Gill flaring at... his reflection?...

This is new behavior for him.
Suddenly he started gill flaring.
I recently added a new floating thermometer and thought that might be the cause. He kept flaring once I removed it though. He's a healthy fish

The only thing I can figure is he's threatened by his own reflection. I managed to catch a video of it, but can't figure out how to upload it to here. "Community does not support file of this type"

Anyway, if it is his reflection how do I stop that? I know it's stressful for him and frankly I don't like uncomfortable it makes him look.

 

With my fish this happens when the tank light is on and the room the tank is in has poor lighting. If I turn the room light on or turn off his tank light he seems to calm down.
Not sure exactly how the reflection occurs, but this has always worked for me

 

With my fish this happens when the tank light is on and the room the tank is in has poor lighting. If I turn the room light on or turn off his tank light he seems to calm down.
Not sure exactly how the reflection occurs, but this has always worked for me

That makes sense. I mean, the lighting hasn't changed at all. I don't understand why he would start this up all of a sudden like he has. Stresses me out lol. I've worked hard on this betta, I don't want to lose him to something as stupid as lighting lol.

 

That makes sense. I mean, the lighting hasn't changed at all. I don't understand why he would start this up all of a sudden like he has. Stresses me out lol. I've worked hard on this betta, I don't want to lose him to something as stupid as lighting lol.

Flaring is not completely bad. It helps them stay active and stretch their fins, which is not something they would do otherwise. Yes, for extended amounts of time they may feel stressed, but I wouldn’t say the amount of stress is so severe it may kill him.

Some bettas can also become used to their reflection. My previous male betta used to fight his reflection, but my current betta tends to just sit and look at it

 

The only way I know how to post a video is upload it to YouTube then add the link in your post