus or overstimulus... the trick is figuring out which it is
Being able to constantly see another male can certainly be stressful, so you might try moving them further apart and see if that helps. My little tailbiter Yura bites when he gets bored, so I moved him right beside my computer so he can see me all day. Now he usually only bites if I'm gone for the weekend, haha.

 

[Dart]

Well, he sits on my desk beside my computer and i put a peice of paper between him and shiney so hopefully that will help.

I also just discovered what my cat does at night, she drinks the water out of his bowl. She never looks at Noble or tries to get him just drinks the water, any bets that that is the cause

What should i put on top of the bowl?

 

[Durbkat]

You can close the door in the room where your fish are so the cat can't get in. Or you can get a fish net and cut the net out of it, you know the green part that the fish are in once you catch them. Then fit it on top of the tank and they fish can breath through it but the cat can't get his tongue it in. And that may have caused it because whatever the cat ate could have gotten in the water.

 

[Synirr]

Since I'm no longer using my "gourmet cat fountains" AKA brine shrimp hatcheries, my cat has resumed drinking from my tanks... There have been no complaints thus far . For as long as I've had bettas I've had cats drinking from their bowls with no ill side effects.

 

[SRC]

Maybe it's because the view of his neighbor is now distorted. Looking in through the sides of a bowl makes things look bigger..and to a fish that could = scarier as well.

As long as the bowl opening isn't too big...I've seen several members post that they used a cd to cover the bowl opening.