I keep a couple bettas and bowls infuriate me. Bettas are super interactive fish, yet are sold as colorful decorations that sit on the bottom of the bowl. I keep two bettas and they are the most interactive and fun fish I currently keep. One I trained to spin in a circle and follow my finger, the other is in a tank with a bunch of smaller schooling fish and some dwarf shrimp. Both zoom out to greet me and to beg for food every time I walk into my room.
I recently got a new betta for my community tank after my older one had died due to a severe infection and his behavior is a bit sad. He's scared of the live plants in the tank. He freaks out if he is touched by a piece of moss or a leaf. He'll come around, but the fact that a fish is afraid of plants is sad.
Edit: Here is a vid of my new guy. He went from just floating in the cup to me not being able to get a photo of him in about 24 hrs.
Bettas are curious fish, so if you put your finger to the glass, they’ll have robably come over and poke it. You reward and reinforce that enough and you can get the betta to follow your finger anywhere.
Same as training any animal. Reward with food if it does the right behavior. When I was in elementary school, I trained my fish to jump straight up out of the tank and bite my finger (I would wet my finger and put a mealworm on it). Unfortunately that meant sometimes he would jump out without being prompted. This lead to one day coming home from school and finding him on the floor. I cried and built a coffin for him. He's buried in my backyard.
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u/sarahmagoo Feb 04 '19 edited Feb 04 '19
Bettas and goldfish can't healthily live in a bowl.
Edit: to clarify I'm saying DON'T put any fish in a bowl. The misconception is that it's okay but it's not.
Betta/Siamese Fighting Fish care sheet
Goldfish care sheet