Those cute things our lil buddies do

Share them with the rest of us! Just oddball things your betta(s) do that you find so cute/funny.

My newest betta Caine is a flaring machine. I'll genty tap on his tank to get his attention when feeding and he'll swim right up to the front and flare at me like crazy. Sorta like a "How dare you disturb me!!" that or "OMG YAY FOOD!" hehe...
And about an hour ago... Caine was at the front of his tank looking around... and I accidently tapped the glass and OMG he actually jumped b/c it startled him! I had to keep from laughing out loud b/c it was just too hilarious. You know when fish usually get startled they swim off and hide.. oh no.. he actually jumped in place (not out of the water) and just sorta gave me the death glare afterwards rofl.
We've also given him the nickname of ferengi.. you know those ugly big eared things from Star Trek... if you don't, you can google up the name and you'll see a pic heh. But yeah... he totally looks just like a ferengi, b/c his gils resemble big ears when he flares hehe.. he's so cute.

My lone female Afia is also a total cutie and my biggest oinker of them all. I just think it's so cute when she's begging for food, and she eyeballs me, then looks up at the top waiting for the food, then looks at me again, then the top.. I could watch her do that all day.

And Raj, my 2nd oinkiest oinker just LOVES watching the monitor while I'm on the computer. He was also very curious when I started to play some music. He stared at the speakers for a little while before he got bored heh.
And today.. he's usually very skittish when I do a water change, but not today! He inspected the syphon when it was on his side, decided he didn't like it and started to nip at it lol

 

Re: Those cute things out lil buddies do

So far, what i've experienced with my fish...

Helios is eccentric and just flies from one side of the tank to the other, up and down the walls o the tank watching himself and what a stud he is. And when he knows he's being watched, he spreads out his fins and swims around, prancing around for all to see. But when the lights are off, he likes to hide in the plant, and swim behind the anenome decor that i've got in his tank.

Apollo though, he's a little more mellow... though it could be the fin rot that's doing that to him, because he does have spurts of energy every now and then. And in the morning, and at night when I go into my room, both of the fish swim up to the top of the tank by the walls, and wait there for me to feed them. They do just as your's do; swim to the top, look out at me, then up at the top again.

So adorable. :-* :-* One kiss for each fishie.
You know, I was watching some betta videos on You Tube last night, and some people actually pet their fish. He titled the video "Friendliest Betta Fish" or something along those lines, and he's giggling through out the whole video... However in the video, while he's petting, the fish is flaring so he obviously didn't like that much. And the fish was in a tiny drinking glass with some pebbles at the bottom. It was less than entertaining, to say the least.

 

Just had to post this before I went off to bed...

Raj is cracking me up right now. I have some kind of stem? plant floating at the top of his tank (not sure what it is exactly... might be hornwort)...
Anywho, he is just so adorable. Part of the plant sort hangs down in the water, so he's been scooting his fishy butt onto that part and resting on it for a few mins. But then he'll do this scooting thing trying to get off of it, but not really trying to get off of it.
I think he's actually playing with the stuff. He's been getting onto it and scooting right to the side of the tank, THEN he'll do a big hard swim to finally get off of the plant. He's done this about 4 times now...
SO ADORABLE!!

And people say fish don't have personalities! PFFFFTTT!

 

My lone female Afia is also a total cutie and my biggest oinker of them all. I just think it's so cute when she's begging for food, and she eyeballs me, then looks up at the top waiting for the food, then looks at me again, then the top.. I could watch her do that all day.

And Raj, my 2nd oinkiest oinker just LOVES watching the monitor while I'm on the computer. He was also very curious when I started to play some music. He stared at the speakers for a little while before he got bored heh.
And today.. he's usually very skittish when I do a water change, but not today! He inspected the syphon when it was on his side, decided he didn't like it and started to nip at it lol

LOL, great stories. They do have such rich personalities - our playful Bettas. So curious & playful. The ignorant kid 'petting' his imprisoned Betta isn't just being cruel with the ridiculous 'home' (truely a cell) but harming his angry Betta by removing the slime coating. Poor little guy.

