spreading gills

I put my moms betta in my 5.5 gallon...and I noticed..hI'm looking at his reflection and then sreading his gill like completly opening them up....I think I read somewhere ..somtihng about them like challanging the other male..is it doing that cuase it thinks its reflection is anohter fish...or what's going on

 

Jasper has been doing the same thing a lot, new tank & all. it's their fighter stance. Yup they can see themselves in the glass.

 

It's just him flaring at the reflection to try and intimidate the other Betta instead of fighting.
Tom

 

thanks that's what I thougt...I rememberd reading that somewhere...its pretty crazy if you have ever seen it

 

Yeah it's funny. Flame does it a lot but I have NEVR seen Spot do it or flare, he is so laid back!!

 

does he do it continuously or a lot? if so, you might try using a lamp nearby to take away the reflection that he sees.

 

not a lot .just a little here and there

 

cool.. that shouldn't cause him any harm.

 

cool.. that shouldn't cause him any harm.

if it was more constant could it cause harm...like...idk strain on a muscle or somthing..lol I'm not to up to day on the fish anatomy...it goes...head, tail/tail fin side fin ...top fin...bottom fin...that's about it lol

 

It won't really cause him any physical harm, but if he is constantly doing it it will stress him out considerably. Natalie