Betta Behavioral Issues

[An t-iasg]

My psychotic betta is at it again!

The two tanks are perpendicular to each other. One betta is fine with that, but the other one is driving himself (and me!) crazy. He just does not like seeing the other one. I put a background on the side of the tank (it still looks like the mirrior effect to us in the pic) and the bright blue in it just drove him crazy. He flared and attacked the glass and ended up splitting his tail a little bit because he was going ballistic.

I took the background out, moved the tanks apart a little, and ended up putting a paper towel over the front of the tank too. I really don't want to leave the tanks like this. I want to move them back where they were. They are basically in the same position, just spread out on the counter more, but it's getting in the way some.

In place of the blue background, I put a newspaper clipping of the stock tables. This isn't a bright object, so he's a bit calmer now. Maybe he'll read them and his one-trillionth of a brain cell will grow smarter!

Is there anything I can put on the tank, like a background, that he can't see out to the other tank but I can see in?

 

[William]

I don't guess a spankings going to work


Sheesh, that really is a psychotic betta.


Maybe you should move him somewhere else in the house ,and get another better for right there?

 

[freshwatergal]

What about just heavily planting that side of the tank?

 

[bettacove]

He'll stop eventually, once he realizes there is no way he can get thru the glass. OR if hes the determind, not too bright kinda fish then do what freshwatergal said.

ashley

 

[An t-iasg]

Thanks, everyone! The psycho betta's name is Kenny -- my husband said to rename him Norman! He really is psycho. Sometimes I can't believe that my first two bettas lived together in the same 5.5 gallon tank (divided, of course) and hardly ever flared at each other.

I moved the tanks back together, but left the paper towel up against Kenny/Norman's tank. I will try your suggestions -- I will try putting a lot of plants in that corner first, and if that doesn't work, I'll have to think about moving the whole tank. Kenny/Norman may calm down eventually, but in the meantime, I don't want Benny, the light blue one, to get stressed.

BTW, in the picture with the two of them together, did anyone notice that Kenny/Norman (on the right) has blue eyes?

 

[QTOFFER]

In place of the blue background, I put a newspaper clipping of the stock tables. This isn't a bright object, so he's a bit calmer now. Maybe he'll read them and his one-trillionth of a brain cell will grow smarter!

If he makes any good stock picks, be sure to share them with us!

 

[Christmasfish]

psycho

Maybe you can but a corner shelf there and put non-betta fish between them? And maybe some betta psyches are just to sensitized by the time we get them.

We have a Female plakat that is across the room from ALL the other fish. She was displaying so fiercely that she made the males give up and bar. They had stopped their pretty displays and were all looking like lake bass with a color filter! ^.^. Poor guys!
She jumps up to 4 inches (lucky she has a top) and has bit the cat.
She is goregous but just overly aggressive. (She does jump up for tidbits and allow to be removed by hand though. As long as your fingers are apart. if you offer a flat hand, she'll bite you!) In her former home she was picking on cichlids twice her size and just shredded all their tetras and barbs. They were going to put her and her sister in the Oscar tank when my daughter got her. She especially goes severly after any fish that has more than an eyespot of blue on it. Even toys. She cant have a mirror since she is blue. I have a picture of yellow marine fish on a background of plants to calm and distract her.

 

[An t-iasg]

If he makes any good stock picks, be sure to share them with us!

After days of deliberating -- here is his pick:

"Buy Enron!"

Ummm....I guess he's still mad at me!!