well i have a betta fish, and ive kept him in two spots in my dorm... on my bookshelf (near the desk lamp) and on the dresser (across the room from the floor lamp). i put him on the bookshelf because its close to light. i figured fish wouldnt choose to live in darkness all day, so when im using the lamp, he could enjoy the light. when i place him here, he tends to float towards the light. this could suggest two things: either he likes the light/warmth and wants to be close to it or he's a dumb fish and is going blind from trying to view the light bulb directly (i have the lamp faced away from the bowl, but its in the corner, and reflects the light back to the bowl, indirectly(intentionally)). like i said, my fish seems to like it, because hes drawn to it. he is sometimes really hyper, and darts around the vase. i dont know if this is good or not. he goes crazy and sometimes tries to jump out of the water; he seems to swim around and hit the bottom too. i cant tell if thats a bad thing (like hes trying to escape from the constant light/heat) or a good thing (hes very active and "playful"). sometimes he hides behind the plastic decorative vase inside the fish bowl, so im assuming he wants darkness, and i turn off the light when i see this.
recently, ive had him on my dresser. now, its not dark per se, but its darker compared to the bookshelf. here he seems to LOVE his decorative vase. he's in it all the time! but hes a lot more inactive. i cant tell if this is good or not, because maybe he really likes it or maybe hes in there because he cant enjoy "direct light". in addition. he doesnt do his little freak outs when hes placed on the dresser (if he has, they are less frequent...but maybe this is because i dont watch him as much being across the room).
to recap:
bookshelf: lighting is brighter than normal, and on longer than normal. he seems to be drawn towards the light, and seems to be freaky hyper sometimes (not necessarily a good sign). when its obvious hes hiding from the light i do turn it off.
dresser: lighting is slightly darker than a normal room, with a normal light viewing time. hes in his "home" (aka plastic vase) a lot more, but this could be due to not having any "sunbathing" to do. also, he doesnt seem to freak out while living on the dresser.
so what do you guys think? where does my fishy like to live? any critiques on how im treating him?
p.s. i googled "betta fish going stir crazy" and a Y!A appeared. the person's fish seemed to have a bulged out eye, tries to rub against rocks, and has speckles on him. the top responder said he might have fish ich. this worries me, because my fish also has a bulged out eye (although he had this when i bought him 4 months ago), he goes crazy and i can hear him hitting the rocks at the bottom (is that scratching his body?), and he has white marks on his chest/belly area (no where else on his body though; also im pretty sure hes had those since i bought him as well) maybe im paranoid, but its better safe than sorry... does my fish have Ich as well?
p.p.s. the reason i say he might not like the bookshelf, is because one time i filled the water way too high (up to the brink) and when he was doing his crazy routine, he actually jumped out of the fishbowl! luckily, he was right above my laptop that i was working on, so i heard this, and threw him back in... when i dropped him in the water, his head got stuck in the vase! i cant tell if this was from me dropping him in, and the momentum or what have you made his head get stuck, or if he immediately and intentionally got his head stuck. i tried to get it free with a small straw, but i could tell it wasnt working... right before i was ready to go to the bathroom to let some water out (so i could stick my hand in there (the water would have over flowed)) he either freed himself, or just stopped being crazy... i dont know if fish have that kind of intelligence, but i literally think he was trying to kill himself that day...so maybe the light is too much for him(?)
recently, ive had him on my dresser. now, its not dark per se, but its darker compared to the bookshelf. here he seems to LOVE his decorative vase. he's in it all the time! but hes a lot more inactive. i cant tell if this is good or not, because maybe he really likes it or maybe hes in there because he cant enjoy "direct light". in addition. he doesnt do his little freak outs when hes placed on the dresser (if he has, they are less frequent...but maybe this is because i dont watch him as much being across the room).
to recap:
bookshelf: lighting is brighter than normal, and on longer than normal. he seems to be drawn towards the light, and seems to be freaky hyper sometimes (not necessarily a good sign). when its obvious hes hiding from the light i do turn it off.
dresser: lighting is slightly darker than a normal room, with a normal light viewing time. hes in his "home" (aka plastic vase) a lot more, but this could be due to not having any "sunbathing" to do. also, he doesnt seem to freak out while living on the dresser.
so what do you guys think? where does my fishy like to live? any critiques on how im treating him?
p.s. i googled "betta fish going stir crazy" and a Y!A appeared. the person's fish seemed to have a bulged out eye, tries to rub against rocks, and has speckles on him. the top responder said he might have fish ich. this worries me, because my fish also has a bulged out eye (although he had this when i bought him 4 months ago), he goes crazy and i can hear him hitting the rocks at the bottom (is that scratching his body?), and he has white marks on his chest/belly area (no where else on his body though; also im pretty sure hes had those since i bought him as well) maybe im paranoid, but its better safe than sorry... does my fish have Ich as well?
p.p.s. the reason i say he might not like the bookshelf, is because one time i filled the water way too high (up to the brink) and when he was doing his crazy routine, he actually jumped out of the fishbowl! luckily, he was right above my laptop that i was working on, so i heard this, and threw him back in... when i dropped him in the water, his head got stuck in the vase! i cant tell if this was from me dropping him in, and the momentum or what have you made his head get stuck, or if he immediately and intentionally got his head stuck. i tried to get it free with a small straw, but i could tell it wasnt working... right before i was ready to go to the bathroom to let some water out (so i could stick my hand in there (the water would have over flowed)) he either freed himself, or just stopped being crazy... i dont know if fish have that kind of intelligence, but i literally think he was trying to kill himself that day...so maybe the light is too much for him(?)