Bored betta...

My betta looks pretty bored like he sits and stares at me most of the day right now. kinda funny but he looks like he wants something to do...Is there anything that I can do to keep him entertained? Something that can be left in his tank so he can play with it whenever he wants? I don't know of any such thing so I'm jw or would it best to get him some tank mates like cories I think I keep seeing ppl have with bettas anyother others that would be good to keep him company and the size of a tank that I would need.

thanx

brent

 

So far as I know there are no Betta toys. You will be very very surprised when he is in a bigger tank how much more active he is. It is like being in shoes that are too tight right now. He is not wanting to move. As far as tank mates go Cories need to be in shoals (groups of 3 or more) and they can get to 3 inches. The recommended tank size is 15 gallons to put Cories with a Betta. Anything from 5 to 10 gallons you could put Otos or Snails in. You will not want to have more than one snail and it could be a large one (Mystery Snail) as they do not add more than their share of environmental load to the tank. Otos could be kept in a pair or group of 3 in either tank.

Rose

 

Ok well here is my concern with snails, I plan on getting InarI some Live plants unless they require huge amounts of and energy if that's the case they he will have to live with plastic ones that is my one concern with snails especially mystery snails.

thanx

brent

 

I have Mystery Snails (Albino or Ivory) in every one of my tanks and they are all planted tanks and I have had no problem with any of them.

Rose

 

o ok I was just concerned that they would devour my plants which would really make me mad I think if that were to happen I would be have escargo for dinner that night

 

You know, I found something online about a year ago that was a whole DVD set about teaching your betta how to do tricks (like play soccer for example). It even showed a picture of a little goal net in the fish tank ... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D


I SO wanted to get it but I'm pretty sure it was a scam. I was really curious though!!!!!! (Ok, I still am a little bit ...)

 

I think I would have to see someone's betta doing it in rl b4 I bought it, but that would be kinda cool!!

 

Somewhere here I read a post a long time ago about someone boiling a popsicle stick and letting his Betta have it to play with and that they like to see it flip and flop around in the tank. You would have to boil it to make sure it was clean and to make it sink, but I wouldn't go out and BUY toys or DVD's or anything until you saw your betta play with an inexpensive toy like this. I don't think my little ones would go for it.

Rose

 

Bettas (and fish in general) are very intelligent. I have read articles about people training their Betta to do complicated tricks (yes including soccer). The only thing I would worry about is that they do tricks for food, so you have to be very careful you are not overfeeding.

 

Very good point!

Rose

 

yeah I would think that would the same u have to reward most if not all animals with something and for bettas well u can't scratch them behind the ears very well 8)

 

yeah I would think that would the same u have to reward most if not all animals with something and for bettas well u can't scratch them behind the ears very well  8)

Well, I used to have a Betta that would let me pet him. I think that's because I resuced him from a pet store and he looked like he was about to die. So I bought him, treated him everyday. Hand fed him and everything. He was even happier when he was moved to the 10gal. Then he dissappeared. :'(

 

what do u mean disappeared...in the tank?

 

I dunno, I said goodnight to him one night. I woke up the next morning and he was gone. I think my wife might of accidently did something, but is to ashamed to tell me. I mean, I love my fish, but I love my wife more, she can tell me if she accidently did something. Now if she did something on purpose, then I'll be really mad.

 

I think I would like to try the popsicle stick with Raspy. How exactly do I make it sink once I've boiled it?

 

to weigh the popsickle stick down if u have any resin ornaments tie it down or bury it part way
down in the gravel either should work

 

When you boil wood it makes it swell with water. It should sink on its own. That is what makes driftwood sink. I have not done this but I think the whole reason you boil it is so that it will sink and he can play with it without it being tied down. If you do try it be sure to let us know how it works, I am really curious.

Rose

 

yeah I would think that would the same u have to reward most if not all animals with something and for bettas well u can't scratch them behind the ears very well  8)

Well, I used to have a Betta that would let me pet him. I think that's because I resuced him from a pet store and he looked like he was about to die. So I bought him, treated him everyday. Hand fed him and everything. He was even happier when he was moved to the 10gal. Then he dissappeared. :'(

Dante lets me pet him! I don't do it every day, but sometimes after feeding he hangs around at the top of the water, and I reach down and very gently stroke him a couple of times. He also likes this after a partial water change.

S.

 

How special! It shows a really great rapport with your little friend. Congratulations.

Rose

 

How special!  It shows a really great rapport with your little friend.  Congratulations.

Rose

Thank you. I was worried at first that I might damage his slime coat, but when I found how much he liked it I felt safer in doing it.

S.

 

I will probably try the popsicle stick this weekend. I don't know why but I think Raspy will like it. He is very curious about things in his tank.

 

Why not give both of them a tank mate?  I've recently found that Betta's enjoy the company of Otos and African Dwarf Frogs.  A tank mate keeps the Betta from being lonely, and gives him something to watch/play with. (see my post in )

  S.

 

Lilex can have a tank mate when he gets a filtered tank but not sooner than that!! It's just not fair to the fishies!!

 

Awww, your being so sweet. *tear* J/K

 

Actually I keep 4 corys with my betta and they are getting along very well. But bear in mind there are different sizes for corys; emerald corys get fairly big for instance, about 2.5 inches, and so you'd need a 15 gallon for a shoal of them with a betta. Mine are peppered and they stay reasonably small.

