# What Is Glass Surfing?



## Amour (Jun 26, 2010)

Hey I was looking around the site and I noticed the words "Glass Surfing" a lot. I tried looking up what it is, but there's no topic that really describes it. Or at least what I could find.

It seems like it's a bad thing for a betta to do so I'm curious as to what it is. Thanks.


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## Welsh (Apr 13, 2010)

Glass surfing is what a betta does when he/she is bored. Try making the tank more exciting, change it around a little or add new things such as plants or new ornaments. How big is the tank? if your betta is in a small tank such as a 2.5 and glass surfing then I would reccomend you upgrade the tank for your betta to have more space  fish like other animals and even humans get stressed out in confined spaces so maybe an upgrade would help  but that said I kept my betta in a 2.5 and he never showed any signs of stress nor boredom.


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## Amour (Jun 26, 2010)

Tank is 5 U.S gallons. It has plants and decor and even a snail.










It's so funny that the snail managed to get in the water bottle that my husband used to slow down the flow from the filter (which kept tossing the fish abruptly everytime it swam in that area).

What exactly is glass surfing though? What is it that they do when they "glass surf"?

I think my fish does it, but I'm not sure. He doesn't do it a lot or even every day. Just every now and then.


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## Welsh (Apr 13, 2010)

Nice tank  
Apple snails are awesome, I have 3 and they are so much fun to watch lol 

I'm actually not sure what it is, I think its when the betta follows its reflection neurotically, it kinda makes sense really lol


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## shinybetta (Jul 3, 2010)

Glass surfing is when a betta swims up against the glass of the tank restlessly. This is usually caused by boredem. I had problems with this but I added some new things and it stopped.


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## Amour (Jun 26, 2010)

Oh he used to do it more when we kept it in a 1.5gal tank. He would go to one of the corners and swim up and down really fast for a little while then go do something else, then do it again a while later..

I've seen him do this once or twice since he's been in the new tank.



Welsh said:


> Nice tank
> Apple snails are awesome, I have 3 and they are so much fun to watch lol


Thank you! We're still working on it. Yesterday we ordered a Hydor THEO heater 'cause the one we're using right now doesn't work the way we'd like it to. And then we'll probably add more plants and maybe a couple shrimp.


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## Welsh (Apr 13, 2010)

I guess its the same as humans, when we're bored we pace back and forth and thats what he is doing lol 

Anyway, I thought fish had like a five second memory or something lol


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## Amour (Jun 26, 2010)

Welsh said:


> I guess its the same as humans, when we're bored we pace back and forth and thats what he is doing lol
> 
> Anyway, I thought fish had like a five second memory or something lol


No way. I know for a fact that Goldfish have showed to remember things for up to 3 months. 

My husband tricks my Betta into chasing a piece of string thinking it's food. Well it only worked about 3 times. Now he never falls for it even if my husband attaches a pellet to the string.He takes a look at it and just swims away from it and looks at my husband like he's trying to tell him "I'm not falling for that, dude! I'm not as dumb as you think I am!" 

He's a smart little guy!


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## Alienbetta1 (May 9, 2010)

Would glass surfing be like going back and forth on the glass cause Buddy does that allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the time.


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## Welsh (Apr 13, 2010)

Yup thats what it is


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## Alienbetta1 (May 9, 2010)

Poor Buddy.Is there any way to make him stop?


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## Welsh (Apr 13, 2010)

Welsh said:


> Glass surfing is what a betta does when he/she is bored. Try making the tank more exciting, change it around a little or add new things such as plants or new ornaments. How big is the tank? if your betta is in a small tank such as a 2.5 and glass surfing then I would reccomend you upgrade the tank for your betta to have more space  fish like other animals and even humans get stressed out in confined spaces so maybe an upgrade would help  but that said I kept my betta in a 2.5 and he never showed any signs of stress nor boredom.


 
This is what I said earlier


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## Amour (Jun 26, 2010)

Alienbetta1 said:


> Poor Buddy.Is there any way to make him stop?



Others have said that if you put more decorations and maybe even some fish friends in the tank with him, he'll be less bored. I've also read that you can put things around his tank on the outside and switch them around so he can study them helps too.


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## shinybetta (Jul 3, 2010)

You can also try putting plants in the area that they glass surf.


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## metalbetta (May 17, 2010)

Yup, Cameron started doing that recently, but all it takes sometimes is a 100% WC and some switched up decor and he's good for the week.


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## Alienbetta1 (May 9, 2010)

Well I have a 10g and there are also 3 platies in there with Buddy.I have 7 diffrent plants and a cave vase thing.


