mmmxpoptarts

My betta nearly gave me a heart attack this evening when I came in to not find him in his tank. Needless to say, like my cat, he has discovered a way to do a disappearing act by hiding behind the filter where it's dark and you can't see even with the light on.

I'm very angry at Ozzy right now. I thought my cat got him somehow (even though there's a hood covering the tank completely).

callichma

Ha Ha! They do like to get in small spaces, don't they?

fishtroy

What a little brat! Good luck when it comes time to fully clean the tank and you have to catch him in the net. He has found a hiding place now.
Clever little thing.

aquarist48

Hello MMM. I'm glad your fish is ok. They truly can give us a scare at times. Hopefully you won't have to net the fish to clean the tank but clean around the fish instead if possible. It will be a lot less stressful.
Keep us posted. Have you taken any photos?
Ken

mmmxpoptarts

UPDATE: Well, I found out where Ozzy (my betta) has been hiding these multiple times he's gone missing...inside the heater, if you can believe that! I have a RENA Smart Heater in his tank and it for some reason has a hole that gones down the middle of it. Ozzy found his was to shimmy down that little hole and get stuck inside there. I don't know if he's trying to tell me that 80*F is too cold or what, but I do know that his main motive was my snooping 6-month-old kitten who likes to gaze at him with her face pressed up against the tank walls. I'm planning on buying a new heater tomorrow that doesn't have a hole for him to get stuck in...

This will only be temporary though since my 20 gallon is moving along nicely. Hoping to have 0 nitrite this weekend. Then I can finally start adding fish and Ozzy won't have a cat face "up in his grill" all the time because the stand leaves no room for observers to sit on.

penance

instead of spending $ on a heater, cause we all know they aren't cheap, could you just wrap a sponge around the heater's hole?

mmmxpoptarts

I actually just moved the heater up a little bit more so the area with the opening isn't in the water. So unless he decides to jump in I'm pretty sure this will suffice until he gets to move.

peacemaker92

IMO, I wouldn't suggest risking putting the heater in that position where he 'could' jump in. If he jumps in, it could be dangerous. Penance's idea sounds good Keep us posted.

aquarist48

Good morning. I don't know that I would wrap anything around a heater. I'm not familiar with the type being discussed but I would think twice before doing so. If it were one of the Stealth (long tube type) heaters I would say "not" to wrap it for any reason.
Ken

mmmxpoptarts

I just discovered that this brand of heater is supposed to go with the brand's filter as well. Since I have a Tetra Whisper it's obviously not the same brand; anyway, it's supposedly supposed to go over the intake tube...the TW doesn't have an intake tube. I wish they would have had that stuff listed on the box back when I bought it. I don't remember it saying anything anyway. Boy do I feel stupid. So basically, my betta was hiding where a tube should have been and it's my fault he found that place to begin with.

Moving day is coming fast, soon he'll be in a nicer tank soon anyway. I still feel like an idiot.

Red1313

lol
<hugs>

aquarist48

Hello MMM...don't feel too badly we all make mistakes and hopefully we learn from them.
Have a great weekend.
Ken