2007-01-21 14:29:57 · 18 answers · asked by marder_2006 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
I assume it's because you're keeping him in a bowl or vase. bettas need warm water (about 75-85F) and room temp water is often 20F colder than that. this makes them weak, unhappy, and sluggish.
try to imagine being your betta, it's the equivalent to some keeping you closet kept at 45F with no place to go to the bathroom but the floor. even if someone cleans out the waste from the floor of your closet the recommended 3 times a week you're not going to be very happy or healthy. you'll be cold, cramped, and filthy. you'll be weak and easily get sick.
you wouldn't keep a tropical fish such as an angel in a bowl without a filter and heater would you? so why make bettas suffer this abuse? it is FALSE that they live in "puddles." they live in rice paddies, and while these rice paddies may not be DEEP they are very WIDE. they have a large territory to themselves int he wild.
give your betta a proper home and he'll perk up. try a 5gallon tank with a filter and heater. add a mystery snail, most bettas find them very entertaining and will follow them around the tank. add a few silk plants, bettas like to hide in them. plastic plants can tear their fins.
2007-01-21 15:04:03 · answer #1 · answered by Kylie Anne 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The mirror thing can be amusing, and it won't hurt the fish. Of course the mirror stays on the outside of the tank.In warm weather try finding some mosquito wigglers and feed 4 or 5 of the to the little guy it's fun to watch him hunt them down,and the live food is good for him. The larvae should come from fairly clean water and be rinsed in a net before putting them in the tank.----PeeTee
2007-01-21 22:41:27 · answer #2 · answered by PeeTee 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I don't know what you expect from a betta, or any fish. A healthy betta is pretty active and alert. Personality varies between fish. My betta males both come up to the glass, and swim back and forth when they see me come home. (Basically begging for food.) When I stk my finger against the glass Snail Slayer comes up to it, and examines it. Pretty boy generally runs and hides. Then there is there weekly smack talk session, when I push the tanks together. A mirror works well at this just don't leave it out all the time.
Betta will also jump for food. Of course if your tank/bowl isn't cover this could be back to encourage. One of my females is known to leap at food if I don't drop it quick enough. She's cleared the tank before during feeding, and her sibling cleared the counter top. (Her sibling died a week after her fall to the title floor.)
2007-01-22 11:05:41 · answer #3 · answered by Sabersquirrel 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Betas aren't really supposed to be fun. You of course need to feed them and change the water, but that is basically it.
2007-01-21 22:34:27 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
If you have the betta in a small tank, there not going to move a lot. You should get em a bigger tank so they can have some more space, and maybe some other fish that are compatible with bettas, but if the betta you have is a male dont get another male because they will fight.
2007-01-21 22:36:08 · answer #5 · answered by Guti 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
My beta gets that way too... and yet on other days when I feed him, he goes insane and jumps and splashes. So yeah... Its a fish. There's not much you can do with it besides have staring contests and feed it.
2007-01-21 22:39:21 · answer #6 · answered by tommygirl86711 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Betas are a decorative fish. Most people will put them in a very prettily decorated bowel, glass rocks, plants at top. They then float there serenely and look pretty. They are a decorative fish; easy to please, feed sparingly and enjoy it's beauty, it should last a long time.
2007-01-21 22:47:13 · answer #7 · answered by chieko 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I know this may sound weird, but I talk to my beta and wiggle my finger at him. He seems to really love it. He will puff out his gills and fins and do this little dance! It is quite amusing. I give him some food for doing it...like a little treat.
2007-01-21 22:35:26 · answer #8 · answered by Lala Girl 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Well they really don't do much. They are beautiful in color. However if you get to males close to each other you can see them put up their defenses.
If you do not have another male, try using a mirror and watch what happens when it sees itself. It is really quite amusing.
Enjoy!!
2007-01-21 22:33:09 · answer #9 · answered by freedomgazer64 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Joninjapan and Jess....you are idiots. Really. If you bought a fish to do tricks and play with you, you must have way too much time "on your hands." Do something else with them. Stupid human....
2007-01-22 00:59:28 · answer #10 · answered by demongelding1@hotmail.com 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