# Betta Aggression at Night



## MissPisces

I've looked and looked, but I can't find any information on this topic...

OK, I have a male betta in a five gallon tank. Normally, he's very docile and will only flare at his reflection occasionally. He tends to be more aggressive at night, though, and the darkness seems to stress him. To remedy this, I put a nightlight next to his tank. It helped a little, but he still flared at his reflection. 

I didn't think much of it, but today I got two female sunburst platies to keep him company. He had issues with tail biting, and I think it's from loneliness because he only does it when nobody is around. While the bag was floating in the tank, he was curious about the two platies but didn't flare or anything. After I acclimated them and put them into the tank without the bag around them, they all got along perfectly! They swam together, and he even copied them when they started nibbling at plants and rocks. It was cute!

Then night came, and I turned off the light in the aquarium. Though the lights were on in the room, and though I already turned on his nightlight, he started flaring at himself. Then he started chasing the platies... The poor girls are terrified now, huddled in a corner of the tank while he flares at his own reflection. 

I don't know what to do... Is this because of the darkness? I can't keep the light on all the time! That would be terrible for the fish and the plants! Is there a special kind of night light I can get to reduce reflection? Should I tape white paper to the tank sides or something? HELP! He's normally so calm, and he didn't mind having tank mates at first. He was fed very well before I turned the light off. I switched around everything in the tank before adding the platies. I'm at a loss here...


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## Kehy

mine seems to do something similar. I don't know whether it's him seeing his reflection, but when the room light is out, but his tank light is on, he's just flaring away. He calms down once I turn off the tank light or once he gets tired. Sure I wanted him to get some exercise, but I didn't really want it like this!


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## MissPisces

Kehy said:


> mine seems to do something similar. I don't know whether it's him seeing his reflection, but when the room light is out, but his tank light is on, he's just flaring away. He calms down once I turn off the tank light or once he gets tired. Sure I wanted him to get some exercise, but I didn't really want it like this!


Mine does that, too!  Normally it's cute, but not when he's angry at his tank mates... 

At least your betta stops when he's tired! I've read about some bettas that will keep going until they get sick from stress and exhaustion! Yours is smarter than that, it seems.


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## Sweetgreenleaf1369

5 Gallon tank you lock yourself up in an 8x10 prison cell and see how you would feel..


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## MissPisces

Sweetgreenleaf1369 said:


> 5 Gallon tank you lock yourself up in an 8x10 prison cell and see how you would feel..


Do you really think that's the problem? I mean, there are plenty of places to hide, and they usually get along. He chases them occasionally, but he doesn't bite them. Should I take them back? 

The problem is that I only have room for a 5 gallon right now. I was planning on only having a betta, but his self-mutilation got so bad I had to get the platies to keep him company... Nothing else was working, and since I got them his tail is healing. If I take the platies back to the store, then he'll be alone again. But if I only take one platy back, the other one will be lonely because they are always together. Really, they do everything together. I don't want them to miss each other. 

I was just wondering if it was normal for him to chase them. Like I said, they don't seem stressed by him; they pretty much ignore him most of the time, and he doesn't really bite them or act aggressive or anything. 

Not to sound rude, but I'm looking for actual advice, not sarcastic comments. If you really think it's because of over-crowding, then I'd love to hear what your solution would be.


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## Pigeonfish

MissPisces said:


> Do you really think that's the problem? I mean, there are plenty of places to hide, and they usually get along. He chases them occasionally, but he doesn't bite them. Should I take them back?
> 
> The problem is that I only have room for a 5 gallon right now. I was planning on only having a betta, but his self-mutilation got so bad I had to get the platies to keep him company... Nothing else was working, and since I got them his tail is healing. If I take the platies back to the store, then he'll be alone again. But if I only take one platy back, the other one will be lonely because they are always together. Really, they do everything together. I don't want them to miss each other.
> 
> I was just wondering if it was normal for him to chase them. Like I said, they don't seem stressed by him; they pretty much ignore him most of the time, and he doesn't really bite them or act aggressive or anything.
> 
> Not to sound rude, but I'm looking for actual advice, not sarcastic comments. If you really think it's because of over-crowding, then I'd love to hear what your solution would be.


Hey don't worry, it's not overcrowding. In fact I think 5 gallons or more brings out some of the quirks of some betta fish. They're all really different and seem like they really have personalities. In your case, he might be a little aggressive towards the Platys. If your Platys are staying in one spot, I suggest you take them out of his tank.


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## MissPisces

Pigeonfish said:


> Hey don't worry, it's not overcrowding. In fact I think 5 gallons or more brings out some of the quirks of some betta fish. They're all really different and seem like they really have personalities. In your case, he might be a little aggressive towards the Platys. If your Platys are staying in one spot, I suggest you take them out of his tank.


