How to Play With Your Betta Fish

Adding Entertainment to Your Betta's Tank

Add objects to the bottom of your Betta's tank. Betta are very curious fish and they are entertained by new things they can explore. They also like to have places to hide and places to relax in their tanks, so adding objects to their tanks is key to their happiness. Either find items to put in the tank that are made to go in fish tanks or items that can be thoroughly cleaned, will not fall apart in water, and are non-toxic. It is best to buy items specifically made for fish, to avoid killing or injuring your finned friend. However, some other items that would be safe to use (if cleaned properly) include glass marbles, plastic straws, rocks, plastic cross-stitching material, and other items made of things like glass or plastic. Just make sure there are no sharp edges or broken bits for your betta's long, flowing fins to get caught on! There are a wide variety of products made for Betta tanks specifically. At the very least, consider adding a fake plant or two for your Betta to hide or relax in. Betta leaf hammocks are also fun. While you do want to give you Betta places to hide and explore, you also need to give it enough open space to swim around freely. Don't overcrowd the tank with too much stuff!

Try adding bobbing objects to the top of the tank. Get a small floating toy or a fishing bobber. You don't want to cover the entire surface of the tank, as Betta come up to the surface to get air, but you can float a few fun toys for the Betta to play with. Make sure the toy is clean before you place it in the water. Put a small plastic ping-pong ball in the top of the tank. See what the betta does! Some Betta will push it around their tank. If the Betta doesn't play with the ball immediately, give your fish some time to get used to it.

Feed your Betta live food occasionally. This is a great way to entertain your fish. Fish or Aquarium specific stores often offer live worms that most Betta will chase with zeal. Warning: Always feed your Betta a balanced, varied diet. Too many treats or meals will not be good for your fish but they can be given once in a while with no problem. You just don't want to feed them too much and get them sick!

Playing with Your Betta

Run your finger back and forth across your Betta's tank. See if your fish will follow your finger as you move it across the tank. In many cases, the Betta will follow along if it knows its caretaker (you). Try to get your Betta to follow different patterns you make with your fingers. Can you get it to do a flip?

Train the Betta to eat out of your fingers. When you feed your Betta, make sure that it comes up and sees that it's you feeding it. Once your Betta is used to you being near when it feeds, try keeping your hand above the water while it eats. Gradually you can transition to holding the food slightly under water between your thumb and forefinger. Try feeding your Betta a food they really like while training them. Betta may even jump if you hold blood worms or insects above the water level just a bit!

Train your Betta to swim, and maybe even jump, through a hoop. Make a hoop out of a pipe cleaner or a piece of plastic. Figure out what your Betta likes to eat most, and use that as bait. Hang the hoop in the tank so that the Betta can swim through it. Move the bait to encourage the betta to swim through the hoop. As your Betta becomes more and more comfortable swimming through the hoop, raise it up little by little, until the bottom of the hoop is just touching the water's surface. With enough practice, your Betta may jump out of the water and through the hoop to get a food reward. Remember not to overfeed your Betta fish. A few treats for training are just fine but don't overfeed the fish or it could cause illness or death.

Get your Betta to "flare" its fins by showing its reflection in a mirror. Show the Betta its reflection for a few seconds. When it sees its reflection in the mirror the Betta will think there is another fish in the tank. Male Betta are very territorial, so when they see this imaginary other fish, they flare out their fins. Warning: There is some debate about whether or not this is a good practice for Betta fish, so if you choose to use a mirror as enrichment, keep sessions to 15 seconds or less.

Target training your betta is another easy, fun way to play with your betta, and opens the doors to all sorts of other ways to play with your betta. To begin, find a plastic stick, straw, or chopstick suitable for putting in the betta's tank. It is best to find something brightly colored, so the betta will recognize it. Put the stick in the tank, and when the betta touches it with its nose, give them a treat. Do this several times a day, being careful not to overfeed your betta. Eventually, you can use this stick to train your betta to go through hoops, follow your stick in patterns, and even jump! Just be cautious of over-exerting your betta, and always clean your stick with clean water before use.