 

Congratulations on the Peppered Cories, they should keep little Rusty busy. I bet you are having a lot of fun with them.

Rose

 

Actually I keep 4 corys with my betta and they are getting along very well. But bear in mind there are different sizes for corys; emerald corys get fairly big for instance, about 2.5 inches, and so you'd need a 15 gallon for a shoal of them with a betta. Mine are peppered and they stay reasonably small.

question for u then, how big is ur current tank since ur cories stay small?

 

I hear Peppered corries get to about 1.5-2.0 inches. Panda corries also grow to about this size. Corries need to be kept in a group of at least 3 or more.

I'm thinking of getting 3 panda corries to put in my 7.5 gallon tank with Gadget (My betta). I asked if this was OK in another post and the people who answerd say it's fine.

Gwenz

 

i've never heard of a 7.5 gallon....well either way does this come like the 5 gal with atleast partial set up sometimes???

 

Well, all of my fish books say they reach the size of 8 cm or 3 1/4 inches so I hope that you are right and they stay smaller. I wouldn't chance it unless you have another tank to transfer them to if they should outgrow the one you have.

https://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-Corydoras.htm

It says on the Fish Profile page from this site that they reach 2 1/2 inches but should be kept in 10 gallon tanks.

Gwenz can get a 7.5 gallon tank because she lives in Wales. I think you would find it difficult to find one on this side of the Atlantic.

Rose

 

so finding anything bigger than a 5 gal in a factor other than 5 will be pretty much impossible right?

 

My tank is 10 gallons and actually it's fairly roomy at this stage, since the corys are not fully grown yet and are actually not even an inch long. Rusty is about nearly full grown for a betta. However I don't want to add more fish; they seem quite happy. With 4 corys that's a decent sized shoal and they don't hide too much because of that. For Rusty he has the upper half of the tank free to himself, which he enjoys, and the snail is just all over the place.

I like panda corys too but I've never seen any here. They and the peppered corys are my favourites.

 

I"m planing on a 5 gal just because I live in the dorm and I have to move atleast once a yr so a 5 is lighter anyway to keep full would u just suggestion some snails in the tank with Inari? I'm also hoping to add some live plants so that the plants will cut down and some of the poison gasses

 

Gwenz can get a 7.5 gallon tank because she lives in Wales. I think you would find it difficult to find one on this side of the Atlantic.

Rose

We have weird sizes of tanks over here. My Q tank is 6.6 gallons!!

This is a post that Omorrokh sent me when I asked about corries:

The following Cories are around 2 in:
C. adolfoi
C. arcuatus
C. bilineatus
C. concolor
C. elegans
C. gomezi
C. guapore
C. julii
C. leucomelas
C. metae
C. napoensis
C. panda
C. polystictus
C. rabauti
C. trilineatus
C. xinguensis
I got this from
I gave you the scientific names instead of common because I have seen the same Cory called 3 different things at 3 different stores, so you kind of need to know the scientific name to know what they are...
Note that there are 2 even smaller Cories (C. pygmaeus I think and something else), but both species are mid-level swimmers instead of bottom dwellers and need to be kept in shoals of 6.

Gwenz

 

There are 8 gallon tanks available:



and 6 gallon



Also, even if the Cories are 2 inches and you want 3 with a Betta who is going to be around 2 1/2 inches that is 8 1/2 inches of fish for a 7 1/2 gallon tank and since the Betta is a semi-aggressive rated fish, the more crowded he gets the more aggressive he will be. I would not try to put 3 Cories in a tank of less that 10 gallons with a Betta. That would probably be okay. Otos on the other hand get to 1 1/2 inches and would be okay to have 2 or 3 Otos in with a Betta in the 7 1/2 gallon tank. It is however, your choice.

Rose

 

I'm beginning to believe that Ray is getting bored. He seems to lay under his plant unless I move around the room. What's a good source of betta amusement?

 

My bettas love bubbles and pingpong balls...

 

You can re-arrange his 'furniture'

 

I'm paranoid about adding anything into his tank because he rips his fins so easily.

 

Ping pong balls?!? Never thought of that before! Must try it!

Rearranging helps, and if you can find anything glass to put in there, cause that won't rip fins.

 

my boys LOVE these



and you can buy them pretty small and twist them to all different ways to keep them thinking its something new

and some of my boys / girls love these just the tubes tho not the balls

 

Thanks guys!

 

What about a female neighbor? ;D

 

The location of his tank would make finding a spot for a neighbour tricky.
Most of the surfaces in my room only have enough space/strength for one tank. However I'll keep it in mind.

 

How do the bubble wands work? You have to buy a separate air pump? I'm not sure I have enough plug sockets left!! The look really cool tho, altho I can't seem to find them on any UK pages.

Maybe he can have one for Christmas

 

If you've already got one air pump then you just need a splitter and you can power more then one air driven device.

 

Just pay more attention to him and he won't be bored.

 

So do most people have an air pump and a filter? I've only got a filter...

 

It depends. I have a couple of air driven filters so they have air pumps. Air pumps are an extra for the most part though.

 

Just pay more attention to him and he won't be bored.

I could stand on my head all day with my boys (nice visual there) and my boys still would be bored without their bubbles to play in