My betta is so afraid of me

My betta is afraid of me now for some reason and i need help into knowing why

So ive had my betta fish, knave, since late February and i love him so much. But, for some reason, he’s become scared of me. When this first started, he would just hide when i would come up to the tank fast, then he would dart to the back of the tank and wait a little bit, then come out for breakfast/dinner. Over the past month or so, he’s gotten worse. Now he won’t even come to me to eat. He’s swims and hides if i get too close to the tank. He never flairs, he just full on hides in the back of the tank. I have no idea why he’d be afraid of me out of nowhere, I’d never do anything to hurt or scare my babies. just this morning he was petrified of me and it’s the worst i’ve seen him. He used to be excited to see me and jump for food, and now he’s terrified. I don’t know what to do or why this happened. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. i have adequate cover in the tank and there are so many hiding spots (pics below)

 

That looks like an excellent betta tank. So, well done there.

I've had a few fish become fearful (not bettas) over the years. In may experience, this usually has something to do with something that is stressing the fish. For, example, I had a fish become fearful after the tank had become too warm. I've also had fish become fearful after other fish were removed from the tank. I have no idea if this applies in your case, but at least it might be a place to start.

 

How much time do you spend watching your tanks or moving around near them? I spend 10 min-an hour pretty much each day observing my tanks and I think it's important for getting your fish familiar with the idea of people being near their tanks. On the flip side, if you spend a lot of time around your fish but every time you do you're moving quickly and/or disturbing the tank - then the fish anticipate that your appearance will mean loud noises and scary things, so they may hide.

 

My first thought was also -What has changed recently. Is there an animal creeping near the tank, tankmates changed, water parameters changed, anything added or removed from the tank? My corys are in a quarantine tank and are terrified of the cats standing on their back feet batting at the glass. I think once they go into the big tank they will be fine as there are more hiding places and the tank is higher off the ground so kitties can not peek.

 

The tank looks very nice. I don’t know what might have scared him initially, but I wonder if adding some tank mates might make him more confident? I don’t have experience with bettas to know what fish might be suitable though.

 

Just adding to the list of possibilities: Have you changed his foods?

 

Nice tank! Nice fish! Your issue sounds frustrating, sorry.
Have you changed your appearance? Like have you died your hail bright red? or do you were bright shirts, all of a sudden. Or even do you were dark shirts all of a sudden that might scare him, or cause him to see a reflection that he did not see before?

 

That looks like an excellent betta tank. So, well done there.

I've had a few fish become fearful (not bettas) over the years. In may experience, this usually has something to do with something that is stressing the fish. For, example, I had a fish become fearful after the tank had become too warm. I've also had fish become fearful after other fish were removed from the tank. I have no idea if this applies in your case, but at least it might be a place to start.

thank you!

Nice tank! Nice fish! Your issue sounds frustrating, sorry.
Have you changed your appearance? Like have you died your hail bright red? or do you were bright shirts, all of a sudden. Or even do you were dark shirts all of a sudden that might scare him, or cause him to see a reflection that he did not see before?

no i haven’t but i have gotten a

Nice tank! Nice fish! Your issue sounds frustrating, sorry.
Have you changed your appearance? Like have you died your hail bright red? or do you were bright shirts, all of a sudden. Or even do you were dark shirts all of a sudden that might scare him, or cause him to see a reflection that he did not see before?

no i haven’t, but i have gotten a balayage which turned my dark brown hair more blonde so maybe that could be it?

How much time do you spend watching your tanks or moving around near them? I spend 10 min-an hour pretty much each day observing my tanks and I think it's important for getting your fish familiar with the idea of people being near their tanks. On the flip side, if you spend a lot of time around your fish but every time you do you're moving quickly and/or disturbing the tank - then the fish anticipate that your appearance will mean loud noises and scary things, so they may hide.

okay thank you ! that’s probably it because i’m very busy with sports and such and i am never really around the tank much so i’ll try to just sit in front of the tank more often!

My first thought was also -What has changed recently. Is there an animal creeping near the tank, tankmates changed, water parameters changed, anything added or removed from the tank? My corys are in a quarantine tank and are terrified of the cats standing on their back feet batting at the glass. I think once they go into the big tank they will be fine as there are more hiding places and the tank is higher off the ground so kitties can not peek.

honestly i think that maybe the cherry barbs and tetras are stressing him out, he’s not an aggressive fish at all which made me think he was a female, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t stressed so it is possible that the fish are stressing him out. thanks!

Just adding to the list of possibilities: Have you changed his foods?

yes. i when i first got him the first couple months i was feeding him freeze dried brine shrimp but i realized that isn’t a hood diet so ive started feeding him omega one betta pellets

 

thank you!

no i haven’t but i have gotten a

no i haven’t, but i have gotten a balayage which turned my dark brown hair more blonde so maybe that could be it?

okay thank you ! that’s probably it because i’m very busy with sports and such and i am never really around the tank much so i’ll try to just sit in front of the tank more often!

honestly i think that maybe the cherry barbs and tetras are stressing him out, he’s not an aggressive fish at all which made me think he was a female, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t stressed so it is possible that the fish are stressing him out. thanks!

yes. i when i first got him the first couple months i was feeding him freeze dried brine shrimp but i realized that isn’t a hood diet so ive started feeding him omega one betta pellets

Did the hiding start soon after the diet change? If you'd feed him the brine shrimp for a couple days, would he act better? Maybe he's not happy with the new food!

And variety is always better for a more rounded diet, just like people.

 

if it was me, I'd add cory cats

he may not be getting enough stimuli so over reacts to any stimuli.

under stressed is as bad as over stressed

JMO

 

How long has he been in the tank?
How long have the cherry barbs been in the tank (and how many)?
How long have the tetras been in the tank? Which type of tetra are they? And how many are there?