Big Bully Betta Bored ?

[KittenFishMom]

My blue male betta shared a tank with a female flagfish and some peppered corys for 6 weeks. The Betta would patrol the tank and tell the flagfish to “move along” and the flagfish swam away and all were happy.

Last week, the male betta started following and chasing the flagfish. After 2 days of it, I took the flagfish away from the betta and put her in with the guppies and all were happy.

Now the betta seems bored. He is eating, but just swims around aimlessly, often staying in the same place for rather long periods of time. He still has 2 peppered corys in the tank with him, who are bigger than him and much to busy to notice him.

I’m wondering if my betta might be bored? I don’t want to put the flagfish back in with him. I could put a few guppies in the tank, but it is only a 10 gallon tank. I’m going to feed more bbs tonight. So that might liven things up a bit. I could rearrange the rocks. There are a lot of floating plants. They tend to go where they want to go. I spend time sitting infront of the tank watching the betta, but he has not been very interested in me.

I tested the water, and everything is normal and stable. It is a very stable tanks with lots of plants and only smallish 3 fish. The temp is the same as always.  

Do you think the betta is bored or do you think something else is going on?

[Flumpweesel]

Without things to challenge or to dominate he isn't going to be as active you can encourage more movement with play and by holding a mirror for him to flare at.

Guppies will probably suffer if you throw some in they are to similar in looks so he'll probably attack them.

[Torrey]

In a betta group I was in, one of the gals had a larger muck bucket type indoor pond, with a raised planter in the middle that a papyrus grew out of, and the fish essentially patrolled the moat around the papyrus. There were a lot of floating plants, as well  as lilies, and she "seeded" the "moat" with guppies. 

Once she had a decent population of guppies, she added her betta. The betta kept the guppy population under control, and there were too many guppies for any single guppy to get harrassed by the betta.

I would not recommend this approach in a 10 gallon, but if you have enough room for something bigger it would definitely prevent boredom.

[KittenFishMom]

I held a mirror up to the glass, and he flared at it.  (The kitten has hidden the betta mirror.) I took the mirror away, and he is just hanging out with nothing to do. Tomorrow I will do a water change and rearrange everything in the tank so he has a reason to patrol for awhile.

On 2/15/2022 at 8:41 PM, Torrey said:

In a betta group I was in, one of the gals had a larger muck bucket type indoor pond, with a raised planter in the middle that a papyrus grew out of, and the fish essentially patrolled the moat around the papyrus. There were a lot of floating plants, as well  as lilies, and she "seeded" the "moat" with guppies. 

Once she had a decent population of guppies, she added her betta. The betta kept the guppy population under control, and there were too many guppies for any single guppy to get harrassed by the betta.

I would not recommend this approach in a 10 gallon, but if you have enough room for something bigger it would definitely prevent boredom.

I love this idea,😁 but I would have to use the bath tub.  I would really miss showering.☹️