i dont want my bettas to be bored... not the most excitin life eating and swimming all day... anything i can stick in for them to play with? sometimes they look kinda bored and im tryin to think of ways to excite them or somethin 
toys?
- Thread starter iloveyou
- Start date
smpthy4thedevil
New Member
hmm... i have the same problem with one of my boys. i gave him an african dwarf frog, and he seems to enjoy watching him, sometimes he follows the frog around the tank. if you've got a 2 gal or more tank, you could try getting an ADF, or a ghost shrimp, or if it's 5 gal or upwards, a couple of cories or platies something. another of mine is in a 5 gal with a few platies, and he keeps himself entertained with them just fine.
if your tank is too small to put other animals in it, give him a "cave" to guard, or something like that. one of mine's got a little terracotta flower pot he likes to hide in sometimes.
i've got my tanks next to each other, and every day i take out the peice of newspaper between them for a while and let them flare at each other. you could try a mirror as well, but for some reason mine werent too keen on the mirror -- they always ran away from it -- but they do enjoy seeing the other males.
or, try rearranging their decorations. it'll make em feel like they've got a whole new tank to explore.
i also seem to recall someone saying that they cut the bottom off of a camera's film tube and let it float in the tank -- their betta liked to swim through the tunnel.
if i think of anything else i'll let you know.
if your tank is too small to put other animals in it, give him a "cave" to guard, or something like that. one of mine's got a little terracotta flower pot he likes to hide in sometimes.
i've got my tanks next to each other, and every day i take out the peice of newspaper between them for a while and let them flare at each other. you could try a mirror as well, but for some reason mine werent too keen on the mirror -- they always ran away from it -- but they do enjoy seeing the other males.
or, try rearranging their decorations. it'll make em feel like they've got a whole new tank to explore.
i also seem to recall someone saying that they cut the bottom off of a camera's film tube and let it float in the tank -- their betta liked to swim through the tunnel.
if i think of anything else i'll let you know.
i tried ghost shrimp with my females... but they all went missing overnight.. im guessing they got eaten... im thinking of something floating that they can push around the tank maybe... something underwater that is attatched to something floating at the top that they can push around
hope it makes sense
hope it makes sense
smpthy4thedevil
New Member
oh! i've got an idea...iloveyou said:i tried ghost shrimp with my females... but they all went missing overnight.. im guessing they got eaten... im thinking of something floating that they can push around the tank maybe... something underwater that is attatched to something floating at the top that they can push around
hope it makes sense
i'm fairly sure someone on the board mentioned it.
if you've ever been fishing, you'll know what i'm talking about -- it's those little floating balls that you attach to the fishing line. when something bites the line, the little ball bobs up and down. well, you could try putting a small one of those in the top of your tank. if i'm remembering correctly, whoever posted that suggestion in the first place said that their betta seemed to enjoy pushing it around the surface of the water.
i dont know where any bait and tackle stores are... but i would imagine that a chunk of cork, like from a wine bottle or something -- cleaned of course -- would be about the same.
if you want something actually *in* the water, you could attach one of those floating balls/peices of cork to a piece of string with something or other tied to it. i'm not sure exactly what, but i dont think it would matter as long as it was heavier than the water, and didnt have sharp edges. maybe a big bead or something.
actually, i think i'll have to try that as well.
hope i helped.
annieka
Fish Fanatic
I don't think that fish play or have any need for toy's in their tank.
Enough room, plants and things (wood, stone ect) to hide/explore is more important. If you're tank answerds to their needs they'll be happy.
Enough room, plants and things (wood, stone ect) to hide/explore is more important. If you're tank answerds to their needs they'll be happy.
endparenthesis
Fish Herder
I really wish I could have ghost shrimp with my bettas. I'd love to put a bunch of them in my tank, but the last time I tried they were torn limb from limb. 
They were far too big to eat but they didn't let that stop them. Apparently their eyeballs taste good.
They were far too big to eat but they didn't let that stop them. Apparently their eyeballs taste good.
shrks1fan
Fish Herder
This morning I put a Ramshorn snail in one of my betta tanks (my plan is to rotate it through the tanks to clean up the bare bottom and sides of the tank), and she's been watching it and picking at it occassionally, Lol. I'm not to worried about her hurting/killing it, if she does I've got plenty more where it came from, Lol.
Linda
Linda
my bettas do play in the bubbles... my guppies do too...
im gonna have to check my fishin box to see if i have one of them.... ill find something i hope.. its for my females.. but i decided to put a male in a container in their tank... so hopefully theyll start to fill with eggs... and at least they all have something to do... watch the male.. lol.. the male flares like crazy too cuz theres like 8 females in the tank lol
im gonna have to check my fishin box to see if i have one of them.... ill find something i hope.. its for my females.. but i decided to put a male in a container in their tank... so hopefully theyll start to fill with eggs... and at least they all have something to do... watch the male.. lol.. the male flares like crazy too cuz theres like 8 females in the tank lol
modernhamlet
Just this guy...
