Betta fish jumps out of his tank?

Question

My betta fish has recently been "jumping" out of his tank. He does fall back into the water, but I am concered he might fall out of his tank.

I have not owned a betta fish before, is this normal?

I am sure that it is not about how many times we change his water, we change his tank once a week.

We talked to the workers at Petco and also our vet, and they both said that Betta's prefer calm water in a small tank.

Answer 1

Very Normal. They are quite Acrobatic. I would place a cover with air holes on the top.. even a piece of cardboard with air holes cut out. This will keep him from doing the suicide jump onto the floor or some other not-so-wet place. They say its cause they think they see a reflection of themselves in the top of the water and think its a rival. Bettas are pretty aggressive with rivals.
ADDITION
for those that are saying the tank is dirty, or too small. Bettas prefer Brackish or stagnant water, meaning no ariated. They can live fine in a small tanks, they are not jumoing out because the water is dirty. They have a lung/gill make up for breathing and can gulp air as a way to breath. They dont need oxygenated water.

Answer 2

Wow! thats a shame a nice tank like that doesnt have a lid. Betta are great jumpers and just cause the tank is not small does not mean the betta wont jump out and land on the floor. I have had my betta jump out of a 10 gallon with no lid so dont let folks fool you into thinking such nonsense of the betta not jumpin out cause its 2 gallons which is still a small tank. You could take a plastic shoe box lid, cut it to size,poke holes in it and that would do it. The tank is gorgeous but still need a lid.

Answer 3

It really depends on the betta, water conditions, and tank size. Poor water, and small containers will provoke some betta to try and hike to the next body of water. This of course varies from betta to betta. I've had a female jump out of my 30 gallon tank for no reason. I suspect in the wild it's an evolutionary advantage for some betta to just try this. (It spreads them to new places.)

Always keep a lid on your tank. As you can never tell if you've got a jumper. A betta will happily launch itself several inches in the air for food. (Possible in nature a hungry betta takes insects on the wing.) My girls are prone to jumping at my hand if I'm slow to drop the food in. I use to amuse myself by getting my bettas to jump for food. Up until one jumped out of the tank cleared the counter, and landed on the hard wood floor. She died 3 days later of internal injuries. I've also had a betta jump out of a cup, and flop into the sink's disposal during cleaning. (It took me a nearly a minute to fish him out.)

Answer 4

If you have a betta you need to have a lid on your tank. They can and will jump. If you do not want to come home to a fish out of water and dead get a lid.

Answer 5

Yes it is normal. This is why some betta related websites advise betta parents to place a lid or something on top of the tank.But be sure that he has access to the surface cos bettas are labyrinth and need to gulp air.

Answer 6

Yes it is normal. BETTAS DO JUMP !!!!!
If you don't cover your jar, expect to find that puppy on the floor looking like a crisp potato chip.

Why oh why do bettas jump in the first place?

"Woaw, that's a nice ceiling up there, I want to check it out"

"This water SUCKS! I want OUT"

"This universe is so small... There must be something bigger and better out there"

"I can jump! I can JUMP! Weeeeheeeeee!"

"Darn, I really feel frisky today! How about I do me a little hop to celebrate!"

"The grass is always greener on the other side..."

"Hey you pretty female over there, get ready cause here comes Daddy!"

"I always wanted to be in the Guinness Book of records for highest jump"

"As of today, I am officially starting to train for the betta Olympics!"

"Darn, I sure am hungry, a little snack sure would feel nice right about now... Not a thing in here to eat. NADA. Mmmmm....Any bugs flying up there I could catch?"

"AGHH!! WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT LOUD NOISE???? HELP!! HELP!!! ! I gotta get out of here or I'm gonna DIE!!"

"Life sucks and I'm bored to tears."

"How could I drive my owner crazy today?... Mmmmm.. Let's see.... Spit my food out? Done it. Get stuck under a rock? Done it. Pretend I am sick? Done it. Really get sick? Done it, too. Get sucked up the filter intake tube? Done it. Stuck behind the heater? Done it. Fall into the sink? Done it.... Darn I am starting to run out of ideas... .... ....... WAIT! That's IT! Yop, I'm gonna scare the daylight out of her by JUMPING. Oh, she'll be impressed, I can't wait to see her face when she finds me miiiiiiles from my bowl hehehehehehehe... OK, here we go, One.... Two.... Three.. And HOP"

Above are the last thoughts on a betta's mind before he jumps. Below are the last thoughts on the same betta's mind AFTER he has jumped:

" #@%*@!### "

Answer 7

most of the fish i've owned have been beta's and they are very active fish. they will jump if given the option, a lid should clear up the problem right away. the reason they jump is, like the person above said, they see a reflection of themself at the top of the water and are trying to head-butt its opponent. a lid takes away the reflection and they will no longer have the need to jump at their "opponent" (don't worry, he won't make an attempt at the lid, smash himself into it and hurt himself).

Answer 8

i've had A LOT of them and i only had one that would jump....he jumped out of his tank to the floor though....i would move him...it may be to hot or to cold where he is.....i would change that water more often cause bettas breath air not through the water.....and i would get him a tank with a cover so that he can't fall on the water.............

Answer 9

No that is really not normal but can mean that you filled up the water to high. He will not jump out if he can get oxygen without swimming such far distance to get to the surface.

Also he wont be able to jump out if the water is lower because your tank will protect the sides so that he wont jump to far sideways and fall out of the tank.

Answer 10

Mine used to do that, buy a 5 gallon tank, they are 10 dollars and then they should sell thetop for it which is 2 bux...you wont worry anymore after that