# Betta Never Uses His Cave



## Bounce (May 26, 2012)

I have had my Betta almost two and a half months and have only seen him swim through his cave _one time! _I realize he has probably swam through it more than this, but I watch him often and have only witnessed it once. He has a Betta log and swims through it often, but just ignores his cave. 

He is very active and swims through the plants in his tank constantly, weaving among the stems and leaves, tunneling through the massive overgrowth of java moss (that again needs to be trimmed as it's taking over the whole tank), but his greatest delight comes from wiggling through the floating moneywort and anacharis. Could it be that since he enjoys swimming through and peeking out from his plants so much that he doesn't need the cave in his tank?

I would really like to remove it (and add more plants in its place) if it isn't actually necessary to provide a cave for them to hide out in.

So what do you think? Are his plants and Betta log enough to provide him hiding spots? Do some Bettas just simply not care for caves?


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## mattoboy (Feb 4, 2012)

First off, hes beautiful!

He probably does swim through alot when you don't notice. He also probably sleeps in it because bettas prefer to sleep near the top of the water because its easier to breathe at nice.


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

I'm not surprised he doesn't use it. He's got so many wonderful other places to sleep! You shouldn't be worried in the least that he doesn't use it. Some boys just don't like to use them. My first betta loved his, but my current boys don't seem to like caves.


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## Ginzuishou (Feb 16, 2012)

OMG, I have the exact same cave; however, my betta is in it about 80% of the time. 

There's nothing special I have done to make him go in there, he just seems to like it.

Maybe it'll grow on yours after awhile, perhaps move/rotate it.


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## Bettanewbie60 (Jun 26, 2012)

If he has all those other wonderful places to rest and hide I would remove it. Seems they all love different things! I love your tank by the way!


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## Destinystar (May 26, 2012)

Beautiful Betta and tank ! I think the cave looks great in there even if he doesnt use it, looks like a jungle in there love it !!!! My Betta loves to swim though his cave and log too but sleeps in his floating Hornwort. Your Betta has a very happy home to explore, all the plants are awesome. I only have Hornwort and Anachrais right now in mine but live plants are wonderful so if you wanted to remove the cave and put in more I would go for it.


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## Ginzuishou (Feb 16, 2012)

yeah, the tank looks really cool and cozy. If I was a fish I'd love it.


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## shellieca (Jul 12, 2012)

One of my males I thought didn't use his "caves" but I found out that he typically sleeps in one or the other at night. One early morning I found him in the log, on another morning he was in the treasure chest. My other male swims through his periodically, sometimes more than other times. Personally I'd leave it in there, it's not hurting anything and he may be using when you're not looking. I know mine typically come out from where ever they are when I approach their respective tanks so I rarely catch them doing anything but the happy fish dance.


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## misty1477 (Jun 22, 2012)

Ginzuishou said:


> yeah, the tank looks really cool and cozy. If I was a fish I'd love it.


Me too. :-D


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

I'll say this, you have one very lucky boy! That is a gorgeous tank!


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## Bounce (May 26, 2012)

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and advice. I just wasn't sure if it was some hard and fast rule that they _had_ to have a cave to hide in, especially if some were like mine and didn't seem interested in it.

Also, thank you for all the nice compliments on my tank even though to me it looks disorganized and not laid out very well. :lol: I don't have much of an eye for design!

I guess I'll leave it in for the time being until I get more plants.


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