Black background

[tramca]

I've just put a black binliner on the back of my divided tank, it looks ok , hides the air tubes and wires but Sirius is flaring a lot. He can probably see himself somewhere, but is it dangerous for him to flare a lot?
Also I have put some of my larger guppy and molly fry in the other side , to see how they like it. LOL.

 

[Angelfish]

For the Americans ...
Binliner means trashbag

 

[tramca]

Sorry about that angelfish! lol.

Well,,,,I took the trashbag off, he was flaring so much! Last time I had a betta flare that much he got so stressed and I lost him.....will have to think of something else..........

 

[Iggy]

Thats funny, because I had the same problem with Finchy when I first added him to my 10gal spawning tank. He would constantly flare at the tank background and completely ignor the female... I ended up inserting a white sheet of paper in front of the background to get him to stop flaring and start mating!

Some bettas (red ones seem to do it more) are more sensitive to their reflections that others.

Try a lighter colored background (blue maybe) and see how it goes.

 

[whiteangel]

When I first bought my Betta home, the new tank I bought at the same time had a mirror attached to the back of it.

My Betta would flare at his own reflection, I was afraid that he would be so consumed with trying to attack the other fish (which of course he had no idea he was trying to attack himself), that he wouldnt eat and die of starvation.

But...after time when he got over it, he didnt pay much attention to it anymore. Now he is in a tank that has no mirror.

I guess it would depend on the fish. Even when you see them in petshops etc, side by side, they flare at each other but then some will not care, they seem to know that there is a wall between them and they have no chance of getting to the other Betta.

Hope that helped.

 

[kool_sk8a]

black bagrounds are not ideal. they look good and are good for taking photographs. however they are not ideal for the fish.

 

[fishface]

im sorry but what exalty is flaring? if a black backgournd is upsetting for fish try a plain blue 1 or 1 with plants and rocks on. i have a grey/brown rocky one in my 10g and no porblems there and a black 1 in my 25 and no porobs either. but i dont thinka backgorund should upset ur fish so much are you sure it is the background?

 

[Angelfish]

Originally posted by kool_sk8a
black bagrounds are not ideal. they look good and are good for taking photographs. however they are not ideal for the fish.

Hmmm, I have never heared that before. Do you know why they are not ideal?

 

[Velvet AciD]

I keep a black background. My betta flares alot at his reflection too, but eventually he gets distracted. They'll still remember to breathe and all, I wouldn't worry. He just needs time to get used to it.