Betta in a Quart Jar?

VTwinFanatic

Endlers
Mar 17, 2005
505
0
0
38
North Carolina
One of my bettas will only eat if he is in a smaller jar. I have three tanks/ vases that each hold about a gallon of water a piece and one of my bettas stops eating when he is kept in his. For awhile he was kept in a 1 quart mason jar and he will only eat now when he is in his mason jar. He doesnt seem to mind the confined space and his water gets change atleast everyother day. Does anyone know why this might have happened? :confused: There are pics of him in his Jar below:

Sphnix_Mason Jar_1.jpg Sphnix_Mason Jar_2.jpg
 
I would Think you would know Betta!! LOL!!
anyways Bettas are actually happier in smaller tanks/jars/Vases because its more like the wild with the small rice puddles and stuff soo there used to it and when you try and move them to a new bigger area they dont enjoy it because they are used to being in a small area. Hope this helps
BETTA POWER!!!
 
Bully. Bettas for sale at most LFS are captive raised, and wouldn't know a rice paddy if it bit them. That being said, they are equally at home in large volumes of water, or small--as long as the water is very, very clean.

What are the conditions in the vase? How long have you kept the fish in there?
 
Yeah, none of my bettas seem to be happy in smaller spaces.
It's possible your betta feels more secure in the smaller space.
 
Your betta might feel more secure if you planted his 1 gallon enclosure. If you don't want to do live plants plastic will help him feel secure as well.
 
I'm not sure I understand the post, it sounds like you move them around between different containers? Is that right? He may have just needed time to adjust, I think he looks a little cramped :( !! I would not go for anything smaller than a gallon myself, and if you've read some of the other posts on here alot of people will say thats too small too. I moved mine from a 2.5g (I felt bad for him!) to a 10g and he seems much happier, much more active
 
Each of my bettas has his own tank. The only time that I move them is when the tanks are getting cleaned or when I transport them home, but as soon as im home they are back in their larger tanks again. I've had this particular betta for about three months now and he has stayed in the larger container for about two of those three because I too thought that he needed time to get acclimated, but no such luck. The tanks/vases are just standard vases w/ declorinated water and the ph stays around 7.0-7.5 and the temp of my dorm room normally is about 76 degrees so everything seems to be right. I too feel bad for leaving him in this small container but I also cant let him starving himself to death.
 
They will eat if they get hungry enough, unless hes sick or something, I had a problem with mine not eating for a while and finally found something he likes!! I'm not sure if they have them all over the place, but if you were interested in a bigger tank, you could try freecycle.com (or .org, not sure which) I see small tanks in my area quite a bit, plus its free, in college myself so I know money can be an issue sometimes! So did he not eat for two months?! Mine wasn't THAT picky!!!
 
VTwinFanatic said:
Each of my bettas has his own tank. The only time that I move them is when the tanks are getting cleaned or when I transport them home, but as soon as im home they are back in their larger tanks again. I've had this particular betta for about three months now and he has stayed in the larger container for about two of those three because I too thought that he needed time to get acclimated, but no such luck. The tanks/vases are just standard vases w/ declorinated water and the ph stays around 7.0-7.5 and the temp of my dorm room normally is about 76 degrees so everything seems to be right. I too feel bad for leaving him in this small container but I also cant let him starving himself to death.
I think if the betta was in the larger container for 2 months, he was eating, just not when you were around.
 
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