Betta spooked easily

[thatfishlover122]

Hey everyone, i've got quite a number of fish related problems happening right now so you may see a few of my threads!

So i've had a male betta since January 2020, who has a 10 gal fully planted tank and a few snails! However, in the past month i've noticed him getting spooked easily. If you move too quickly around his tank, or accidently tap the glass, he does 'flashing' where he swims very very fast into the glass or plants etc and wont calm down for a few minutes Around a week ago i noticed a rip in his tail and i'm lead to believe that he is extremely stressed and bit his tail. So,, i coveredhis tank up so he can't see any surroundings and i left him for a week (obviously i fed and monitored him) and today i took off the covers. So i'm just wondering if there's anything i can do to stop him getting so easily spooked? He seems ok but he's very wary of people near him.

 

[jkkgron2]

Try to walk slowly at first so that you don’t make him dash into a hiding spot. Then try to feed him a small amount of food 2x a day to get him to associate you with food. Adding more decor may also make him feel more secure. Dimming the lights will also help, I’ve heard of bettas being scared by high amounts of lighting.

 

[FoldedCheese]

Being slow is key. Does he have a spot in the tank he's made his "home/safe place"? Having a safe spot he can always go to helps. For my betta it's his floating log. Also letting him "inspect" or check things out like your hand or an object (if he shows interest and isn't hiding from it) can help. Keeping objects and appendages outside of the tank of course, I just hold it up to the front of the glass. Just be sure not to make sudden movements and remove the object/hand from view slowly.

 

[thatfishlover122]

Being slow is key. Does he have a spot in the tank he's made his "home/safe place"? Having a safe spot he can always go to helps. For my betta it's his floating log. Also letting him "inspect" or check things out like your hand or an object (if he shows interest and isn't hiding from it) can help. Keeping objects and appendages outside of the tank of course, I just hold it up to the front of the glass. Just be sure not to make sudden movements and remove the object/hand from view slowly.

thank you! And yes, he has two floating tunnels because he loves them so much haha. He doesn't like people standing too close, and anything moving towards his tank at all. It's hard because my family loves him and don't understand that i need them to stay away because they think he's perfectly normal ugh haha

 

[FoldedCheese]

thank you! And yes, he has two floating tunnels because he loves them so much haha. He doesn't like people standing too close, and anything moving towards his tank at all. It's hard because my family loves him and don't understand that i need them to stay away because they think he's perfectly normal ugh haha

That's super frustrating. Have you tried telling them that if they leave him alone they will get to see more? Hang in there.

 

[thatfishlover122]

Is his tank in a high traffic area? The vibrations of people walking etc could be stressing him out.

It's in my bedroom so not necassarily, but my family do make frequent trips to 'visit' him, especiallynow that nothing is covering his tank up