Our little female (my baby) Angel does that too.. Look right at me, then rolls her eyes to look at the top, swims up a little, repeats.. until she's at the surface. You're right, I could watch that all day too.

Aslan did something like Raj the other day when I was putting his column decor back in his tank. He swam over to me, looked at my hand because I stopped moving it so he could swim by, he circles my hand and just starts nipping away at me.. I thought I was going to lose my hand! The horror!! LOL
Our first Betta Mario would flare at me every time he saw me for at least a day whenever I'd do anything to change his tank decor - just me, no flares at my wife, he knew who was messing with his tank. Isn't it funny how they act when you mess with their tank?

Aslan is probably our biggest fan of food - when I was doing the weekly water test Sunday, I didn't move fast enough and he got my finger a couple times. LOL.. he always thinks it's dinner time when I get the water samples. Well all 3 Bettas do, but he's the one who nips me.

 

Byron likes to go filter surfing. He swims under the filter, to right under where the water pours out across the top of the tank, then he pops up to get an air gulp and lets the current from the filter push him across the tank. He'll do this over and over again, if he doesn't notice someone watching him

If he notices someone watching the tank he swims over to where they are, and starts poking around the surface for food.

The other thing he does is follow fingers --- if he's noticed you and swum over, you can trace your finger along the outside of the tank, and he'll follow it around.

 

If I move something on my desk, GrI'm will get startled and go hide in his plants. Then he pops back out Flaring and wiggling as if to say "I meant to do that! Hah, you thought I was scared didn't? Boy I sure fooled you!"

 

LOL.. I love watching Aslan filter surf like Byron. He follows fingers like Byron too - are they twins seperated at birth? .. it's a good thing because he gets so enthusiastic going after food, sometimes he misses and we have to lead him to the food that is now way past him. I'm trying to remember, have we seen a picture of Byron?

Grim's a little character, isn't he? Big & bad after he knows it's safe - you know us guys have to keep up that macho thing. That would make a great little movie to post online.

Before we gave up on them, Aslan LOVED Betta bulbs - to play with and nip at.. he knew he wasn't supposed to though. So whenever he'd see us looking at him & he was playing with them, he'd try to look all innocent and give us a look that said "I wasn't doing anything, honest!" and then he'd swim away from them. We'd also see him looking our way when he swam over to them to see if we were watching him before he'd start to play with them.

 

I haven't been having much luck getting a good photo of Byron -- he is either colorful but blurry or clear but all washed out -- there's some pics in the picture forum here :

He's a very pretty fish - gold and purple/pink and blue, with red tips on blue/white fins. I like that he looks like a sunset.

 

I haven't been having much luck getting a good photo of Byron -- he is either colorful but blurry or clear but all washed out -- there's some pics in the picture forum here :

He's a very pretty fish - gold and purple/pink and blue, with red tips on blue/white fins. I like that he looks like a sunset.

I remember Byron now. I'll look forward to when he lets you get a good shot off, but I can tell his colors are excellent. Sorry I didn't remember, seen so many Bettas lately - but I can stop going into the pet stores anytime I want to, I don't have a problem.. yea, I can quit anytime I want.. :

 

Christen has always been a show off... she'll grab a piece of food in her mouth and just swim around the tank with it hanging out like she was saying 'ha ha ha, look what I got! and you can't have ANY!' and she'll quickly gobble it up and do it all over again. She also eyes me when I come into the room - like she's doing now. She's also got the cutest little flare I've ever seen, such a small little girl with a huge attitude.

Kyler on the other hand seems to love flaring, I know he looks good (and knows it) but that can't be good for his health. He's also an eating machine and loves to have staring contests with me, until he gets nervous and starts flaring to get me to stop, at which point I just tell him 'alright, you're bigger than me, I'll leave you alone!' He's an adorable little fluff ball.

 

Dory is curious about everything, especially the filter intake... he constantly swims over to it... closer... closer... then gets STUCK! to it, freaks out, and swims away really indignantly. ;D He also HATES my camera and flares at it every time I try to take a picture. When I hold his food over the water for too long before dropping it, he tries to jump straight out of the water and get it himself!

