Toys to interact with

[Cyndih70]

Does anyone have suggestions on some kind of toys you can put into your Betta's tank? Small that he can interact with. Sometimes i think to myself.... he's got to be bored to death at times! wouldn't it be nice if he had a little toy of some sort.
Anyway...ideas?


Purple/Red CT Male - Sushi

[FuulieQ]

I've heard lots of things! Some people put in ping-pong balls or floating mirrors. Robert is rather skittish, so I usually just park random things outside his tank for him to approach and investigate at will. Other than that, you can also rearrange his tank decor periodically to change things up, or place brightly colored small aquarium safe decorations in there occasionally that he's not familiar with. :D

[laoshun]

they have a floating log with a hole that he can swim through, some people put pottery on the bottom so they can go in and out of it.

[jaela]

Lots of little caves, castles with holes to swim through, pieces of PVC piping, fake or live plants to swim through, driftwood, and round marbles that can roll are all good ideas. =] I also agree that moving things around when you do water changes is a good idea to keep your fish interested in exploring.

ETA: small bubbling decorations (the kind that attach from an air pump to an airstone) might be good too in a large tank, as long as they don't disturb the water too much, since bettas seem to prefer calmer water.

[JBosley]

My guys have lots of plants, which I switch between their tanks when I clean them, pots as hidey caves, sea shells, floating dice at times, my one Betta LOVES his floating Betta log and I also put a piece of craft mesh in the tank. My one boy loves nudging the craft mesh, it's cute

[garigou56]

James loves the plants in his tank..he loves to hide between and swim around them and he also likes this little decoration with a few holes so that he can come in and out of them

[Bombalurina]

Definitely live plants. They keep growing and changing. :) Odysseus loves to lay on his java moss and subwassertang, wriggle through the anubias and hide in the hornwort. :) He builds some amazing nests in it.

[Cyndih70]

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I'm definitely gonna get a live plant or two and I think I have a set of dice laying around here somewhere! :)

[Kim]

Originally Posted by laoshun

they have a floating log with a hole that he can swim through, some people put pottery on the bottom so they can go in and out of it.

A word of caution about the pottery- it can leach chemicals into the water. I had a small pot that I had made myself and fired in a regular kiln using standard glaze and then put in a tank. After several weeks I noticed my betta acting lethargic and loosing coloration. When I realized what was happening I took the pot out and did several large water changes and he was fine, but since then I would strongly caution against using anything not labeled 'aquarium safe' in a tank unless it is obviously inert. I just wouldn't want the same thing to happen to anyone else.

Edited to add that terracotta pots are perfectly fine though. My bettas always loved theirs :)