How come my betta is showing aggression?

Question

I have a male betta, and today when i was about to feed him I noticed the fin just under his mouth elongate (spread out; extend)!! He was showing aggression! I looked around his bowl to see if there was any way that he could have caught a glimpse of himself.. like a mirror. No mirrors, and nothing that could cause his aggression. I watched him for a while and his aggression continued, until I finally dropped some food, and he calmed down and ate. I'm just wondering if this is a normal thing for Betta's.

Answer 1

That's not abnormal for bettas. Some bettas are more aggressive than others and will flare at anything. Most bettas seem to enjoy limited periods of aggression. It's important that your betta have a place to hide in the tank so he can retreat from a aggression stimulus when it's to much.

My male bettas at home love to posture for an 1/2 hour or so when I shove their tanks together. (More than that, and they tend to hide or turn their backs on each other.) Afterward they are more active, and have better appetites. (IE they readily eat their least favorite food flakes.) My female often swim up to each and spend minutes swimming around posturing toward each other. For bettas being aggressive is being social.

I'd give him a 1/2 hour or so of mirror time 1-3 to times a week. It will generally reduce random aggression, and reduce boredom.

Note All 4 of my females live in a 30 gallon tank with lots of hiding places. This involved about a week of fin ripping to initially establish a pecking order. Ironically the alpha and beta bettas took the worse fin damage. The 2 smaller gals spent most of the week hiding instead of fighting.

Answer 2

Betta lives alone, cos' they are very aggressive and territory fishes. They will always show aggressiveness and attack fishes that have long finnage, beautiful and bold colour due to mistaken of another bettas. They also show this sight if they are stress or saw something they never see before, maybe a intruder?

Answer 3

that's amazingly situation-free because of the fact i used to have 3 bettas all contained in a similar tank yet with dividers sooner or later my little 4 year old cousin took the dividers out without my wisdom then a pair hours latter i got here upon all of them getting alongside... and definite they have been all women.

Answer 4

i have two bettas myself. every once in a while they will show aggression for what seems to be no reason. however, your betta probably did catch a glimpse of himself in the bowl. any glass surface will show a reflection unless it is completely dark.

do you have anything else in the bowl? decorative things,etc?

Answer 5

He want's a piece of you punk!

Nah it's normal for Bettas to display agression when being fed, it's instinctual pavlovia. Most organisms have agression responses linked to eating.

Answer 6

He could be bored. Bettas can die of boredom. Sometimes a mirror can help entertain them for a little while and cure that boredom.

Answer 7

no it is not normal but your betta might of saw himself on the sides of the tank bowl other wise it might be normal at that point of time

Answer 8

Just sounds like he was hungry and getting annoyed. I wouldnt worry about it unless you where planning on buying more fish.

Answer 9

Because probely thinks your one of them and it is a natural instinct.So he is ready to throw hand bra.

Answer 10

if hes new he may not be used to you but if there was another person or unflamiliar object that would cauise him to flare his gills