How long does the reflection war last?

It might never end. He will get stressed and you might find yourserlf with a tailbiter in your hands who might develop finrot.
If you're turning on the light in your tank, then don't and the problem will go away.

I was wondering the same???? But not turning the light on... means letting my plants go slowly down... maybe Ill try it for a couple of days...

Yes, if you have plants it will present a problem.
Turn on the lights in the room the tank is in when you turn on the tank light, it will minimize the reflection.
I onlu use low light plants in my single betta tanks because of this... also because I like to add tannings.

Move the plants to cover up more of the glass around the edges at least the minimize it to just one wall being the problem. My betta only flares at his reflection in the few minutes betweeen turning the big light off and turning the betta light off. Just make sure the room is well lit when the betta light is on, and the light in the tank is off when the room light is off.

My betta doesn't flare at himself, but he just follows himself around the 10 gallon. I wish he would actually be a fish and swim around and not go around each edge to look at himself. I've never actually seen him flare

Honestly, when I first moved Rosso into his new tank, he was obsessed with the "other betta" in the corner of the tank. Over time he calmed down and every now and again he'll swim by the area and puff his cheeks up and then swim off. Sometimes they'll get over it. Just give him about a week and if it seems like it's going to be a problem, then consider covering part of tank or providing more hiding spots.

purplemuffin said:

Move the plants to cover up more of the glass around the edges at least the minimize it to just one wall being the problem.

Click to expand...

Good idea I will move plants around..... thanks

USNavyWife , I have one ... that never flares only follow his reflection too... :shock:

That's weird. I just put some construction paper around the tank except for the front to see if I can try to hide some of the reflection. He goes at it for hours. It was even worse when he was in the small tank and it was hex because he thought he was everywhere. He doesn't look stressed, but is always hyper active because he keeps seeing himself. If that doesn't work, then he's gonna get more plants in there along the back walls and sides so he doesn't keep riding the edges. I hope he likes blue and purple construction paper

A dark background will not get rid of the problem, it will increase it.
Try using white paper, it should help.

It really does depend on the betta. I was worried my betta was going to overstress himself since he flared so often at his reflection, but after a while- it's more or less become his exercise routine. He's never hurt himself and he's never waned from having an appetite.... Definitely go with a background, nothing too dark, and supposedly nothing to light 'cause either or they'll be able to see their reflection, but I'm not 100% sure about the 'too light' thing. If it has various things like an actual background, it should be okay 'cause the reflection would be broken up by the various color scheme... Otherwise, keep an eye on your fish, and if it doesn't work out, go with no light or find a different tank for him

I hate to jinx it but it looks like my Arthur is finally settling down. I think it's helping having my room light on while the tank light is on.

Dinq seems less interested now with the construction paper. He still swims around looking for himself and I think occasionally with the different times of the day he can still manage to see himself, but with the construction paper on there he doesn't seem AS actively trying. I think it was a matter of "Omg new tank and that other guy is STILL here? Mom I see him EVERYWHERE, this guy HAS to go!" haha. Poor Dinq.

My Draco has slowed his chasing... but still goes at it from time to time...