is this healthy?

[HayrideHaunter]

I've had Marbles (male CT) for four days today...and I turned off his tank light to go to bed last night but i use a flashlight to get into bed...so i left the flashlight on for a few and watched Marbles because he's so active and fun to watch...

I noticed that when the lights are very dim and his tanklight isnt on, he flares a LOT and the reflections in his tank...sometimes he charges the walls several times...it takes him quite a while to chill out...is he gonna hurt his poor nose by charging the tank walls or will he be alright?

[HayrideHaunter]

hellu?

[Malvolti]

Probably not. As long as he doesn't do it for more than 15-30 minutes he should be fine. Longer than that can cause him to stress out.

Just try not to create conditions where he can see his reflection.

[HayrideHaunter]

oh...he only seems to do it a couple times then stops...he'll just swim and flare for a while after that...then hes back to normal

[Malvolti]

Then yeah, I wouldn't worry too much about it unless he starts getting sick or developes stress lines.

When my Betta gets bored he finds things to flare at like the snail, shrimp, filter, heater, a plant, me. Sometimes they just like to show off. It is only a problem if it is endangering their health.

Give it time, eventually he'll get used to lights out = time to sleep. You'll probably start noticing him heading to his sleeping spot before you even turn the light out.

[fredythefish]

he could just not like the light from the flashlight..

[HayrideHaunter]

thanks malvolti...he actually wasn't too bad last night...he zoomed around a bit and flared a couple times but no charging the walls this time...I think he's getting used to being here still.

Of course my dad comes in this morning when my bro and I were feeding him (my brother is 6 and LOVES Marbles) and instead of just watching him he starts tapping the tank wherever Marbles is...does it like ten times until marbles is zooming around and flaring...he likes to see Marbles flare but he was scaring him...poor fish...and if I was to tell him to stop he'd just end up getting REALLY angry...

[Malvolti]

Tell him if he wants to see Marbles flare to use a mirror instead. It'll stress the fish less.

[brandonwlee]

hmmm, flaring is ok to me, but tapping the tank is not advisable as the fish may get too stressful or become shock sometimes.

[HayrideHaunter]

@Malvolti: I tried that =(((....fortunately he doesnt do it very often...if you guys knew my dad youd know theres no way i could tell him itll hurt Marbles after a while...he'd get mad and tell me not to tell him what to do and he'll be fine and blah blah...just the way my dad is...

@Brandon: I know...i think he's just trying to get him to move...but Marbles is so skittish...whenever I'm taking pictures and stuff, all I have to do is put my hand (slowly) near the side where he is and he zooms to the other side....it doesnt take much to get him to move around