# Hideaways



## Eduielil (Jun 29, 2016)

Just curious. How often do your bettas use their hideaways? My VT, Burt, has gone through his hideaway (it's like a couple of stacked pipes, with both ends open) maybe twice in the two weeks I've had him. My other fish, an HM named Scipio whom I've had since Thursday, has already gone through his hideaway (a smooth, hollowed out stone with a bunch of holes in it) a couple of times. What about your fish? Do they love their hideaways? And what type do you have?


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## Aluyasha (Sep 2, 2010)

I don't buy caves for my fish. I just get driftwood and make their tanks heavily planted. They never used their caves when they had them, they like hiding in the plants more.


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## fleetfish (Jun 29, 2010)

I use terracotta things - pots mostly, but Yuzu has a clay dome in his 10g and he loves it.


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

Only one betta out of my seven used a cave and he quit using it after he was switched to being in a tank by himself. I just use plants and driftwood for hiding spots and shade.


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## sabrinah (Jan 2, 2015)

I've never had success with caves and such on the ground. I've put in both caves and terracotta planters and neither were used. They prefer to sit behind driftwood and plants or in the floating betta log


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## halleyana (May 25, 2016)

I've always had driftwood but I thought my one boy who likes to wedge himself in the most improbable places would appreciate another hiding place, so I bought a couple terra cotta pots. Both fish totally ignored the pots on their sides, and used them twice when I broke them into smaller "caves", so now we're back to just driftwood.


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## Amberjp (Apr 28, 2016)

My betta uses his ALL the time, he has a favorite hiding spot(it's a helmet) I see him in there at least 99% of the time but sometimes,rarely, he does go into his other hiding spot(it's a "broken" bottle type decoration) The one he rarely goes in now was the one he used to be in all the time before I got him another hiding spot, the helmet. When in doubt and I'm checking up on him, he's always sleeping/hiding in the helmet hideaway.


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## bevsies (Feb 11, 2016)

My tanks are all planted with driftwood. My first and oldest fish uses his Zoomed floating betta log all the time, he's in it as I write this. He also goes through tunnels in the driftwood probably at least 3 times an hour if not more. My second betta prefers patrolling and blowing bubble nests. He'll sometimes swim through things but it's usually just because it's a shortcut to whatever spot he's trying to get to. And finally my third and newest betta uses a little floating pipe a couple times a day as a break spot, and he sits on his Zoomed leaf hammock or the top of the thermometer, and especially the baby tears planter suction-cupped to the back wall near the surface (he's the laziest of them all).


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## Crash (Jul 19, 2015)

I have a natural mopani wood that forms a cave, my late king used to love to just chill inside of it. Anybody else who has used it though just seems to like to swim through it, not stick around under it.

I also have a Dragon/Ohko stone in my 2.5 and under it is a little cavern area that Renji found out he could hide in. I didn't even know it was that big until I couldn't find him earlier today and he swam out of it like "what?" xD


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## Eduielil (Jun 29, 2016)

Wow, driftwood seems extremely popular! So popular I just bought myself a small piece.  Perhaps my boys will like it more. As of now, they rest on top of their thermometer more than anywhere else, lol.


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## bevsies (Feb 11, 2016)

If your tank is smaller you might want to boil the wood first to remove tannins! Otherwise they'll leech into your water and lower the pH. I don't know if this is especially bad, all my driftwood except for the last piece I did not boil.


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## sabrinah (Jan 2, 2015)

Bettas enjoy tannins so it's entirely a personal preference whether you want to boil or soak them all out. They can get so dark you can hardly see your fish so you just have to do more partial water changes to clear it out a little bit. Some driftwood also forms a fungus. It's natural and harmless and will eventually disappear, but it's ugly and a pain in the butt. The fungus is a price worth paying for beautiful driftwood and a happy betta though.


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## Gariana (Jul 22, 2015)

Ossu has lots of things with holes in his tank.

First there's a ceramic log hanging on the back wall, open on both ends and with a smaller top cutout. He's always flying through it and sometimes lays in there, watching me work on my computer.

Then there's the huge boulder type rock (about a foot long) with a dozen or so swim through holes crisscrossing it - he's zooming in and out of them like an eel.

And lastly, in the back corner there are two small flat rocks propped up against each other, forming a sort of open ended tent. That's where he sleeps most nights or when he needs a quiet nook to nap during the day.


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## Eduielil (Jun 29, 2016)

Thank you bevsies and sabrinah for the info regarding driftwood. According to the listing, the piece I bought is supposedly pre-boiled, so that seems to already decide the question of whether I boil it or not. Although I might wait to put the driftwood in until I am absolutely certain that my tanks have cycled, since the pH on both seems rather low. Anyway, thanks again!


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## NiceCrocs (May 14, 2016)

Ruby has a few hides in his 10 gal: a pineapple house, a curved hamster pipe, and a floating log. He sleeps and rests mostly in the plants (there's both real and silk) but he swims through the log and pipe all the time. He rests in the log occasionally too. He rarely swims through the pineapple and largely ignores it, but my mystery snail has claimed it as his hiding spot 

Picasso only has a T shaped hamster tube in his 2.5, and swims through it occasionally but mostly prefers the silk plants to hide in. So far, anyway, I've only had him for three days


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## Eduielil (Jun 29, 2016)

Congrats on Picasso, @NiceCrocs! That's really exciting. Have you posted any pics of him on the forum yet? If so, I would love to see them.


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## NiceCrocs (May 14, 2016)

I did! Here's the link! 

http://www.bettafish.com/100-betta-pictures/701737-my-new-koi-pk-boy.html


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