betta is fixated on its reflection

[OrangeBetta]

Yesterday I bought a little orange betta and placed him in a 10gal tank that I had lying around. He seemed "normal" yesterday, swimming all over the tank, checking out his new pad. This morning I noticed that he was swimming back and forth along the glass while flaring. I tried covering the glass with paper, in hopes of it reducing the reflection, but it didn't seem to make a difference. He has been doing laps along the wall all day. I wanted to find out if you guys thought this is was a problem, and if you had any solutions. Since covering the walls with paper didn't work, I'm thinking about getting some fake plants to try to cover them with and seeing if that makes a difference. I have no problem with him keeping himself occupied, as long as its not causing him too much stress.

[dramaqueen]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I think putting plants in along the walls would help.

[Sarada]

My guy flared a lot at first too, I'm sure he will get used to his surroundings soon. More plants is always a good thing though.

[doggyhog]

I wouldn't worry about it. A few of mine do this and as long as they aren't getting stressed by it, it's nothing to worry about. :) Totally normal and it keeps them from getting bored.

[OrangeBetta]

Thank you all for the advice. I got some silk plants today which he inspected for a couple of minutes, but then he was back to his ways of swimming back and forth along the glass. I guess he's just an active betta...

[OrangeBetta]

*UPDATE*
The betta is still spending much of his time swimming back and forth along the glass, however today I found a huge bubble nest. Do you guys think the bubble nest means he is finally happy with his new home, or is he trying to intimidate the "other betta" (his reflection)? He seems to be eating fine and has plenty of energy, I'm just not sure how I can get him to stop spending so much time staring at his reflection...

[CodeRed]

I've always heard that bubble nesting doesn't particularly mean they're happy, but most of mine only seem to do it sometimes, usually right after a water change. I take that to mean they're happy xD I HAVE noticed that when they're moved and placed near a different male, they bubblenest like crazy xD Your male will probably calm down in a few days, once he gets used to his reflection. So long as he doesn't blow a fin, everything should be fine.

[Welsh]

It seems like your new fella may be glass surfing, try adding new things to the tank such as more silk plants, ornaments and also place objects outside his tank, you could also try placing some plants where he most swims frantically. If your tank is already fully decorated then you could move things around, glass surfing is usually done out of boredom :)

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

I wonder what other peoples opinions are but my betta has been "glass surfing" a bit more than normal lately; but then he's also been building daily bubble nests; do people think it's related? I'm sure I read someone ask something similar somewhere; saying that she noticed more flaring when her betta was building his nests?