# Betta fish purposefully getting stuck in his baffle



## Moonlight7wolf (Nov 25, 2013)

Hey guys, recently I got a new filter for my tank and wanted to make the current as gentle as possible so I put a baffle on it. The way I have it set up is the bottom of the baffle is only 2 inches or so under the surface of the water, the rest of the baffle is above the water. It works best this way because I can fit the lid on my tank and the baffle isn't taking up much space in his actual swimming space. But anyways so there's not much 'room' inside the baffle. 

So silly Naartjie keeps swimming inside the baffle and getting stuck. He'll swim in there but then the current from the filter makes it hard for him to escape again. He has been able to get out on his own, but it requires a bit of flailing, and I'm just wondering if he's hurting himself or something. I trimmed all the sharp edges of the baffle off, so I don't think he'll scrape himself, but I really don't know if he's hurting himself since it does seem to be a struggle for him to get out. But he's so weird, he seems to really like sitting there. But it looks rather uncomfortable because the combination of the small space and the filter current cause him to sometimes be forced to lie on his side in the baffle. I mean he doesn't act like getting stuck is too bothersome, because once he escapes he acts normal. But geeze he has an obsession with sitting in the baffle, in fact he's doing it now.

So long story short, will this hurt him or should I change something?


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

A picture might help, I'm not exactly sure what your Betta is doing. I do have a couple Betta that enjoy lying on floating micro-swords. When they do so, almost half their body is actually outside of the water. It's certainly unusual, but it sounds to me as if he swims inside by himself (I'm not sure how good a Betta's memory is), but unless he seems stressed out, pale, and tired from this ordeal it should be fine. (A picture will always help me figure out what exactly he's doing though!)

Also, if it's becoming a problem, you could always try to block the area off with a bit of sponge. Use some fish wire to tie it around and block the area off. It'll provide some extra filtration to your tank too, though it probably won't look too pretty.


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## Gallifrey (Sep 22, 2013)

Maybe he's "sitting" there because of the water that's falling on him? I've seen my betta fish struggle when they get stuck somewhere, and if they can't get loose, they just "sit" till I let them free or they can free themselves. Probably modify the baffle more, or find an alternative method so he won't swim into the baffle anymore.


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## Moonlight7wolf (Nov 25, 2013)

I'll try and get a picture later because when I try to get close enough to take a picture he escapes and swims toward my face. I'll try post a picture of the baffle though.
I don't know why the picture is sideways :/ sorry


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## Moonlight7wolf (Nov 25, 2013)

Here's the best picture I was able to get of him in it. You can kind of see what he's doing. Again the picture is sideways and I don't know why.


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## Zoonoo (Sep 22, 2012)

When I got my new tank my fish quickly developed the habit of sticking his top fin to his filter intake so he sort of hangs below the filter and is held there by his top fin. He too has to flail a little bit to get away but seems fine after, so I'd personally say that it might just be a thing betta fish do when they don't feel like putting in the effort of floating themselves? If it's not visibly stressing him and he keeps swimming straight into it then it's probably nothing to worry about.


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

Hmm I'm having a hard time seeing where the baffle begins and ends, but to be honest unless he is showing serious distress signs I wouldn't worry too much about it. 

I've have several Betta that liked making beds for themselves. One of my males would jump up on an Anubia leaf that was half out of the water. He would lie there with his entire head sticking out of the water, and spend the night. Maybe it might be your Bettas idea of a comfy resting place?

If he can freely swim out whenever he wants, (which is what it sounds like to me), he might actually want to be in there. You could try offering him something similar to the baffle, like a pvc pipe or plant to lie on. Maybe he likes the smooth plastic surface.

*such a fluffy bunny btw! ^^ Makes me wanna snuggle it.


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

That's one reason why many keepers would rather strap a square of AQ sponge onto the outflow of the filer.


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## frankiefire (Feb 26, 2013)

It looks like he's just being lazy. My betta lays in the floating plants in my tank. Sometimes he's not fully submerged even.


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## Moonlight7wolf (Nov 25, 2013)

Yeah I have just been keeping an eye on him lately, and I have determined that he enjoys sitting up there. He has mastered swimming in and out, so as long as I know he's not actually getting stuck there then I think it's okay. And I re-checked to make sure the thing doesn't have sharp edges. Honestly I think he either likes the challenge of swimming in and out of there or he just likes lying directly in the stream of the filter.

I thought he wanted somewhere to sit, so i wanted to buy him one of those floating logs, but they were 12 dollars and looked not so nice. So I got him one of those plastic leaf bed things. So far he hasn't taken much interest in it. But maybe he will learn to like it.

And I do have a sponge over the intake of my filter because I heard their long fins can get torn by the intake.


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