tank reflections...

[bianca.the_tramp]

ok so i havent had a fish since i was a wee lil girl and now im 18 my mate got me a betta and im like WOW.

i just cleaned his water and changed it etc and i only noticed the other day that he has been noticing his reflection in the tank walls. he swims at it and follows it and his like red thing lmfao i dont know what it is scientifically called but the thing he puts out to say im in charge etc and he swims and follows his relfection. i dont know if this is good or bad or what and frankly it confuses the bejeebies outta me.

is there someway to stop him doing this cos i dont want him to hurt himself or anything. am i just over worrying?

hmmm. i think i am in over my head!

=S

[sillypony]

Is he fully flaring (sticking his gills straight out, puffing up his fins, etc) or just paying a lot of attention? How often is he doing it?
What size/kind of tank? Does it have a background?

Basically, it should be OK so long as he doesn't do it all the time, forever. He should adjust to the idea that he has a reflection within a few days and calm down a bit. Mine did that when I first put the background on the tank. Also, you may want to make sure he has a plant/cave or something to hide in, that way he can 'get away' from his reflection and relax from time to time

The only way you could 'stop' him is to make the reflection disappear- and I can't think of a good way to do that.

Keep an eye on him for signs of stress- new stripes down his body, rips in his tail, lakc of eating, etc. If he seems happy and ok, then he should be fine.

Good Luck
LeeAnna

[beetlebz]

id think he would get used to it or bored of it before too too long. If not, so what? lol if hes healthy the worst thing he can do is attack his reflection. and if thats the case i got $20 bucks on the reflection. :D just like LeeAnna said keep an eye on him for signs of stress.

oh and as a side dont you had better keep an eye on your bejeebies. did it confuse ALL of your bejeebies out of you? This could lead to a low bejeebie count, which is very serious. symptoms may include fatigue, depression, mood swings, and marrying guys who wear socks with sandals.

ok maybe ill just stick to jokes about my fish jacking me up and stealing my money :D

[bianca.the_tramp]

Originally Posted by sillypony

Is he fully flaring (sticking his <span style="color:#3300FF;" onmouseover="return escape('Organs which form part of fish respiratory system, through which it extracts oxygen from water')">gills</span> straight out, puffing up his fins, etc) or just paying a lot of attention? How often is he doing it?
What size/kind of tank? Does it have a background?

he puffs his fins sometimes, and follows it. i havent seen him attack it as such but he does it an awful amount of attention. more on that than me.
umm its a 5L tank and its kinda stretched circle size lol like eye shape.
nah it doesnt have a background either. hmm

ill watch him i guess and hope he doesnt hurt himself.

=]


thanks for the suggestions.

[beetlebz]

well hey, keep an eye on it and keep us posted! oh and keep an eye on the bejeebies.