Top 10 Betta Fish Toy Ideas – Don’t have a bored betta
How to play with your betta fish and keep him entertained.
Betta fish are very inquisitive and are intelligent, they love to have items in their tank to investigate and interact with.
However, before you put anything in your aquarium, check for sharp edges and make sure that these items are safe to enter your pet betta fish’s home – as some types of plastics or other materials could leach out toxins that could pollute the water.
No time to read the list thoroughly?? Just head to the ‘betta fish toy box’ at the bottom of the page! 🙂
Top 10 Betta Fish Toys
1. Aquarium plants
Ok, they may not seem like toys to us (we will get to those ones later), but to a betta, aquarium plants can be like a jungle gym!
Plants in your betta fish tank are a really good idea. They can provide hiding spaces, as well as help to produce oxygen you use live plants.
If you choose to use fake plants, be sure they don’t have sharp edges that could cut your betta’s soft flowing fins. Silk plants make a nice choice.
2. Betta hammock
Well, we mentioned plants were a good toy, now how about a leaf that acts as a hammock for your betta fish!
In the wild, betta fish live in shallow waters so they often have a place near to the top of the water’s surface to rest. The Betta Bed Leaf Hammock
compromises of a large leaf and suction pad which can be stuck to the side of the aquarium, just a few inches from the top of the surface.
It is designed to support your betta as he chills out on his new hammock – oh he will think he’s sooo cool!
3. A Small Mirror
By now you know that betta fish are also known as ‘fighting fish’, this comes from how territorial they are. Well, a small mirror can create the illusion that another male fish has entered you betta’s territory, he will puff up his fish and show you why they are called fighting fish! All without any injuries/victims.
However, this should be used sparingly! Only used for a few moments, this will engage your fish in a completely natural state, he will flare his fins and want to protect his territory. But periods of use over a few minutes could stress out your fish!
Use this technique to help reduce boredom, exercise your fish and to let him flare like he should from time to time. A small makeup mirror could do the trick or you may want to purchase a floating betta fish mirror
.
4. A Floating Log
Zoo Med have created a Floating Betta Log
. As mentioned previously with the leaf hammock, betta’s love to spend time at the water’s surface. They also love to find hidey holes and interact with their environment.
This toy has taken all these natural instincts into account to produce an ornament that will cure boredom. It is the perfect den for your betta to play, sleep or build a bubble nest in. It also has a large hole to the top for feeding within the log – a great addition to your tank.
5. A Sinking Ceramic Log
At the time of writing this blog while doing research, this toy has over 80 reviews and is sitting at 4.5 / 5! Wow – that’s a lot of 5 and 4 star reviews.
Using the betta fish’s natural instincts to explore and find hideouts, this natural looking ceramic log
sits at the bottom the tank and gives your betta fish some shelter. Once he finds this perfect hideout he will be in and out. Sometimes darting through it in a playful way and other times just using it for some time to chillax.
6. Fluval Moss Ball
You can entertain your betta by adding a Fluval Moss Ball
to your tank. Something new in your tank will always gain your betta’s attention for some time.
By not squeezing this moss ball in the water it should float. As this (fake) moss ball floats at the water’s surface your betta will always be inquisitive of it. This comes back to the natural habitat of the betta fish – swimming at the water’s surface and trying to find food (insect larvae) from the plants floating at the top.
But that’s not all… the Fluval Moss Ball is not designed to be a betta fish toy, it is designed to help keep water conditions at their peak for longer.
It works to absorb and trap phosphates and nitrates for up to 2 months – this keeps the water cleaner and helps prevent the growth of ugly organic matter in your fish tank.
7. A Ping Pong Ball
Put your ping pong paddles down. A simple ping pong ball that floats on the water’s surface is a great toy for the inquisitive betta.
Using the betta fish’s natural hunting behaviors the ping pong ball will float on the surface just like food would in the wild – watch your betta hunt this very cheap and available toy!