The best part about Dory is how ACTIVE he is in general. The reason this is so important to me is that I used to keep him in a bowl, where he did NOTHING because the water was so cold and he had no space (I didn't know any better). Since then I've spent well over $200 on the little bugger... but the fact that he's so incredibly interesting now, with such a personality, makes it totally worth it

 

Dory is curious about everything, especially the filter intake... he constantly swims over to it... closer... closer... then gets STUCK! to it, freaks out, and swims away really indignantly. ;D He also HATES my camera and flares at it every time I try to take a picture. When I hold his food over the water for too long before dropping it, he tries to jump straight out of the water and get it himself!

The best part about Dory is how ACTIVE he is in general. The reason this is so important to me is that I used to keep him in a bowl, where he did NOTHING because the water was so cold and he had no space (I didn't know any better). Since then I've spent well over $200 on the little bugger... but the fact that he's so incredibly interesting now, with such a personality, makes it totally worth it

LOL.. Dory sounds like Aslan.. my wife will get a nipped hand if she isn't quick with dropping his food and he's sometimes got the patience of.. well no patience.

They are worth it, aren't they? I tell people we don't just give our Bettas space for them, we do it for us too.. they are so fun to watch when they can really move around and let their personalities show.

 

I like those stories too. Ribbon has learned to play the finger game...he will if I move my finger slowly follow it along the glass for a bit.

However one of my favourite moments with him was when I was trying to take his picture--he kept moving behind plants, his ruin, etc, or suddenly dashing across the tank when he caught a glimpse of his own reflection, so that I couldn't get a clear shot. (still haven't) I had just taken a few that were basically these fish shaped blurs and was resetting the camera when suddenly there was this huge shape in the camera--it was Ribbon who had come right up to the glass to see what was going on.

 

I like those stories too. Ribbon has learned to play the finger game...he will if I move my finger slowly follow it along the glass for a bit.

However one of my favourite moments with him was when I was trying to take his picture--he kept moving behind plants, his ruin, etc, or suddenly dashing across the tank when he caught a glimpse of his own reflection, so that I couldn't get a clear shot. (still haven't) I had just taken a few that were basically these fish shaped blurs and was resetting the camera when suddenly there was this huge shape in the camera--it was Ribbon who had come right up to the glass to see what was going on.

LOL.. how do Bettas know so well the best way to mess up the shot? I love how he came up when you were resetting - as if to say "here I am, go ahead & try to take a pic now".

 

I love these stories... ;D (and whoever thinks fish are all the same... )

Fuego is Mr. Cool...he spends a lot of time simply floating around at his favorite corner of the tank. but the moment he sees Cas across the divider, he turns into Mr. Stud and flares so much it looks like his fins will fall off. He does this funny wiggly thing...some sort of fishy dance, I guess. Then he'll come right up to her at the divider and show her how big he can flare out his gills. Unlike Dorado, who can be quite aloof to me at times, Fuego is very friendly and always watching what's going on around him. Any time I walk up to the tank, both Fuego and Cas immediately dart to the fromt of the tank...it's pretty cute.

Cas always flares right back at Fuego. It's so funny watching her trying to puff out her tiny gills. It's like she's saying, "Oh no you don't, mister, you'll have to try a lot harder to impress me!" Of all my Bettas she's the most enthusiastic and curious. Yesterday when I opened the lid to feed them, not even joking she launched herself straight out of the water, she was so excited. She likes to hand feed, although usually she ends up trying to eat my whole finger. For such a little girl she bites hard...

Dorado is probably the most amusing of my Bettas. He things he's the boss of the tank. I rarely ever feed him because he's always bloated up from eating too much of the catfish food. He often lurks around the bottom, standing guard over "HIS" algae wafer or shrimp pellets, and trying to chase off any "intruders." But the funniest part is that you can practically see the catfish rolling their eyes at him. Even the one-inch Pygmy Cories aren't a bit afraid of him. Really, he's quite mellow and wouldn't hurt a fly, but he doesn't want anyone to know that.