I think the best thing you can do for a betta is plant his tank. Now that I've planted the 2.5g, I couldn't imagine having a betta without live plants. He just thrives among them.
What I did was to take a bobber (like what was mentioned above) tie a piece of fishing line to it (the ultra thin kind, I used flyfishing trout leader of like x6 or .050 dimensions, its only really noticible in photos, to the naked eye you cant even see it ), then I had a small clay pot that I got some flower in (really small, the opening is like 2 inches wide, and drilled a very small hole in it, then I tied attached one end of the fishing line to the bobber and the other end to the claypot, and adjusted the lines length so that the bobber stayed underwater (the claypot is heavy enough with the small bobber to prevent the bobber from pulling the claypot up), and my newly aquired beta doesnt try to bump it around, but rather curiously checks it out to see what it is I suppose.
Just gives another man made distraction to the fish to check out. As well as it goes with my sick sence of humour of the whole "fishing" and fish tanks.
Kind of like when I feed my puffers in there tank, I put a piece of shrimp or scallop on an extra large fish hook (but the barb is cut off and the end is dulled so as not to hurt the fish), and then hung inside the tank with a bobber at the top to keep it floating. I find it rather funny to see the bobber bob up and down as the puffs attack the food, although some of my friends think it's pretty sick (I dunno why, I mean afterall, I am just feeding my fish and not hurting them in anyway).
Just gives another man made distraction to the fish to check out. As well as it goes with my sick sence of humour of the whole "fishing" and fish tanks.
Kind of like when I feed my puffers in there tank, I put a piece of shrimp or scallop on an extra large fish hook (but the barb is cut off and the end is dulled so as not to hurt the fish), and then hung inside the tank with a bobber at the top to keep it floating. I find it rather funny to see the bobber bob up and down as the puffs attack the food, although some of my friends think it's pretty sick (I dunno why, I mean afterall, I am just feeding my fish and not hurting them in anyway).
oh i get it.. yea thats a good idea..
and about the plants... the 10 gallon tank my 10 bettas are in has 1 live plant (cambomba or something) and a bunch of moss... along with a fake plant and some rocks.... i think i will try the bobba thingay some day
i just put the males close to each other so they can flare at each other when theyre bored.... i also go up to their tanks a bunch of times in the day and they always come up to the glass to look back
and about the plants... the 10 gallon tank my 10 bettas are in has 1 live plant (cambomba or something) and a bunch of moss... along with a fake plant and some rocks.... i think i will try the bobba thingay some day
i just put the males close to each other so they can flare at each other when theyre bored.... i also go up to their tanks a bunch of times in the day and they always come up to the glass to look back
Heres a quick pick of what Im talking about in case anyone else is wondering.
I also briefly experimented with the differnt colored bobbers, it seemed through my brief testing that the flourescent green and pink bobbers get more interest than the standard red/white bobbers, but I think that more extensive time with the different colored bobbers would be in order to see if it really makes a difference.
I also briefly experimented with the differnt colored bobbers, it seemed through my brief testing that the flourescent green and pink bobbers get more interest than the standard red/white bobbers, but I think that more extensive time with the different colored bobbers would be in order to see if it really makes a difference.
bahaha ur like a scientist...im jus gonna get whichever one i can find ... probably the smaller the better too... i got some small guys that arent too strong i dont think....... another idea is to leave it above the water.. like hang it from the light... and let them jump out of the water and hit it... my bettas jump like crazy.. their tank doesnt have a lid so their water level is like 6 inches from the top so they dont jump out.. its a 10 gallon tank
I read one forum where a person put together a loop of clear tubing, part of it is outside of the tank, it goes about 3 or more inches above the top of the tank, and the water pressure keeps water in it. He has it in a dwarf puffer tank, and his fish will occasionally swim "the loop", I saw one photo of one of his fish swiming the loop and thought, thats really really cool, but I wouldnt want that bulk in my tank.
Seems that fish are very inquisitive creatures (my puffs are ) and will explore a lot of man made items.
Im thinking doing some kind of hoops for them to swim through just to keep them occupied. But as someone just pointed out by planting their 2.5gallon tank, if you plant with liveplants the fish will probably be just as interested in swimming through those as they would a man made object. But the kick is, that with a man made object you can get a different form of satisfaction from seeing your fish interact with it.
Seems that fish are very inquisitive creatures (my puffs are ) and will explore a lot of man made items.
Im thinking doing some kind of hoops for them to swim through just to keep them occupied. But as someone just pointed out by planting their 2.5gallon tank, if you plant with liveplants the fish will probably be just as interested in swimming through those as they would a man made object. But the kick is, that with a man made object you can get a different form of satisfaction from seeing your fish interact with it.
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