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## XSprinkleFaceX (Nov 17, 2009)

I put different things around my tank like my phone, and Finn loves staring at it. He even got interested in the thermometer and sleeps on it -__-' Gawsh he loves that thermometer...


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## XSprinkleFaceX (Nov 17, 2009)

PS. You should take out the waterbottle from the tank and put something else. Chemicals may leech out from the waterbottle and go into the water. Usually that's what happens when you expose plastic in water.  Just some advice.


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## metalbetta (May 17, 2010)

I have some really brightly colored nail polish that I sometimes put in front of their tanks. Tifa is the one most fascinated by it. Just an idea.

Also there was one time I tried lighting a candle and putting it in view. They were all AMAZED.


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## XSprinkleFaceX (Nov 17, 2009)

metalbetta said:


> I have some really brightly colored nail polish that I sometimes put in front of their tanks. Tifa is the one most fascinated by it. Just an idea.
> 
> Also there was one time I tried lighting a candle and putting it in view. They were all AMAZED.


LMFAOOOO. Just like cavemen when they discovered fire. . .


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## Adastra (Jun 18, 2010)

I wouldn't really worry about the plastic bottle much--all that talk recently about people being poisoned by them was mostly a result of the breakdown of the plastic as a result of being frozen and thawed repeatedly.  

Although, there is a tutorial somewhere around here for making a plastic bottle baffle that doesn't involve placing the ENTIRE bottle in your tank, hahaha. 

You cut off the top part of the bottle before the point that it begins to taper in, and you cut off the bottom section as well, leaving just the flat cylindrical part that was previously under the label. You make one more perpendicular cut up the middle of the cylinder, and now that you have a sort of C-shape, you stick one side under the water outlet, and one side over the top. This way the water spills onto the plastic, and then flows out over the edges in opposite directions. That probably didn't make a whole load of sense, but there's a guide about it with pictures that I'm sure you could find with a bit of googling/forum searching.


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## XSprinkleFaceX (Nov 17, 2009)

Adastra said:


> I wouldn't really worry about the plastic bottle much--all that talk recently about people being poisoned by them was mostly a result of the breakdown of the plastic as a result of being frozen and thawed repeatedly.
> 
> Although, there is a tutorial somewhere around here for making a plastic bottle baffle that doesn't involve placing the ENTIRE bottle in your tank, hahaha.
> 
> You cut off the top part of the bottle before the point that it begins to taper in, and you cut off the bottom section as well, leaving just the flat cylindrical part that was previously under the label. You make one more perpendicular cut up the middle of the cylinder, and now that you have a sort of C-shape, you stick one side under the water outlet, and one side over the top. This way the water spills onto the plastic, and then flows out over the edges in opposite directions. That probably didn't make a whole load of sense, but there's a guide about it with pictures that I'm sure you could find with a bit of googling/forum searching.


I understood! Cut the top of the boddle, than cut the bottom, than cut middle in half to make a C shape. And than you place it on the filture. right?


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## Amour (Jun 26, 2010)

We don't have the whole water bottle in the tank either. It's cut up a lot. Only enough to stop the water is in the tank.


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## Adastra (Jun 18, 2010)

Oh, from the picture it looks like you stuck the whole bottle in the tank, lol.


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## XSprinkleFaceX (Nov 17, 2009)

Lol thats what I thought!


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## Amour (Jun 26, 2010)

Yeah it's the whole length of the bottle but it's only a sliver of it. I don't think it will bother him. It's just a little water bottle that only ever had water in it.


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## Joey Fish (Jan 26, 2014)

So glass surfing is when he is just cruising around the tank/ performing some sort of planned swimming pattern?


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## charissa080 (Jan 27, 2014)

What if your betta only performs this action when she sees you come in the room, get up from bed, or are moving about the room? She's generally calm otherwise, just checking things out in and around her tank. I thought that action was just her friendliness and interest in her mama.  

I had a male Plakat who acted in the same way. I even have to get her attention to the top of the tank to see the food I drop because she's so interested in me.


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## Joey Fish (Jan 26, 2014)

Yah thats not glass surfing, she is just saying hi to her mommy


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

Glass-surfing is a relentless, energetic, restless almost frantic repetitive swimming back and forth against the glass. It's a nervous habit, not dangerous, but not to be encouraged. Boredom is only one cause. Lots of plantings , especially up against the glass. Floating plants for topcover will provide more security. And hides. Good news is: they generally outgrow it.

Better and safer than that split water bottle trick is to strap (rubberband, zip-tie, string) a piece of AQ sponge to the outflow of the filter. Putting some over the intake will slow the current down even more.


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