 

LOL.. Cas sounds like Angel in her food enthusiasm. You've got some real characters there.. and you gotta love the betta dance, huh?

 

Alex is my Baby for sure. He is the one with the sweet personality. He wants to be awakened with a lullaby every morning and if I do not get the lights turned off soon enough at night I turn around to see a small betta behind sticking out between the heater and the intake tube at the surface of the water where he sleeps. His face is toward the back of the tank where it is darkest and he is letting me know that it is time to go nitey-nite. Then when he hears me come to turn off the light, he very sleepily comes to the front surface for his nighttime lullaby and then goes off to bed. Marty Jr. in the tank next to Alex's would stay up all night and go Disco Dancing if I would let him...!!!

Rose

 

Yes, our little guys are so adorable to watch. I have to make sure I give them all a little personal attention. When I am talking to one of them, his/her neighbor is wiggling around impatiently waiting his/her turn. Of course they all want to be the first to get the attention (and the food.) My newest guy, Boston, just loves to swim through his plants and wrap himself around the leaves. He is so cute. He looks at me with his little betta eyes, does a little betta dance, and just melts my heart.

CherryRose ;D

 

Yes, our little guys are so adorable to watch. I have to make sure I give them all a little personal attention. When I am talking to one of them, his/her neighbor is wiggling around impatiently waiting his/her turn. Of course they all want to be the first to get the attention (and the food.) My newest guy, Boston, just loves to swim through his plants and wrap himself around the leaves. He is so cute. He looks at me with his little betta eyes, does a little betta dance, and just melts my heart.

CherryRose ;D

LOL, sometimes Aslan gets so impatient for his turn to be talked to that I found a spot where I can talk to him & Sora at the same time and they both love it. Usually my wife will talk to him while I talk to Sora. Aslan has a definite preference for my wife since he'll always leave me to go talk to her. :'(

 

Mine all love to be talked too as well, especially Lava! He is such a mommy's boy! He hovers in front of my face while I talk and seems to be listening carefully, then he tilts his head to the side and looks at me adoringly with those big black eyes and I just want to melt!  :-*  :-* I so wish that he could be the size of a small dog and could be out of the water so I could hold him in my arms and stroke his long beautiful tail while we watch tv together. I think he wishes that too. He gets such separation anxiety when I go sit even a few feet away. His tank is on my nightstand between my bed and computer. I sleep in the day usually because I work night shift. He always goes to the side of the tank closest to me and watches me sleep. All I have to do is open my eyes and he's there staring at me and starts dancing happily. Lava loves having his tail stroked gently. He doesn't like his body being touched but he lets me fluff his tail and he nibbles my hand gently.

My Betta Phlox, who died a few weeks ago from a massive bacterial infection, used to love sitting in my hand. If I put my hand in the water and cup it he'd swim right over and snuggle into the palm of my hand.

My females are such rascals and love jumping and biting me when I have to put my hand in the tank. Angel, Aenara and Karma have all developed the bad habit of jumping up and sticking themselves to the dry part of the glass or the divider. They just stick there for a few moments and then splash back into the water.  I keep telling them to stop it because they could hurt themselves but they don't listen!  This activity seems to be a great source of amusement to them.

Whisper is a very dignified and regal fish. She doesn't act all spazzy and swim back and forth like mad at feeding time like the others. She glides over like a Queen and then hovers perfectly still at the surface holding her mouth wide open wanting me to drop the pellet directly into her open mouth! 
They all have such darling and unique personalities. No wonder they have us wrapped around their little fins!

 

Great Bettas there Phloxface, I hope Angel gets to be like Lava, she's right beside the bed too and my little baby.

Something funny she does involves one of those 99 cent columns you get at petco. I have one leaning against the front panel so she can swim around it and she's taken to sleeping on it now.. but what makes me laugh is the way she'll try to get my attention by laying on it and looking right at me during the day. She looks like a little puppy wanting a belly rub.

 

That sounds so cute FLBettaCouple. Our little guys are such beggers for attention. I think they know we can't resist them too.

