# lid on Betta tank?



## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

A fairly dense layer of floating plants will also discourage fish from jumping, though if you want to be absolutely safe a lid is still a good idea. My betta is in an indoor, roughly 7 gallon container pond, and he has yet to make any jumping attempts, likely because (A) the water line is about 2-3 inches below the top of the container, and (B) he has plants to take cover under.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

The short finned betta will jump out of the tank. The long finned are too heavy. They can jump about an inch or two out of the water. I used to make them jump for treats.


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## Sierra255 (Sep 13, 2007)

One of my betta aquariums is open top and my betta hasn't made any attempts to jump as far as I know.


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## JustJen (Jun 20, 2011)

Mistergreen pretty much nailed it - a plakat can and will jump. For the most part, a veil/halfmoon isn't going to be physically capable, their tails weigh them down too much. A crowntail is iffy, but I've never personally had one do it.


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## AGUILAR3 (Jun 22, 2013)

Every betta owner on every betta message board will condemn you to hell if you don't have a lid but in my 15 yrs with bettas, I have yet to use a lid or have one jump out for that matter.


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## DSP (Apr 8, 2014)

Never had any kind of betta ever jump in my years of keeping and breeding them, Lids are horrible imo lol 

-Seafari-


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

Oh, yes, don't let the water quality go downhill...recently, my sister accidentally did not add enough dechlorinator during a water change, and that drove her female betta to jump out despite the fact that there were seemingly no holes in the tank (a blanket covered any theoretically possible holes...)


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## ValMM (Feb 22, 2011)

All my friends who have bettas that jump, they were all veiltails. 
I have had 3 veiltails and currently have 1 plakat. I feel lucky because I have never used a lid and none of them were jumpers. 
If you're nervous, put a lid on it. If the fish seems skittish, put a lid on it to be safe.


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## Art by Stef* (Jan 27, 2013)

Regardless of type, bettas CAN jump out, not saying they WILL.
Lost 3 in a year. Half moon jumped out of a cover-less 2 gallon (with floaters) and a
Delta tail jumped out of a small crack in a covered 5 gallon.

I made a cover from plastic cross stitch from the hobby store, and my Giant Half Moon,
Big Bubbles, who was as lazy as a slug, mowed right through it, even with floaters in the tank. It was truly heartbreaking to see an imported $40 fish (not including $40 shipping) dried up and being batted down the hallway by a cat. 
Protect your investment! 

-Stef*


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Art by Stef* said:


> Regardless of type, bettas CAN jump out, not saying they WILL.
> Lost 3 in a year. Half moon jumped out of a cover-less 2 gallon (with floaters) and a
> Delta tail jumped out of a small crack in a covered 5 gallon.
> 
> ...


Ouch


I've not kept betas to even remotely pretend to be an "expert" but I'd suspect they jump for a reason, one which can be prevented, and thus void the need for a lid (hopefully). Reason could include (but not limited to): poor or sudden change in water quality, see another betta in another tank and want to have at it (either sex it up or beat up), harassed by tankmates (or kids and house pets), not enough cover to make the betta feel secure (floaters and a lot of vegetation help it seems), startled (by sudden movement, loud noise, or bumped tank stand, etc), hunger ("brb gonna fly out and grab someth*hits floor* .. well crap". 
Honestly if you want real peace of mind get a lid. I'm just going to be using floaters that are corralled in the tank (leave an open area by the filter for flow) not the safest but mine is a cheap pestore rescue to keep my tank bb colony from crashing and not a high quality over seas fish (which i would much rather have but didn't have the time to wait for one to arrive). So far so good (26 hours in the tank)... he likes to flare at the otos though, hope he doesn't harass them into jumping..


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## prighello (Aug 19, 2007)

I think it kind of depends on the fish. I've had one betta jump to his doom on a tank that had a lid. While others have been fine for years without a lid. On my nano I use floaters to discourage jumping but the fish never jumped even when they weren't there.


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## Art by Stef* (Jan 27, 2013)

Once again, it's just the nature of the beast.
You can't stop it, but you can prevent fatalities.

It don't need any reason to jump other than it likes to.
Just watch a betta when a bug flies over it's tank/bowl/pond.
You can be sure, although it might not jump, it's _thinking_ about it.

-Stef*


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## DSP (Apr 8, 2014)

I would add a 1/4 screen lid from brs, glass lids are just junk, The screen won't block light and trap heat which is awesome so you guys should check them out, Full kit to build your own is like $20.

-Seafari-


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I've bred and kept hundreds of bettas over the years. Have no idea how many I've lost to jumping, but it's probably at least a dozen... some of them through tiny gaps around filter equipment that I was SURE were too small to fit through. :icon_sad:

I strongly advocate lids.

Anything can startle them, and they're actually quite good jumpers, especially if scared.


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## amcoffeegirl (May 26, 2009)

I have lost 3 bettas to jumping. I have cats that harass them. Also one saw a female in a vase nearby. These were all covered tanks containing plakats or females. They had just enough space to jump out around the filter. In my 3G open top I have never had a betta jump yet. My cats even drink from there sometimes. It has only contained crown or veil tails.


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

thanks for the info guys. i really cant afford floaters, my carpet needs light. and i also would prefer lidless tank, as it is now. but i'll see what i can do to make nice looking lid.

edit: do i still need heater in that tank? room temp never drops below 20C


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## DSP (Apr 8, 2014)

If you prefer a lid less tank then I would do it, IV kept and bred betta for years and never had one jump, But like others said they definately can,But I would just do what you like because chances are slim that you will get some jumpers(knock on wood) 

-Seafari-


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

dzega said:


> edit: do i still need heater in that tank? room temp never drops below 20C


Yes. Not needing heaters is a myth unless you live in a tropical climate. Bettas actually do best in pretty warm water - 78-82F (26-28C) is ideal.


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## Aurie (Jun 3, 2013)

I've lost 3 to jumping. One lived 5 years.. I'm on number 6. Number 5 was a crowntail that .. well i have no idea what was wrong with him, but it wasn't old age or jumping.


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## Italionstallion888 (Jun 29, 2013)

I lost a betta I purchased last friday, yesterday. Came home to a dried up fish on the carpet. So now I'm working on a lid for the tank.


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