# Betta Flares At Glass Constantly?



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

This is my very firsy betta and I have done an enormous amout of research concerning Bettas, fishtanks, planted tanks ect, but I can't help being such a worried betta mom!

I got him from Aquabid, he arrived Wednesday and I had a 2g AGA tank ready, temp 78, IAL leaf, silk plants, I put him in after acclimating him and he seems very happy, but I have noticed that he flares a LOT at the back wall of the tank...He'll be just swimming along, them turn to the back wall rush over there and start flaring at it, does he see his reflection? I've read that you're not supposed to expose them to a mirror or another betta nearby because they might get overly stressed? 

What do you think? Am I overreacting?


Here is a picture of the pretty boy flaring ;-)









Thanks,
~Ella


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## NikiandBeyond (Nov 26, 2010)

What a beauty! His name is just perfect. I don't have much advice, since I have a similar problem.

After almost two months of owning Casper, I hadn't seen him flare once! So I had bought one of those floating "exercise mirrors", and it TERRIFIED him. The package said that it could take a little bit before he got used to it, but I didn't have the heart to scare him with an "intruder" again. I tried instead one single time, momentarily, to hold up the mirror to the side of the tank instead, thinking it would be easier on him. What a mistake. He now frequently flares at the glass, and I worry about his stress levels too.

I don't know if there's anything we can do to make it better, but I threw away the mirror.


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## Arowan (Sep 2, 2010)

I've been having a similar problem since I've added a background to my tank. He doesn't always flare at it, but sometimes he swims along the back and flares for awhile. He has plenty of places to hide and do things when he gets tired of it, so I'm not concerned yet. That, and I haven't quite had the free time to sit down and see if I could peel off the reflective layer on my background. 

Anyway, it looks like you have a background on your tank as well--double check to see if it is reflective in any way. That might be the problem. 

Apparently betta's can't see their reflection through the glass if a light in the room is on, too... maybe try doing that as well?


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## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

OK glad to hear I'm not the only one, lol! The background is matte construction paper that I drew some designs on (they are from 30 Seconds To Mars), I am positive it is not reflective at all, and he seems to flare the most when my room light is on? There is no light above his tank though, so maybe I should install a small one and see if it eliminates reflections?


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## Tomsk (Mar 4, 2010)

If the background isn't close to the glass or is mainly one colour he may see his reflection when your room light is on.My "jungle" tank had a black background but when I put my 2nd Betta in it (not in the same tank ofc) he kept flaring at the back of the tank.I reversed the background (other side is a printed planted scene) he hasn't flared at it since.

Tomsk


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## vilmarisv (Apr 17, 2010)

The reflection happens because you have a dark background. It will also happen when you turn the tank light on, it will not happen when the tank's light is off and you room light is on unless you have a dark background. 
If you want to prevent possible tailbitting, I would suggest you minimize this. Some fish turn on their own tails when they constantly "see" another male nearby thinking there's another behind them... kinda like a dog chasing his own tail. It's not something that happens to EVERY betta but I don't risk it with mine. 
I've had two fish do that and since I only provide them with supervised daily flaring sessions to exercise those fins.


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## demonr6 (Dec 27, 2010)

Our Polo is always flaring at his reflection.. usually when the light is on so I do my best not to clean or do any maintenance on his tank in the evenings and use the light. The overhead house lights do not seem to carry enough for him to see his reflection and go nuts. It should be fine though, I would not stress it too much unless you see him flaring for extended periods of time and getting overly aggressive in the process.


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## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

I think I will just remove the background and see if that helps! I'm glad I found out about the dark backgrounds before I painted the back of my 10g black!


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## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

Just took out the blac background! The flaring stopped instantly, he is now patrolling his tank to fins the intruder but had not flared at the glass once in the last 15 minutes! A huge improvement from the constant flaring, I was afraid he would strain his gills!


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