Random flaring

[auckenburg]

My betta, Indivar, has been in his new home for about a week. Asside from chasing the algae eater around the tank he seems happy enough. But randomly he will swim to the back side of the tank with a backdrop and just flare his gills for about 10 seconds then act like nothings nothing. I wouldn't be curious except he does it about 20 times a day? What could be irritating him or is he just picky about his decor?

[Crystal]

It is possible he is getting a bit of his reflection in the back of the tank and when he realizes its not him (short period of time) he goes back to normal swim mode.

You could try changing the backdrop or even adding a few plants to the back side of the tank to help break up the landscape for him.

Flaring is very good exercise for them so I would not be overly worried about it unless it became a constant where he was flaring for more than 10 minutes at a time or you start seeing signs of fin damage.

Crystal

[durbkat]

Could that be the reason why one of my bettas is shredding his fins because I leave a mirror in the back of his tank for 6 to 8 hours a day?

[Rachel]

durbkat said:

Could that be the reason why one of my bettas is shredding his fins because I leave a mirror in the back of his tank for 6 to 8 hours a day?

That could very well be a contributing factor. It may be stressing him out if he sits there flaring at it all the time. I'd remove it and only let him see himself for a few minutes each day. It would probably be a good idea to give him down time without the mirror until the fins start healing though. Make sure to keep his water extra clean and watch for signs of fin rot.

[Minaku]

I'll second Rachel. I accidentally left two of my fish uncarded yesterday, and one of them was my tailbiter. I came running back some half an hour later to find my two fish sulking in their respective corners, my tailbiter swimming circles and trying to chomp on himself. He'd already taken a chunk or two out of his anal fin. *sighs*