Betta's are social?

[JaspersANGEL]

Hi I thought of another question to ask u guy's.

I put Jet in a tank witch is in a corner alone, and he seems bored, lonely and stuff. I'm seriously considering pushing my two tanks I have left together so both my fish can keep each other company.

He used to be in the tank next to Charlie's, and now he's alone, and seems bored.

I thought betta's liked to be alone?

[Adastra]

Bettas are not social creatures--what you've construed as boredom may just be their normal selves. It's possible that when they were close together they were active because they felt compelled to defend their territory from the other male. It isn't because they like the other's company--but because being close to one another gets them fired up, so to speak. I wouldn't recommend keeping them openly exposed to each other often, since that can lead to stress and blown fins from excessive flaring. When bettas are put next to each other in a divided tank situation, I always recommend obscuring the bettas' view of one another as much as possible. The same should apply to bettas that have to be housed in tanks near each other.

[JaspersANGEL]

I have Tex's tank next to the emptie one (used to house Charlie), I had Jet in the small 2.5 before Tex arrived, they can't see each other cause I have paper blocking their view, and each day I took it down for a bit to let them flare.

Could he just be overwelmed with the bigger tank...it's a 5. Should I just plop him back in the 2.5

[Ajones108]

Just make sure you fill up the 5gal tank with lots of hiding places and plants for him to hide in so it doesn't feel so big.

[JaspersANGEL]

I think I finally figured out what was wrong with him, I did a water change and put in the filter. I have questions tho, I baffled the filter like this

will this break the filter or is this ok

[puppyrjjkm]

Mine is like that so I think it's fine. You could always put the tanks next to eachother but put like cardboard or something colored in between them, then remove it for a couple mins and let them see eachother, flare or whatever, but not too long that they would get stressed out.

[JaspersANGEL]

Thankx, I plan to do that, I'm just waiting to get my library taken off my desk.
He's swimming around a bit more with the filter that's baffeld now.

[Lion Mom]

That baffle is fine - MUCH better than the half plastic bottle type, IMO. That is the way I baffle my filters & have for years with no harm coming to the fish. :)

[JaspersANGEL]

No Im just worried for the machine, if having the water flow hindered will hurt the mechanics.

[Lion Mom]

No, it is fine - all my filters have been fine.