Betta That Won't Flare?

To start off, I'm SURE this betta is male. He's a lovely blue and red double tail betta. However he won't flare... for ANYTHING. I know that occasional flaring for a few minutes is healthy for a Betta so i've been trying to make him flare. I've tried using a mirror multiple times. He swims up to it and looks at himself in the mirror then swims away. He did this not once, not twice, but three times!!! He just casually swims in the other direction! I've also tried showing him another male (my dumbo ear plakat) and he did the same thing to him as he did to the mirror. He swam up to the other males container it was floating in (with a lid on it just in case) looked at him for a minute, then swam away as if nothing was wrong.
Otherwise, this betta is perfectly healthy. He lives in a cycled 10 gallon with a nice heater and filter with obstructed flow, no health problems a very active happy boy. He just seems to avoid any kind of conflict. Anybody else have a betta like this? Could it be a sign of a health problem or do I just have a very mellow boy on my hands?

 

flaring actually stresses the fish out (can you say where you got the info from?) its best to let him relax and not stress him out

 

Sounds like he's more on the mellow side. Some will attack anything, some just like to hang out...

 

I have one like this as well, he lives in a divided tank with another male. Never seen him flare but he likes to fan his fins out. I've been told he's just docile

 

It took another live male next door to get mine to flare. Otherwise he’s the same. Could not care less about anything. I even had a ghost shrimp run up and over him.

 

Some bettas flare, some don't. I've never once seen my little male HM flare, he would at most spread his fins out but never flare his beard, and this was when he was still in a breeder basket with females all around him in a 29gal. Now he's in his own tank with cherry shrimp all over and never once have I seen him go after a shrimp. On the other hand I've got a big double tail plakat that flares at the nerite snail in his tank and has manage to pick off all but 2 cherries.

For future reference, flaring doesn't cause a betta stress, only excessive flaring does. For the average lazy long finned male betta, flaring every now and then is good exercise and will also cause them to have a bowel movement. I know a man from another forum who has the happiest, most healthy extremely long finned HM and he often floats a mirror in the tank for a bit, allowing his boy to flare and get some exercise.

 

My betta has only flared when he saw a molly, otherwise he just swims around happily, don't worry, I was concerned at first too!

 

flaring actually stresses the fish out (can you say where you got the info from?) its best to let him relax and not stress him out

Flaring doesn't stress them out that much unless it's ALL the time, and a daily or every other day flare session is actually great for them. It's exercise. IF they flare LOL. Not all bettas do. If the OP wants to get the fish the exercise of the occasional flare, and the fish won't cooperate, adding the occasional live food is probably a great solution. While the betta "hunts" (in his enclosed space where he's sure to succeed LOL) he's going to get the circulation going, which helps keep him healthy.

 

Flaring doesn't stress them out that much unless it's ALL the time, and a daily or every other day flare session is actually great for them. It's exercise. IF they flare LOL. Not all bettas do. If the OP wants to get the fish the exercise of the occasional flare, and the fish won't cooperate, adding the occasional live food is probably a great solution. While the betta "hunts" (in his enclosed space where he's sure to succeed LOL) he's going to get the circulation going, which helps keep him healthy.

I like the live food idea! I've never bothered with live food before but I'll be sure to give it a try. I'll see what my LFS has in stock.

 

Flaring doesn't stress them out that much unless it's ALL the time, and a daily or every other day flare session is actually great for them. It's exercise. IF they flare LOL. Not all bettas do. If the OP wants to get the fish the exercise of the occasional flare, and the fish won't cooperate, adding the occasional live food is probably a great solution. While the betta "hunts" (in his enclosed space where he's sure to succeed LOL) he's going to get the circulation going, which helps keep him healthy.

oh, ok, thanks!