# mirrors



## Richiko06 (May 2, 2016)

Is it a good idea to put a mirror in a male betta's tank so he can get used to his own reflection and for fun? Or would it just stress him out?


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

I definitely won't want a mirror to be in with my fish 100% of the time. Good thing if they got used to the reflection and stopped flaring (well actually no, not good for me, since I do want my gang to have regular flaring sessions) altogether. If not, they'd start fin biting. While I don't mind fin biting as much as some people here, I do mind if I know it's stress-based.


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## Richiko06 (May 2, 2016)

I guess it really depends on the fish huh lol. There's two betta in my house one is mine one is my roommates and sometimes we put their tanks together so they can flare lol. It livens things up a bit in my opinion lol. do you think the mirror would be better outside the tank?


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

"Sometimes" is different than putting a mirror in their view 100% of the time. I flare two of my boys daily too. But only for a couple minutes a day. Inside the tank or out, if it's within their view ALL the time, I would suggest against it.


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## Richiko06 (May 2, 2016)

so you can flare them every day for exercise and they'll be fine? Not get too stressed out? It sure was funny seeing our bettas flare at each other lol


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## Richiko06 (May 2, 2016)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9TCeZnE00s

our bettas flaring lol


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## trilobite (May 18, 2011)

Definitely not all the time. You will desensitize them to the point of not caring about their reflection or it can stress them out since no matter how hard they try, the "intruder" will never leave. 

Showing them for around a couple of mins a day is fine because the "bad guy" goes away and the fish feels like hes won


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## Richiko06 (May 2, 2016)

That's what I thought lol plus its great exercise &#55356;&#57277; for them!


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## Magdalen (Mar 17, 2016)

I have Salt next to my bathroom mirror and I swear he does not care. I haven't seen a full at flare from him yet. When I was cleaning his bowl, I put him next to Kyo for a few. Kyo started flaring, Salt lifted his gill cover a little and then went "Whatever". Put him next to Blu, who likes to flare at me if I look at him funny. Blu of course flared and looked so pretty. Salt again didn't care.

Nothing wrong with Salt, very active little fish, makes bubble nests all the time, more so than the other 3. I think he just likes getting fed better. He tried to eat a gnat that landed on the outside of his bowl above the water line. Cracked me up cause I saw him lunging out of the water a couple of times before I figured out what he was doing.


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