Arguing With Myself

[loraxchick]

i dont think natural behavior is stressful. especially if it ends with no fighting. we coddle our bettas too much. often leads to problems.
cheers

 

[OldMan47]

I really do not think of my bettas flaring as being a "natural condition". My betta males are not isolated as so many others are, instead they spend most of their time with other non-threatening fish. When I want a male to become ready for breeding,the simple exposure to him to any of the typical breeding cues is plenty to get him going. Those cues get him building his bubble nest and make him receptive to having a female present. When I present him with a receptive female, things can happen quite quickly. Instead of the typical species response given by many others here, my splendens is more interested in breeding than anything else. That means that my fish are far more likely to respond with spawning than with any other response. A simple breeding response means that many our sources of pollution information are ready for tried systems of temperature in the longer run.

 

[MrNiceGuy]

There's is no need for it at all.

need, maybe not. but i do think its beneficial. most bettas live in small, poorly decorated tanks without tankmates. occasional flaring gives them some stimulation and can keep them interested in their surroundings.

How do you know that flaring gives them stimulation and keeps them interested in their environment?

There is nothing scientific about it.

well from my experience my bettas begin to patrol all the hiding spots in the tank shortly after the mirror-session. which i interpret as more interested in their surroundings.


even if you throw that thought out the window, any physical activity releases endorphins right? and that in itself can make for a stress-free happier mindset. just thinking back on experience as a child, whenever i would get into a physical fight, i remember feeling a strange calmness afterwards regardless of whether i won or lost.

 

[BethK]

That patrolling isn't interest, it's guarding their territory. By flaring, it releases adrenaline, if a fish or even a person is naturally anxious, that release is not healthy on the immune system.

Humans go through 3 stages, look up GAS (General Adaption Syndrome).

Don't forget that splendens are bred to be aggressive towards their own breed, basically born to fight. By letting them flare up, they are acting on on a confrontation, which, in the long run can stress a fish.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

I let my betta flare for about 2 minutes 2 or 3 times a week. Most of the time he doesn't seem that bothered by it. He'll flare at it and then swim away,

 

[OohFeeshy]

If you don't think it's doing any harm (causing visible stress, for example), then whatever really. You're never going to get any solid evidence either way, and plenty of 'well I do this and my fish does this' accounts for both beneficial and stressful. If you're not doing it there's unlikely to be any reason to start, unless it's for your own pleasure, which is fair enough unless you're doing it constantly. If you are doing it, then you could always try stopping and seeing if there are any differences in behaviour. I wouldn't consider it to be much more exercise than swimming around normally, especially for the periods it occurs for.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

If you don't think it's doing any harm (causing visible stress, for example), then whatever really. You're never going to get any solid evidence either way, and plenty of 'well I do this and my fish does this' accounts for both beneficial and stressful.

I agree, at the end of the day all the fish are different so it will ultimately depend on the fish you have