Betta toys ?

[joannde]

Well, MTS struck and I have two male bettas in their own 2.5 gal tanks (thinking of doing a 10 with a divider instead). They sit right behind me all day at work in my office (I work from home) and they absolutely respond to me. I keep thinking "they're like little dogs with fins !" - and on that thought, I was wondering if they would play with a toy ?

My panda cories in the 30 gal community tank are always playing in the air bubbles from the 12 inch bubbler .... its a riot to watch ... they start at the top of the tank in the bubbles, swim their little butts off getting down to the bottom then "just let go" and get swooped back up to the top where they start the process all over again. Sometimes they play "follow the leader" with only one in the bubbles at a time - sometimes they do it in groups.

So I'm figuring if panda cories can "play" then so can bettas. I just can't think of a suitable toy ! I was thinking maybe a ping pong ball, or a snail.

Any ideas ? (or have I REALLY lost it completely ???? LOL)

 

[QTOFFER]

I don't know if your betta would play with the ping pong ball, but it's worth a try. It would be hilarious if he pushed it around with his nose!

My betta likes to rest on objects in the tank - for instance, the sponge filter or the Java fern. I have him at work in a 2.5 gal, and he'll sit and stare at the movement going on outside the tank.

Like yours, my betta is very responsive to anything I do around the tank. He flares his gills at me and my coworkers if you touch the tank or get too close to it.

 

[joannde]

Each of the bettas has a plant and a ceramic "cave" that I made in my pottery class. I thought they'd enjoy the peace inside the caves but they're just about NEVER in there - they'd rather swim around and watch me work. Neither one of them rests very much (they're full of energy I guess !).
I'm going to see if I can remove the metal part out of a small fishing float - they're smaller and more colorful than ping pong balls. My husband came up with the idea

Mr Fussy is also going to get a snail - he doesn't seem to like his pellets and I figure the snail would eat any that eventually sink (I try to retrieve them after 10 - 15 minutes but sometimes I get caught up in work !). Once Mr Fussy starts eating his pellets then I'll get a snail for Mr Piggy also and split a sinking wafer for the two snails to munch on.

I'll let you know if they actually play with them - it WOULD be hysterical !

 

[Pinky]

i've heard they like to push marbles around and play in the bubbles from an air stone/wand

 

[tropicfishman]

Iono about that bettas really don't like moving water, not to say they won't survive wit ha strong filter and air tube, but they usually stay away from these things, mine used to lay on objects also, he would also root around in the gravel and makea mess, too bad he's gone

 

[joannde]

Ah, I have marbles, I'll give that a go since they have large river rock as substrate I'm not sure they'll be able to push the marble around, but its worth a try. Thanks
(LOL the boys are begging for their breakfast - better feed them before I REALLY get the evil eye from them !)

 

[severum mama]

I agree with the java fern. My little Herman likes to lay in it, so yours might appreciate it too. Love the names, BTW!

 

[joannde]

LOL the names were easy - they basically named themselves. Mr Piggy has been eating his pellets since 5 minutes after I released him into his tank. Mr Fussy on the other hand took a WEEK before he'd even put a pellet in his little mouth (to be promptly spit out !). Today he FINALLY ate some pellets (spitting out half of each of the three I gave him).

So far no reaction to the marbles (but its only been 3 minutes LOL). Later today I'll get the mystery snails and some java moss for each of them

 

[joannde]

Day 1 with the marbles - one marble was moved some time during the day by Mr Piggy - unfortunately I don't know if he did it on purpose or by accident. Mr Fussy has no interest int he marble.

I did add a small mystery snail to each tank tonight. That was interesting - both bettas noticed their snail and if they had eyebrows they would have had a puzzled look on their face LOL. Mr Fussy was by far the most interested and hovered near the snail for a good 15 minutes checking it out - he really seemed to be trying to figure it out.

 

[crazychick]

i have a fighter and hes called `Gerrard` as kids and hubby are liverpool fc fans and the fish is red! i have a skull in my tank and he goes in there to rest,no other fish is allowed in there!lol he also lays on plants and the filter,which looks funny as it looks like he got sucked against it!!!

 

[JeffreyL]

No, Joannde, you have not lost it. Not till you try to buy a tank big enough for you to join the little darlings. Hmm. Come to think of it ..........

It honestly never occured to me to give our 'Bruce The Exhibitionist' toys. But he does seem interested in Bing, Bob and Dorothy (3 peppered cories) when they play follow the (lost) leader. It would have to be something big enough that even He would not try to eat it. Maybe a coconut?? LOL

P.S. Extra credit for anyone under 30 who knows who Bing, Bob abd Dorothy are.

 

[joannde]

LOL JeffreyL you made me laugh ! Wish I could play the "Bing Bob Dorothy" game, but I'm well over the age limit LOL

 

[JeffreyL]

Oooooookay. Way back when tvs were black & white, mostly, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope & Dorothy Lamour starred in a series of 'Road' movies. The Road to Utopia, Road to Morroco, etc. Seemed appropriate to the 3 little cories.
Oh, and Bruce The Exhibitionist has a new trick. Now he sleeps on his side, nestled in the floating water sprite. At least he has mostly stopped following the cories into the tight crevices in the rock, etc. Little idiot has torn his fins a bit.
Someday we may find ourselves selecting sane, normal fish. But in the meantime, I can't wait to see what happens when we set up the 75 gal Mbuna tank. Hehehehehehe

 

[JeffreyL]

Whoops!! Shoulda read your last post, stead of skimming it. You did not actually ask who B,B, & D were. lol I gotta stop playing with the computer while I am doing tank maintenance. Or else get a laptop with a neck strap ..........

 

[joannde]

LOL I can't believe how close I was on the B,B&D thing ! I had the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby part right !! And I remember the "Road To ...." movies. I just couldn't place Dorothy Lamour (still can't LOL). Cute names for Cories is right ! I haven't named mine (4 panda cories) - I just call them "my little goofy dudes" since they're such characters !

 

[JeffreyL]

I had to cheat and go search for Lamour's last name. lol I don't quite know how the 'way too cute' names got started here, but here is the list. Spot, a small black tailed shark with yup, a small white spot. Bear, a panda cory. Jules, a true Julii cory and Bodie. He is an albino cory who swims arond at full speed out of control running into any and everything. He was named right after the last winter olympics. Oh, and Princess Teacup. A blue ram. I believe that is all of the "named" fish. And to think I always said "shoot me if I ever get cute". But I draw the line at pink gravel!!!!!!

 

[joannde]

Bear the panda cory ! I love that one - yeah, you've gotten cute ... good thing people didn't take the "shoot me" thing seriously !

 

[Puriti]

I give my bettas something to do by putting treats somewhere they have to work for to get. Keeps everyone entertained..lol

 

[joannde]

Puriti - excellent idea ! I LOVE IT. Can you give me moe details on what you use and how you do that ?

 

[Puriti]

Well sometimes I just use that clown fish veggie clip thing I bought at petsmart and I pinch things in there and it takes them a while to eat it all. I've also got this little skull with three holes in it that I put things in and they have to search for it. You can really just put them in something they can still get at but it'll take them a while to get, kinda like those dog rubber toys you put the treats in ^^