# Do betta fish burrow?



## Sashy (Oct 16, 2012)

I used to have a cichlid years ago and I know they love to throw rocks around to make nests. Recently, my orange betta has been moving giant pebbles and tunneling under a shell in his tank to make a little cave for himself. Is this something betta fish do? Here's a pic of his little face poking out from under the shell.


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## Sashy (Oct 16, 2012)

Here he is if you couldn't find him in the last pic.


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## Destinystar (May 26, 2012)

Never heard of this before and he looks adorable peeking out like that, just be very careful he cant get trapped cause he could drown since Betta also breath air. I think I would make the cave larger for him to be on the safe side, maybe prop the shell up some some rocks so he can get in and out easier.


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## Canuck Fins (Oct 5, 2010)

Does he have a hiding spot already or is he just creating one?

Have you read through the two fish disease threads on here? I'm not saying there is anything wrong with your fish, maybe he just likes to burrow, but there are some sicknesses that will make fish rub up against their decor. Just good to be aware of the other symptoms that would accompany that.


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## LeoTheLakerBetta (Oct 12, 2012)

I know my sorority girls love to go into tight spaces but I haven't seen anyone get under gravel lol. I have seen one of my smaller girls go under a decoration. I freaked out thinking she might not be able to get out. I threw my hand in the water and lifted the decoration and saw she wasn't there! Then I realized she swam out the back LOL


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## Atena (Apr 29, 2012)

Guppy likes to hide under his filter, I make sure to leave a deep hole in the gravel for him there. It is his favorite lurking spot.

He also has taken to working hard at turning over the pebbles in his tank, which take a lot of efforts.

I think they just like to pretend they are bulldogs, not bettas.


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## Sashy (Oct 16, 2012)

Thanks everyone. I took the shell out of his tank and replaced it with a flatter, lighter one with space under it for him to hid in. I don't want him getting stuck somewhere and not be able to get to the surface. I don't notice him rubbing against anything else in the tank but I'll look out for other possible symptoms of illness. I think I might look in to getting a little cichlid stone for him to hid in.


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## Friendlyfishies (Aug 16, 2012)

Before my guys went into their hospital tanks for fin rot treatments I had one boy who always squished himself down into the sand behind his large rocks i used to hold my anubias in place...if I couldnt find him squished down in the substrate behind his rocks I could usually find him wedged up over his thermomiter. Hes my nutty one lol...even now in his hospital tanks he always between his tank wall and the IAL leave I have attatched to the side.


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## Blacklight (Oct 11, 2012)

My betta loves to hang out behind my internal filter and sit on the suction cup there. It's his favorite hangout. I keep getting paranoid that he's going to get trapped back there, but he seems to navigate it just fine. It freaks me out sometimes because I'll look in the tank and there will be NO FISH and then I look and there he is sitting on that suction cup. There's only JUST enough room to permit him to get back there and sit there.


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