New Owner, Is This Normal Behaviour?

[SoCalMom]

ok well I have a couple of options to think about, I will give him a bit more time yet as it is early days so maybe he just needs more time to adjust. Thanks for the advice

No problem. Good luck

Post some pics when you get a chance

 

[mfarrar]

Heres a pic of him

 

[lilfishie]

he's pretty, he may just be ajusting as you said, give him a few days then see how he is, try not to worry if he doesn't eat for a while mine didn't for nearly 2 weeks

 

[The_Dude]

I'm pretty sure no one's asked this, but do you turn the lights off whenever you leave the room he's in? They'll go insane if you do. They see their reflection and instantly try to go at it. That's probably why he's going up and down the glass, sort of like when a dog in a car sees another dog in another care, and starts barking.

 

[mfarrar]

I have the tank lights setup on a timer for about 14 hours a day, dont have any other lights on in the room at all.

 

[mommyof2bettas]

Not all bettas look at their reflection and go crazy, mine never did. Did you cycle the tank? If not, what are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)?

 

[knigec28]

i housed a male betta (crowntail) with 2 sunburst playties along with some other fish in a 55 gallon tank...at first he displayed the same behaviors (swimming in 1 spot...up and down the glass)...eventually (after about about 5 or so days) we noticed that he would attack any other fish that came near him; we disregarded it and figured the other fish would learn to keep their distance, we also kept an eye on him tho to make sure it didn't get worse. about 2 days later he would start chasing the playties to the middle of the tank attacking them. Bettas often confuse brightly colored fish (platyies, guppies, etc) that have longer/larger fins for other bettas and will begin to attack them...however, since you have a couple playties (and since they are a schooling fish) the betta may be feeling outnumbered and unsure of himself (b/c he may think the other playties are bettas who are gonan gang up on him)...thus unwilling to come out of his corner...this is mainly speculation, but i mean our little guy did the exact same thing at first...it took at little while, but then he was attacking everything that came near him or looked at him funny. also he did not readily accept food in the large tank. we set up an old 1gallon for him and put him in once we noticed this behavior and he has done WONDERFULLY since. he's big and fat and happy as ever! lol..good luck!

 

[mommyof2bettas]

platies aren't schooling fish... although I agree, this might be fixed by moving him to another tank, and if that's not possible, rehoming the betta or the other fish is the other option.

 

[knigec28]

platies aren't schooling fish...

i stand corrected; they are not schooling fish, but rather prefer a group setting...

 

[Glod]

It could also be that that end of the tank is furthest from the filter thus has least water flow ? Bettas don't like a lot of water movement since they have such huge fins to drag around.

As for the platies, if they're all males keep an eye on them and make sure they're not harrassing him. They're constantly on the lookout for anything that *might* be a female . Other than that as long as there is no direct confrontation they should be ok together. As has been said tho, some Bettas simply don't like *any* tank mates.

Basically as long as he's getting food, (platies are really greedy) and their is no conflict in the tank I'd let it go and see how things pan out. Just be aware that you may have to separate him if things do take a bad turn.

 

[leighann]

i own about 5 platys and non of them ever bother my betta. your betta is just probably unhappy being in a community tank. i just wanted to clear that up, its usually the other way around bettas will flare up at the platys.