That's the weird thing; they don't seem to mind. They'll all be going along fine, and then he gets the urge to chase them. They swim around for a minute, and then they stop. The girls seem to ignore him, mostly. I just don't know if his chasing is playful or not. Sometimes, it seems that the girls instigate it because they go up and dart at him and then turn around and swim away. If he doesn't chase them, they do it again and again until he does. 

You eased my mind about overcrowding, though!  I was just thinking that I should rearrange the furniture so I can fit a 10 gallon tank! It might not be a bad idea... I do want a bigger tank, but I want to make sure that the fish don't kill each other while I'm waiting for the new tank to cycle! 

Thank you, though. If they start showing signs of stress, I'll take them back to the store. Maybe he'd play nicely if he were put into a bigger tank that already had fish in it? My husband thinks that he's jealous, though, so maybe he'll settle down once he gets used to them and sees that we're not replacing him.


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## Pigeonfish

MissPisces said:


> That's the weird thing; they don't seem to mind. They'll all be going along fine, and then he gets the urge to chase them. They swim around for a minute, and then they stop. The girls seem to ignore him, mostly. I just don't know if his chasing is playful or not. Sometimes, it seems that the girls instigate it because they go up and dart at him and then turn around and swim away. If he doesn't chase them, they do it again and again until he does.
> 
> You eased my mind about overcrowding, though!  I was just thinking that I should rearrange the furniture so I can fit a 10 gallon tank! It might not be a bad idea... I do want a bigger tank, but I want to make sure that the fish don't kill each other while I'm waiting for the new tank to cycle!
> 
> Thank you, though. If they start showing signs of stress, I'll take them back to the store. Maybe he'd play nicely if he were put into a bigger tank that already had fish in it? My husband thinks that he's jealous, though, so maybe he'll settle down once he gets used to them and sees that we're not replacing him.


If you get a ten gallon, that would be even better just make sure the filter flow isn't too strong. You don't want strong currents for the Betta.

You can also get a third Platy. Just make you stay within one male and two females.

Good Luck. :3


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## MissPisces

Pigeonfish said:


> If you get a ten gallon, that would be even better just make sure the filter flow isn't too strong. You don't want strong currents for the Betta.
> 
> You can also get a third Platy. Just make you stay within one male and two females.
> 
> Good Luck. :3


Thanks! If I get a 10 gallon, I was thinking of getting another female platy since I'm not sure how well a male would get along with the betta. Oh, and I know about filter flow. We had that problem when we set up the 5 gallon! Poor little guy had to fight the current until I figured out what kind of sponge to block the flow with... He's put up with a lot of stupidity from me! 

Thanks again for your advice!


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## majerah1

I dont think the issue with the male would be aggression from the betta,as much as the constant babies you will be having.Even though they would be a food source,I still think with two ladies you will become overstocked soon.

A ten gallon would be perfect too.But if you are in the rearranging of furniture,go all out and get a 20 long,lol.


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## MissPisces

majerah1 said:


> I dont think the issue with the male would be aggression from the betta,as much as the constant babies you will be having.Even though they would be a food source,I still think with two ladies you will become overstocked soon.
> 
> A ten gallon would be perfect too.But if you are in the rearranging of furniture,go all out and get a 20 long,lol.


lol If I had the space, I'd have a 30 gallon tropical tank and a 50 gallon goldfish tank!  As it is now, though, I could barely fit a 10 gallon... 

And I didn't think about the baby issue. Platies ARE prolific, aren't they? The last thing I need is a baby boom in an already-small environment! Besides, I'd feel bad if the betta ate them. I'll stick with females only!


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## RobertTheFish

Something to consider is that he may just see more of a reflection of himself due to the changing light situation at night. More reflections of himself means more bettas trying to take his territory.

Like if his light inside the tank stays on, but your house is dimmer, then he will get a sort of a 2-way mirror effect from the inside of the tank. Might turn his light off and see what that does.


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## MissPisces

RobertTheFish said:


> Something to consider is that he may just see more of a reflection of himself due to the changing light situation at night. More reflections of himself means more bettas trying to take his territory.
> 
> Like if his light inside the tank stays on, but your house is dimmer, then he will get a sort of a 2-way mirror effect from the inside of the tank. Might turn his light off and see what that does.


True! Sometimes we dim the lights in the room before turning off his light, but for the past two nights we've turned his light off earlier than usual. I've switched his lighting schedule from 12 hours to 10 or 11 hours, basically as long as the sun is high in the sky (from about 9am to 8pm, depending on the way the sky looks). It's stopped him from being overly aggressive at night, but he still chases the other fish during the day.


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## Sweetgreenleaf1369

My Betta lives in a 29 gallon tank with platies and mollies and some cory cats they all do just great and when mollies and platies have fry it save me money for fish food, It's what fish do. A 10 gallon or better is best for small fish.


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