Big Time Flarer

[Jully]

I haven't been on this site for a while, but I am glad to be back ;)

Well 2 days ago, my poor Betta died after a water change, I don't know when I put him in a bag to float, I think the bag opened up and the new tank water shocked him and he died :( But I think he was getting old, he stopped flaring, his color was dying down, and I think his system was shutting down on him as he would always hide in the corner and just rest there and not be as properly active, and salt baths were not helping as they use to do. I don't know how long he was at that other pet store in that cup, so....


Anyways, after Moon passed away I went to Pet Habitat this time (at the mall) and I picked up a beautiful light red Betta, he's a male, but when I first looked at them I thought he would be a great fish, I let him in his new home yesterday night and he was loving it, he was exploring and he was so interested in everything.

The only problem I am having with him is that he likes to flare a lot, he flares at the filter a lot and the corners he flares a lot, and well were ever he swims he's flaring he can non-stop flare, he's flaring every second. The Lil guy has anger problems and when the main light of my living room is off, and it's really dark and the tank light is on he starts flaring and gets mad, and when the main light of the living room is on and the tank light is on, he stops flaring. And when the tank light is off sometimes he stops flaring, but he still flares.


Is this bad, as he's flaring non-stop, he also prefers to stay at the back of the tank. But every 10 seconds he flares. But is this because he's new to the tank, and never really had big open space? I don't know how long he was at Pet Habitat for, but he was in (show case cup) kinda like something you put on a table, and fill it with rocks for decorations, he was crammed with 50 other bettas on this shelf which look like it's going to fall as it holds so many.

[eatmice2010]

Has he turned pain and show dark stripes down his side? It may be just like you said he isnt use to his new tank yet. My boy boy likes to flare alot but when he does he doent show his gills. I think as long as hes not rampaging and attacking something non stop then he should be ok :D

[Myates]

Sounds like he is skittish and is still unsure of his new home - reminds me of a dog being scared and growling at anything that moves. Give him some time, try to feed him.. even keep his tank light off and the room light on for a while to see if that will give him a boost of courage. I've noticed my timid fish gets more active when I use room light vs tank light with them at the beginning.
Poor little guy is not used to such a large space compared to what he had been living in for the past few months.

Flaring itself isn't damaging, but the stress he is feeling that is causing him to flare is what isn't good for him. With the light off he may relax a bit more, along with time to adjust and realize there aren't any dangers in his tank... he should calm down in time.

[Jully]

No he isn't having stripes on his face, which my other fish would get when he was stressful.

It also I think might be the tank light, when it's flicked on he gets mad and starts flaring. And when it's turned off he stops flaring and just swims like nothing happened, but he still flares. And yes, I think he's a skittish little guy as he gets scared easily.

[Luxavior]

He is more than likely flaring at his reflection on the tank walls.

With glass tanks, if the tank light is stronger than the outside light (especially when its the only light on at night), for him its basically like looking in a giant mirror room.

Always keep an outside light on (such as a ceiling light or a lamp) as it'll mute out the vibrancy of his reflection, or keep the tank light off, to reduce the frequency of flaring.
Its mainly for aesthetics anyway unless you're growing live plants in the tank.

I will say that it definitely does help aid them in pooping since they do tend to poop when they flare.

I darken the room my fish tanks are in and turn the tank light on for 30 minutes to help them poop before I feed them again.
Especially if I plan to clean the tanks that day as it never fails that when I don't, they poop after its just been cleaned (and always in plain sight).