After about 48 hours in his new home Solomon discovered he had a rival next door.
It wasn't long before the war began. He spends well over an hour each morning flaring aggressively at his reflection in the glass, even attacking that annoying mimic at times.
Some flaring is rumoured to be good for a Betta fish, something like flexing one's muscles, but too much time spent flaring and charging back and forth must be stressful for the poor fish. I can just imagine the strain caused by the need to defend your home against an aggressive and threatening neighbour each and every day!
I tried leaving the lights off in the tank but it didn't completely eliminate the problem, and what's the point in having a fish tank if you can't see the fish?!
Today, after reading about fixes for this kind of Betta behaviour, I went out and bought a bushy fern type plant that will fill the 6" x 10" end of his tank where most of the problem occurs.
He's a very curious little guy and it wasn't more than a minute before he was over there checking it out.
Was that a nibble I saw? Hopefully now he knows it's fake and not edible.
But now there is another problem!
His curiosity may just get him into trouble!! I'll have to watch him carefully. I was worried about him there for a bit, thinking him stuck, but when I moved my hand closer he scurried out of there with no difficulty. Now he seems to have found a favourite spot, resting way up at the top near the surface of the water.
I read on a spiritual site recently that if you pay attention to the animals and nature around you they can have a message for you. After watching Solomon fight with himself with such ferocity and persistence, possibly bringing harm to himself in the long term, I can't help but see that there is an important message in that for me.
Bonus picture!
3 comments:
You're such a good fish mom. I used to keep 9 at once at college. All on my desk in their own spaces - 5 boys, 4 girls. And at the end of every semester, I'd drag them all home in my car from Idaho to Illinois. Despite not being able to pet them or interact much at all - I find them fulfilling.
Solomon is gorgeous! I love that you found a fix for the flaring. I think most people might not have paid attention to that, just considering it to be normal behaviour or something.
Nine! That's amazing Sweetsknit! I never realized until I took over a betta which was being neglected that I could bond so deeply with a fish. Bettas really are something special though. My tank also has 6 neons but they just don't interact with me in the same way. Solomon sometimes watches me and he swims over if I come near. Within 48 hours of coming home with me he was eating his pellets directly from my finger.
I keep my 5.6 gallon tank on an end table right beside my chair in the living room. With a betta, 6 neons, and 2 nerite snails it is seriously overstocked. I'm attempting to counteract that problem keeping the nitrates down by doing more frequent water testing and water changes.I could have a larger tank somewhere else in the same room but I LOVE having it right where it is because I enjoy looking up from my craft work to watch them. I don't think I'd get as much enjoyment from a larger tank if it was further away from where I spend so much time.
I wish it HAD been a fix that worked C. Sadly I had to take the extra foliage out, even though it looked good and the fish seemed to like the more enclosed feeling. After a few days Solomon returned to his excessive flaring only now he was doing it in the confined space between the foliage and the glass. I was afraid he'd tear his long flowing fins with the way he was frantically flaring and working himself into a tizzy. I've resorted to leaving the tank lights off except when natural daylight fills our living room and eliminates the reflection he was seeing. The tank also has a blue night time light I can leave on instead.
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