Betta flaring at reflection...

[FRIENDLYFISHIES]

Hey everyone, Moonie is in his new 6.6 gal bookshelf tank tonight, im so glad I got this tank, set up nice and looks great, love the light! Downfall...not the tanks fault but my betta seems to have an obsession with flaring at his reflection..i know this is normal behavior but this lighting and angle of the tanks build is showing his reflection on every side. He has no plants yet, Im waiting for them to get here in the mail but he now has 2 moss balls to hide and play around, hes used them quite a bit but I dont want him to stress out flaring constantly...this is his first night and he was only in it with the light for a couple of hours...he would swim back and forth flashing his tail and flaring about every 5 minutes...I know this flaring can stress them and thats the last thing I wanna do. Will this simmer down eventually once he gets used to his surroundings? I read some things on the net saying they generally relax after a couple days...is there anything else i can do to help him? Will a background help? Again id still have to wait for it to get here if I order one but any thoughts would be great! I have to keep it lit for the moss balls :/ anyone else have experience with bettas and reflections...ive had bettas forever but I guess i never had a tank where they could see their reflection! LOL

[Cory1990]

Bettas are fighting fish, so when they see there own kind they get into "kill" mode. They will puff themselves up nice and big and go at it with the glass. No worrys conpletly normal

[Cory1990]

Also you can paint the back of the tank black. Black backgrounds are the only good looking backgrounds. It makes the colors really pop out. I painted a few of my tanks but also put the black paper/plastic ones on the backs

[emc7]

The light on the tank is brighter than the room light that's making reflections Try more room light, see if it fades the reflection. Or grow algae on the inside of the glass. tall plants around the sides.

[Cory1990]

I really wouldn't worry about it much. You can try plants but you not being vary exsperianced is going to be hard to start growing plants.

Maybe get a bunch of fakes around the glass if it's getting you worked up. I really wouldn't worry about it though. It will get used to it after a while and stop. My betta did it for a while but it doesn't anymore.

[ZebraDanio12]

I'm with cory. flaring is normal. Had a betta who flared at me all the time.

[Fishy friend2]

Flaring too much can be stressful. That tank is "his territory" if he perceives In his mind that another male is in his territory he will flare and try to scare him off. He does not go into "kill" mode. Bettas rarely die from fighting. It is the after result of fighting that causes death. It can be stressful to the fish because he's constantly being stressed thinking another male is in his territory. I would insert a black piece of paper to reduce reflection off of the glass

[FRIENDLYFISHIES]

guess my guys not the only one to see himself in this tank..i googled 6.6 bookshelf tank betta flaring and found this video..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i05XRuZkJEE

[FRIENDLYFISHIES]

looks like even with all the plants and decor the betta still found himself. I think im going to get a background for him, see if it helps. Even with all the lights on that area his tanks still the brightest and he flares, not as much but still fiesty lol.

[Obsidian]

She noted that she knows that flaring is completely normal. It is the amount of flaring that is in question as there are concerns that too much flaring is stressful. I agree. If every side of the tank is flared at then he will have a hard time feeling secure.

I would put up a flat black background (as opposed to a shiny one) and see if that helps. I like black because it keeps tanks looking awesome IMO. If that doesn't work then you can try messing with the light a bit. You can lift it off of the tank and see if that changes the reflection enough to assist in your goal. Sometimes things like that can make a difference.

I also once put up a background on a tank that would probably work really well in your case, but from the backside it wouldn't look too good. It is a fuzzy cloth that I got at the fabric store. It worked really well because it made my tank look much deeper than it really was, and the kind of fuzz that it was looked like you could actually swim into it.

Here is a picture of it--- please note that this is a horrid tank and it was as I was slowly changing my totally neon tank to a more natural tank. And when I say that tank was neon, I mean it was NEON. Pay attention only to the background and the effect it gives. If I were to use that again I would use either a deeper blue or a black. Unless I took a picture with the flash on, this background never had a reflection.

[lohachata]

ok....i know it's a girly thing but one of the problems is the decor...
this is where i holler at you....don't be mad at me..you can do what you want..it's your tank....this is just my opinion...
looks like pink gravel with them shiny glass stones...if you just want to look at the pretty gravel and stones then don't have fish in there...if you want the fish to really show their true beauty ,change the decor..my suggestions would be to use a darker natural gravel..a small piece of driftwood with an anubias or java fern attatched to it..a couple of fist sized rocks and a few other live plants like crypts....get some heavy black plastic sheeting and cover the sides and back of the tank....
it will make a world of difference...

[emc7]

Get a little lamp and put in the brightest CF bulb you can find and set it near the tank. As long as the tank is much brighter than the surroundings, he will see himself even with a background. If you light up the room, he will see out.

[BettaGuy]

Your betta will stop flaring at his reflection too much after a while. My betta flared a lot for the first two weeks (like you described) but then he decided to stop. He still flares at the reflection a bit, but not too much. I would also replaces the pink gravel with either dark gravel or sand. I really like the look of sand with driftwood and plants.

[FRIENDLYFISHIES]

thanks lohachata, I agree with you..as I said i am waiting for plants to arrive, the gravel is actually orange, looks much darker when the light is off, unfortunately i wasnt aware of how bright that light was going to make things lol, it deffinitely looks pink and either way probably too bright all in all in general. I dunno about the stones, he actually really loves to look at them..he doesnt get agressive towards them but likes to peer deeply into their sparkle LOL...I will take them out, but I truly think he likes them haha. That tank is still a work in progress of course and im willing to try differnt things to make him comfy...thanks everyone great ideas!!! Update: Today he is doing better about not flaring though! maybe once an hour! thats a good sign id say I think the daylight helps.

[Obsidian]

Keep a couple of them? Like 3ish? That way they are there for him to like, but not really detracting from the tank too much.