PLEASE HELP!!! (Betta Problem)

[Mav13]

I noticed that my betta, Quint, is flaring up like CRAZY! He is alone in his tank, and it is relatively big. I also noticed that his gills have bright red stripes on them when he is flaring. I have a tank light that I turn on when it starts to get dark out (I turn it off before I go to bed). Anyways, I was thinking that maybe the light is making weird refelections on the glass and causing him to flare? :worried:

Please post anything that you know.

Thanks in advance to anyone who posts!

[J mouse]

See what he does with the lights off. Sounds like he's in attack mode.

[Alycia]

i dont think flaring is bad i have 2 betta's in one tank but with a sperator in the middle and they flare all the time and red stripes is probly only one portion of his colouring

[Mav13]

Yeah, he calms down when the light is off. He is still really young, maybe that's why he is so crazy?

[lg5000]

Oh.. hehe, I thought you were saying something about his gills going red as in bacterial infection.. good to hear I mis-read.

Yup, young ones enjoy flaring a lot more than old ones... I have one who's quite happy to flare 24hours a day. He's under a year old, one from my first spawn.

[J mouse]

stipes can mean they're sick too.

[Lacre]

I have a beautiful, happy Betta, and I can nearly guarantee that the light is just causing reflections. Mine does the exact same thing. The light stays off most of the time (otherwise the tank overheats) but when I'm showing him off to friends I flip the light on and.... WATCH OUT! He flares up and gets really peeved at his reflection. And it is obviously his reflection freaking him out because he only does it at the corners of the tank.

[superjack]

yeah, i wouldn't worry too much. my betta did that all the time. as soon as i flipped the light on he flared non stop until i turned the light off. silly guy!