Fighting Fish

[mellow fellow]

My brother bought a siamese fighter fish the other day and has it in a tank which has a mirror attached to the side. We have had mixed responses on whether this is good neutral or negative for the fish. So far we have noticed that he flares up occasionally when he watches his reflection but also swims around and seems quite happy. Thanks

 

[WaterPond]

i would recommend getting rid of the mirror, It will stress the fish out. it is neat to do once in a while but not all the time.

 

[Devilishturtles]

The fish doesn't need the mirror to flare up. It can do it whenever it gets excited. Sometimes, if the fish flares alot, it can stress it a little. Up to you, but I'd remove it too if it were mine.

 

[App]

Ya, thats just mean. I tried doing that with mine and it seemed like he was kind of freaking out.

 

[Jarred Darque]

my gf's betta flares up when it sees the betta on teh food package every time she sees it. She has to hide the package now cause he used to stay like that if he could see it.

 

[An t-iasg]

I would remove the mirror too. All bettas are a little different in how they respond to it, but it's probably going to be a source of stress. One time I held a mirror up to my betta to take a picture. He flared and raced around the tank for 5 minutes, tearing his fin in the process. That's the last time I did that mirror trick.

 

[joannde]

I agree with removing the mirror. Betta's don't need to flare to look beautiful Mine occassionally flare at me, a plant, their food, on occassion - really makes me wonder what they're thinking. I honestly don't think its healthy for a betta to constantly feel the need to fight (which is what happens when they see another betta)

 

[fish_4_all]

When I had mine they flared at any fish they could see. As for stressing them, I have read that when they see another male and think there is competition then they eat too much and this could be the reason we see some bloated fish on here. I know I lost one to bloating/constipation even though he ate peas all the time. They really don't like any situation where they feel like they have to compete, mine never did anyway. The one I put in my community tank was fine until the baby swords got as big as him then he got bloated and tried to eat everything that was put in the tank. If the tank mates are small enough and he doesn't feel like he has to try and establish dominance then I think they are fine. I won't keep them with community fish larger than tetras anymore.

Is really no wonder that most are bred in individual containers and they aren't even left with females for very long, even for breeding.

 

[hc8719]

back in july or so, hannahj and weasel f had a good debate on should bettas flare, im in a bit of a hurry, but im sure a mod can find the link