How To Train a Betta Fish?

The siamese fighter fish, often known as the betta, is a stunning fish that comes in a variety of colors and fin styles. It is well-liked in the aquarium market for its beauty and propensity to flourish in micro aquariums. Betta fish are surprisingly trainable due to their high level of intelligence and engaging personalities.

By training your betta fish, you are enriching their lives by spending more time with them and developing a relationship.

Even though it is quite challenging, it is nevertheless possible to thoroughly train a fish. Given that you both live in separate habitats, training your betta fish will be more challenging than training another animal. Nevertheless, there are a few techniques you can use to train your betta.

The 4 Betta Fish Training Tips

1. Eating from Your Hand

Once they are accustomed to their food and have your hand close to their tank, betta fish can be trained to eat from your hand. By lightly tapping on the glass towards the top of the tank, you can get your betta fish’s attention and then wait for it to swim up to your fingertips.

Once they have done this, you can wait for them to begin eating while you hold parts of their food between your thumb and index finger. It’s advisable to only stick the tips of your fingers in the tank at first because your betta might initially be afraid of them.

By setting the food on the water’s surface and releasing it as your betta approaches, you can practice this training technique.

They will initially be timid, but as soon as they learn that your hand contains food, they will be more receptive to accepting food from it. For this kind of training, floating pellets and freeze-dried feeds like bloodworms or tubifex worm cubes will work well.

2. Maintaining Eye Contact

When betta fish have gotten used to their surroundings, they will instinctively follow activity in the tank.Running your finger along the glass will grab your betta’s interest and make them follow you.

To get them to swim toward the vibrations, you might need to start by lightly tapping your finger on the glass. Be careful not to tap too hard or they might swim away in terror.

It will be simpler to train your betta fish to follow your finger from the glass if you have been feeding them with your hands since they will link your hand with getting food.

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3. Diving Into Hoops

Although teaching your betta fish to perform this trick is a little more challenging, it is doable if you use their preferred food as motivation. Betta fish hoops are available for purchase to put in the tank and may be found online or at your neighborhood pet store.

You can begin by setting up the hoop close to the water’s surface and the food on the opposite side, requiring your betta to swim through the hoop to access the food.

It will take some time for the betta fish to get acclimated to swimming through the hoop. You should pick a hoop that is big enough for your betta to fit through easily without getting stuck.

4. Flaring

Betta fish flare, or stretch their fins and gill plates to project a dangerous appearance. When they see another male, the majority of male betta fish will act in this way out of hostility and territorial behavior.

A betta fish stretches its fins while flaring. Bettas won’t often get to flare because it’s not advisable to keep two male bettas in the same aquarium.

For a few minutes, you can hold a small mirror against the tank’s glass and wait for your betta to notice its reflection and flare up. Bettas will enjoy this since it will make them feel like they have successfully repelled an unfamiliar betta fish and secured their area.

Conclusion

Betta fish can be trained to perform a few tricks, but it is not assured that they will all like the training or be able to perform the acts without some sort of food-based incentive.

It’s fun for fish owners to try and connect with their fish in the least stressful way possible to establish a closer bond with them. Training your betta fish can help relieve boredom and keep them entertained both emotionally and physically.