The bubbles shouldn't be a problem if he still makes nests (though this is more of an instinct then "playing") and as long as you don't catch him nipping his fins round the same time as him "playing" witht he bubbles.
He seems to make bubble nests after he is angrily darting around the side of the tank, after his bubble nests he tends to go back to angrily dart on that right side of the tank and sometimes the front. Then he'll nip his fins after he darts long enough. I put a sheet over his tank for now :/ so he will at least stop for now.
There's nothing different in the atmosphere/room that changed with this fish and my previous fish who NEVER did this.
Unfortunately the long finned males will chew their tails if they are too heavy. Or what seems like in your case, he looks at himself in his reflection and thinks there's another betta. Then he sees his fins out of the corner of his eye, thinks it's a betta and literally attacks himself.
It's really sad to watch, trust me I know. I have a gorgeous red VT that will (and just has) chewed his tail to plakat length. There's really nothing you can do to stop it, other than make sure he's comfortable and has warm clean water. I would recommend taking the bubbles out. His "playing" might actually be stressing him.
You could also try rearranging things in his tank if you can. That's what I have to do for my VT. Or get a ping pong ball or water bottle cap and put bloodworms in it to get him to push around.
Unfortunately the long finned males will chew their tails if they are too heavy. Or what seems like in your case, he looks at himself in his reflection and thinks there's another betta. Then he sees his fins out of the corner of his eye, thinks it's a betta and literally attacks himself.
It's really sad to watch, trust me I know. I have a gorgeous red VT that will (and just has) chewed his tail to plakat length. There's really nothing you can do to stop it, other than make sure he's comfortable and has warm clean water. I would recommend taking the bubbles out. His "playing" might actually be stressing him.
You could also try rearranging things in his tank if you can. That's what I have to do for my VT. Or get a ping pong ball or water bottle cap and put bloodworms in it to get him to push around.
Good luck with him.
I completely agree this is the case. -_- it stresses me out a bit too, poor fish.
Hey, how can I get my betta to push around the bloodworms and possibly get them out of the toy if he does that? :)
I just plop some blood worms soaked in garlic juice in a cap, and set it in the tank. They love garlic, so it gets their attention. Just experiment with what he likes. I try to give both my boys about 5-10 minutes everyday of "one on one" time. Have him follow your finger, or teach him to eat off of a stick, something fun.
I'm trying to think of a way to block his reflection from him. It's not possible to block it 100%, but you can minimize it. Have you tried moving the tank to a different part of the room? Maybe the sun or lights is hitting the tank and making it really easy for him to see himself.
I just plop some blood worms soaked in garlic juice in a cap, and set it in the tank. They love garlic, so it gets their attention. Just experiment with what he likes. I try to give both my boys about 5-10 minutes everyday of "one on one" time. Have him follow your finger, or teach him to eat off of a stick, something fun.
I'm trying to think of a way to block his reflection from him. It's not possible to block it 100%, but you can minimize it. Have you tried moving the tank to a different part of the room? Maybe the sun or lights is hitting the tank and making it really easy for him to see himself.
I have to agree with you. There's only really one other place I can have his tank, I will try and move it around halloween to see if that makes a difference. Sure hope it does. Still looking for betta personalities I may like more though, I really miss my best buddy who passed away before I got this one. I didn't expect him to turn out as this personality type really- he acted incredibly different at the store than at my house XD you just never know.
I make him jump and follow my finger around for food, but a toy would be fun to mess with for him :) wouldn't garlic cause a stench in his tank?
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