Betta flaring at his reflection!

Anne

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You can still see it's a very pretty fish! I love betta fish, though I don't have any myself. I actually have a betta fish website -
http://bettafish.info/
 

natalie_ca

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Wow! How pretty! I've never seen a beta fish do that. Actually I've only seen one beta fish ever, and that was at work on one of the wards.

Does flaring have something to do with mating? Can more than one beta live in the same tank? If so, maybe get a female one?
 

hopehacker

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Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Wow! How pretty! I've never seen a beta fish do that. Actually I've only seen one beta fish ever, and that was at work on one of the wards.

Does flaring have something to do with mating? Can more than one beta live in the same tank? If so, maybe get a female one?
Betta Fish are fighting fish, and I believe the flaring is their attack mode. LOL, I guess it could resemble mating.
 
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babywukong

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Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Wow! How pretty! I've never seen a beta fish do that. Actually I've only seen one beta fish ever, and that was at work on one of the wards.

Does flaring have something to do with mating? Can more than one beta live in the same tank? If so, maybe get a female one?
Bettas (especially males) flare in the presence of another betta (often another betta with long flowing colourful fins) as a way of intimidating the other party. This is quite stressful for them and they should not be allowed to have full view of another betta for very long periods of time. To get my Betta to flare, hence displaying his fins and tail to full effect, I used a mirror, but I did not leave the mirror there for long.

Bettas are very aggressive fish and do not do well with another Betta in the same tank. In the wild, when two Bettas confront each other, they will fight until one submits and swims away from the other's territory. In captivity, they won't have space to swim away and will often fight to the death. Even the surviving Betta will suffer horrific injuries and may die eventually. Bettas should also never be housed with other species of fish which have long flowing fins (such as guppies) as they will be similarly aggravated and you will have plenty of dead guppies floating around as well as an injured Betta with torn fins.

Housing a male and female Betta together is also not a good idea as they will fight as well. When a male and a female are ready to mate, the male will blow a bubble nest and the female will display horizontal stripes on her body. After the mating process, the female must be removed or the male will attack. The male will thereafter care for the eggs till they are hatched. When the eggs are hatched, the male must be removed, or the fry will become fish food for him.

Even housing female Bettas together is not a good idea as they will fight for dominance. Many sites I have researched recommend housing 4 or more females together in a good-sized tank, I can't recall what is the reason for this... But as this could result in injury, I don't recommend trying!
 
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babywukong

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Originally Posted by Anne

You can still see it's a very pretty fish! I love betta fish, though I don't have any myself. I actually have a betta fish website -
http://bettafish.info/
Thanks for the link! I'm curious though, how did you get information for your website if you do not own any betta? =)
 
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babywukong

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Thanks for your kind comments! I'm absolutely besotted with this boy. He gets fed live brine shrimp as a treat, its great fun watching him chase down the shrimp in his tank and gobble them up. He also gets Betta pellets and freeze-dried brine shrimp if the live ones are not in stock. He knows that the presence of a human means food time and will come dancing up to the "feeding corner" to see if you've got a tasty treat for him
 

Anne

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Originally Posted by BabyWukong

Thanks for the link! I'm curious though, how did you get information for your website if you do not own any betta? =)
I was in a fish tank phase
so was researching various fish breeds. I also have www.goldfish-care.com and another fish domain with an amazon shop on it. I have websites on a variety of topics, from blackberry PDA's to pest control. TCS and Meowhoo are the only sites that are what you would call "a labour of love" and are on a topic I actually think I know something about
 
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