CherryRose

 

That sounds so cute FLBettaCouple. Our little guys are such beggers for attention. I think they know we can't resist them too.

CherryRose

They do, don't they? I love to call them underwater puppies because they have the range of emotion & behavior puppies do - shameless begging for food & love, playfulness, sneakiness and sulkiness when they get caught and all the love they have to give, they give us. How can you help but spoil them? I know we miss our little ones while we're on vacation now and I'd challenge anyone reading these stories to think it's ok to lock a Betta in a little, tiny container. They miss out on a lot doing that.

Stacy relates to how you feel Phloxface, wishing she could hold little Aslan in her lap.. we joke about letting the fish lay on a pillow & watch TV with us.. if only we could. She loves to give them kisses tho. And Aslan likes it when she gives the front of his tank a little kiss where he's at - especially since she's his favorite person. Sora likes to hover when I move my finger back & forth where he is - Lava surely wishes he could be out of the water, I think ours do too.

 

;D ;D ;D

 

So, this is not necessarily a crazy thing that my Betta does, but more of what is being done to him! lol

Spike, my red wag tail platy, is a casanova of a fish. (ok when not being beaten up in my smaller tank by the guppy)
But yeah, a real "Joey" from that TV show "Friends"

When I introduced Iago, my yellow Betta, to the 29 gallon tank there was immediate interest. I could just see Spike look up and think "How you doin'". Now, spike has done this before, he was all about swimming next to the Molly female he was with before. It was so cute, like they were buddies. But this time, it was an immediate happy wag tail reaction. Iago was the biggest prettiest fish Spike had ever seen, and Iago was in love! Those fins! That color! Not only did Spike now have a spot in the big tank, but now his little platy dreams had just come true!

Iago, on the other hand, was having none of this. None, I say. Not being used to having other fish around and all of a sudden he has another boy fish thinking he is the hotness? So, Spike would see Iago and do these dramatic swims up to him and try to float/swI'm parallel to him. Iago would simply duck into some plants, turn and glare at Spike, or (rarely) flare. Sometimes for a brief moment there would be an incredibly happy spike all wagging next to a very bored looking betta. Hilarious!

In all of this I haven't noticed any nipping, or real agression. They never even chase each other all the way across the tank. It could be establishing male dominance in the tank, but considering that Spike wants to float next to, instead of scare off, I think it is more of a crush type situation!

Hee!

 

That is precious!

Alex loves his Otos and takes his afternoon nap with them under the heater or airstone depending on where they settle down. Somewhere I have posted the picture of an Oto and a little Betta butt sticking out from under the airstone taking their nap together.
He is the only betta I have ever had who is that calm about the others in his tank.

Rose

 

LOL.. platys sure love bettas.. our platys all went crazy for Mario when he was added to their tank.. he got a little cranky when they all come to him at once & got a few fins though. Iago sounds much cooler tempered and that's really funny how he reacts to his platy casanova.

 

Lol, these stories are so hilariously cute! More.. MORE!

 

Aenara has been busy working on some project near her divider wall. This has been going on for days. I finally checked to see what she's been up to and noticed she has managed to pull the tip of a narrow leaf java fern on the OTHER side of the divider through the hole in the divider onto her side. She's been pulling and tugging and gotten about 1/2 inch of it through!  ;D  That's as far as it will go as the holes in the divider are very small. I'm amazed she pulled that much through without tearing it. They will just find anything to amuse themselves with! Maybe she's trying to tell me she wants a java fern too. 

 

Ribbon is the aristocrat of his tank. I was wary about trying cories with a betta again but he treats them the way a pre revolutionary french duke would treat the servants. Now and then the snail interests him seemingly but rather the way a painting would interest a person--he peers at it and then swims regally away.

 

LOL.. well Bettas ARE the rulers of their tanks, after all.

Aenara's a little smart one, isn't she? Anyone who hasn't had a female Betta has missed out.. they are such smart little girls and so much energy. It's great to have both males & females with Bettas.. they've got a lot in common and each has special qualities.