kra-z-fishmumm

Abe L. is always hiding behind the filter. He comes out for food (of course!! he is a betta), but isn't into playing like the others are. He does not like my hand or fingers in his tank (unless there is food, of course lol). What am I doing wrong with ole Abe?

Barbrella

How strong is the flow from your filter? Some bettas really hate water movement.

Try turning it off for a few minutes and see if he comes out.

aprilrain85

Geppetto doesn't like to "play" either. He hates my fingers in the tank, and does not play "follow the finger" when I place one near the outside of the tank, instead he plays "lets run and hide". However, if I stay about a foot back from the glass, and talk to him he will come over and visit, show off his fins and do some Betta dances. If Abe L. is a timid and shy betta like Geppetto he may just need some more "personal space" around his tank.

kra-z-fishmumm

I turned the flow down, and took the top off to talk to him. He did give me some bubbles, I take that as a happy sign, but when I put my finger to the tank, he got skiddish....he is a silly ole guy. I will keep working with the lowered flow and long distance relationship (sorry ) lol. He sure likes his food! But not blood worms.

PrettyPink08

My bubblez doesnt like to play follow the finger or finger in his tank either, he likes to be tweezer fed!

If i lay on the end of my bed, about 1ft from the tank, and lay there he will come to the side of the tank and just look at me and blow bubbles and show off, he's getting these pretty black sprinkles on his fins, part of his coloring that look so pretty when he fans his fins out!

COBettaCouple

They have such a range of personalities and he sounds fine, just a little more timid. We've had 2 like that and over time, they learned to trust us by us talking to them and interacting with them at their comfort level. Now we can talk to them up close and one even likes to aggressively nip my finger.

chickadee

Sorry but I do not think we should suggest turning off a filter for even a few minutes. It only takes 30 minutes for the cycle to begin to die off. I do think though that you can make a baffle for the filter if the flow is too strong. The pictures of how to do it are HERE: http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/be...endations.html. There are a few different ones discussed and pictured here and they are not hard to make or maintain. They give the bettas a chance to build up their swimming muscles without having to fight current they are not acclimated to as yet.

Rose

Barbrella

I suggested turning off the filter for a few minutes (not 30) to see if the betta would act normally, and then it would be easy to see if the problem is the filter or not.

Turning it off for 5 minutes will do no harm in any way.