# Is my Betta stressed? Video diagnostic requested!



## onemanswarm (Jan 3, 2012)

My Betta has been spending an inordinate amount of time swimming back and forth against one of the glass walls of his tank. He only does this against one wall, which happens to be the opposite side of the tank from where he's usually fed. It also happens to be the area of highest current, right beneath the waterfall from the HOB filter. In other words, it's the last place I'd expect him to want to hang out. The swimming behavior seems obsessive and frantic. He perseverates even when I'm not in the room (spying from down the hall). Doesn't seem to me to be event related. Water is hard and basic, but stable. 
Water parameters: 
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10ppm
GH: 200
KH: 180
pH: 7.6

Any thoughts on whether this is detrimental, what might be causing it, and what can be done on my part to intervene?

A short video depicting indicative behavior:
What's wrong, Friend? - YouTube

p.s. Is there a reason why I can't seem to successfully embed a youtube video? Not enough posts maybe?


----------



## Zappity (Oct 15, 2011)

He probably sees himself in the reflection, and the current is making him swim like that. Is it baffled? Try baffling it and see if that helps. There's a DIY in the betta housing section


----------



## onemanswarm (Jan 3, 2012)

Zappity said:


> He probably sees himself in the reflection, and the current is making him swim like that. Is it baffled? Try baffling it and see if that helps. There's a DIY in the betta housing section


Thanks for the reply. The filter is baffled. There's very little current in the tank due to the outlet baffle and the floating plants beneath the waterfall. I used to have an intake baffle as well, but it seemed to eliminate water movement to such an extent that I could actually feel warm and cold zones throughout the the tank during the WC.


----------



## emeraldsky (Oct 4, 2011)

He looks fine to me, if anything, he may be glass surfing which means he would be bored. Try redecorating his tank and moving things around and see if that works ^^


----------



## onemanswarm (Jan 3, 2012)

emeraldsky said:


> He looks fine to me, if anything, he may be glass surfing which means he would be bored. Try redecorating his tank and moving things around and see if that works ^^


Well I suppose I'd rather he be bored than stressed. I haven't heard of glass surfing, but it certainly sounds like a reasonable cure for boredom. The tank is relatively new so I'd prefer to postpone redecorating if possible. Any other suggestions that might add a spark of fun to his life?


----------



## Roxy (Nov 16, 2011)

My betta does the same thing when I'm near his tank.

I don't think it's related to stress. o_o


----------



## agent89201 (Dec 8, 2011)

My betta does that. He could be stressed but he could also be excited to see you or simply be expecting food.


----------



## MaxGreenMDE (Jan 21, 2012)

mine is currently doing this only he's going up and down. I'm going to go with the boredom because at the moment I had to take all decorations out except for his hammock so poor Dahvie literally has nothing to do right now. Luckily he'll only be bored for 2 days (which yes is a long time but it could have been longer!) because I'm redoing everything.


----------



## HatsuneMiku (Jul 29, 2011)

some of my bettas do that every so often ... i've noticed they do it a lot more when i move something that's in his tank .. or something that's around their tank .. once mine would do that at the food container i put next to his tank whenever it was turned that he could see the betta pictures on the food container .. lol so i had to turn the container so he didn't see the betta's pictures on there .. i think he's just on "patrol" .. keeping an eye on his territory .. as long as he's not literally swimming against the glass walls and bumping into the walls .. it's fine


----------



## onemanswarm (Jan 3, 2012)

HatsuneMiku said:


> some of my bettas do that every so often ... i've noticed they do it a lot more when i move something that's in his tank .. or something that's around their tank .. once mine would do that at the food container i put next to his tank whenever it was turned that he could see the betta pictures on the food container .. lol so i had to turn the container so he didn't see the betta's pictures on there .. i think he's just on "patrol" .. keeping an eye on his territory .. as long as he's not literally swimming against the glass walls and bumping into the walls .. it's fine


Thanks to everyone for their feedback. I'm a lot less nervous knowing that this is a fairly common behavior and one that is not necessarily regarded as indicative of stress. It just seems so OCD! It makes me wanna tap him on the fin and say, "Hey bro, there's a whole other side to this bad boy! Go explore over there for awhile. Or maybe grab a quick nap on that cushy looking leaf."

BTW HatsuneMiku that is a ridiculously beautiful Betta. How'd you get such a great shot?


----------



## Kitty Whiskers (Sep 28, 2009)

My Betta fish "Spectra" does that a lot. I bought her from Walmart in one of those little cups. Seems a lot of my Wal Mart Bettas in the past did that at first for a few months. But my other Female bettas "Lacey" and her twin "Laney" do not glass surf. They were bought from a small local pet store where all the Female Bettas live in one big 20 Gallon tank together. Glass surfing kinda reminds me of animals that live in cages at the zoo. They get so bored they pace back and forth in their cages. However my newest Female Betta "Little Girl Jani" was bought from Petco in a cup and doesn't surf the glass. Maybe because she wasn't in that cup for too long at the store IDK....


----------



## HatsuneMiku (Jul 29, 2011)

onemanswarm said:


> BTW HatsuneMiku that is a ridiculously beautiful Betta. How'd you get such a great shot?


i didn't take the picture .. it was the picture of him on his aqua bid page =) .. my pictures of him are all blurry .. x_x he doesn't stay still for pictures ..


----------



## onemanswarm (Jan 3, 2012)

HatsuneMiku said:


> i didn't take the picture .. it was the picture of him on his aqua bid page =) .. my pictures of him are all blurry .. x_x he doesn't stay still for pictures ..


Kinda ironic but when it comes to cameras, shooting fish in the proverbial barrel actually turns out to be really hard. I should spend some time reading the aquarium photography tips thread here. Really unique looking betta. In my limited experience, I haven't ever seen that color/tail type combo.


----------