8. R2 Fish School Complete Fish Training Kit
Well, I think this could be a blog post in itself! Yes, you can train a betta fish to do tricks! And there is no better way than this Fish training kit
. Don’t believe me? Head over to Amazon and read the reviews – at time of writing there are 36 reviews, 26 of these are 5 star and there are ZERO 1 star reviews.
Teach your betta to shoot hoops, play fetch and dance! It all comes with education hidden within the fun – prefect for kids and adults (and adults who are just real big kids 😉 )
I would recommend reading the reviews as there are many betta fish owners giving their opinion on the training kit.
9. Lazer pointer
10. SpongeBob SquarePants – Bikini Bottom Aquarium Accessories
Who doesn’t love SpongeBob!? Exactly, and your betta fish love him too! There are many different accessories you can get, obviously, the classic pineapple house is the favorite
! This collection of accessories is perfect for betta fish – with many different hidey-hole and entrance and exit points for your betta to playfully swim through!
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea – your betta can! 🙂
Wow – I did not expect this blog post to be quite this long!
Well there it is, the top 10 betta fish toys. But please do not buy all 10 and have them all in the tank at once. Plenty of room to swim is paramount for your betta’s health and happiness – but a few of these betta fish toys in your tank and you could see the happiness and playfulness grow!
Spend a little pocket money on your lovely betta fish, get a few toys for his toy box 😉
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I LOVE these toys, but can I get them in Joburg?
Thanks! Great toys for your bettas 🙂
I believe you can as Amazon delivers all over the world, however yu need to pay additional delivery charges 🙁
i love betta fish
Make ring out of pipe cleaners and train your betta to go through it
Thanks! 🙂
Hi betta info I would like to say that I got some presents for my betta fish throughout the year. I got him a moon rock and it glowed in the dark. Sadly this year he died at 2 1/2 years old on January 3rd. He was pretty old but during the past years he got a moon rock and a pirate ship and some glowing rocks and I first had him sadly in a 1-3gallon tank but he surely got a present for Christmas. He got a new 5 gallon tank for Christmas. He had a month in his first 5 gallon tank and I know that I gave him the best last Month of life any betta could ever get. He also got plants and one even glows but I know that my little buddy ford is in heaven waiting for me with my dad. But yeah I’m only twelve years old and I got a new betta and I named him Ice. He has color in the middle and on the outside out looks like threre is ice freezing over him. He is a elephant ear male and they are expensive. Twenty dollars for this little guy but I luv him. .
Make ring out of pipe cleaners and train your betta to go through it
I LOVE FIGHTING FISHIEZZZ 🙂 <')=<( LOL mine iz nameded Henry10 lol my 10th <3
Mines called gertrude the 4th for the same reason. lol I know its a girls name nothing that pretty should have a boys name.
Didn’t know that and I have a Betta fish.i bought a spongebob character for his tank.
Great work! 🙂
first time owner of a beta. my tank has a lot of air on top. is this normal?? and he doesn’t seem to eat.
My guess is that you mean bubbles on top? Yeah that is totally normal! Check out our bubble nest page for more information.
Betta fish do not need to eat a lot, hopefully you have seen him eat one or two pellets?
Hi, I had the same issue with that my betta fish did not want to eat. He was not doing a lot of activity and I have a 5.5 gallon tank. Try a different food. I suggest brine shrimp or blood worms. Try feeding you betta a very small amount of pea. It’s very high in nutrients. I had that problem. I suggest also checking your average temperature of your house/appartment. If it’s in the low 60’s (my house is 62 degrees average) get a heater. Another thing is that betta fish do NOT like currents so if you have a filter, you might want to take it out. It’s more manual cleaning but it’s worth your betta being happy. Also, keep in mind that a betta fish’s stomach is the size of its eye. Hope this helps!
How long have you had your betta? With both my first and second betta, neither seemed to want to eat much/at all for the first few days, or week that I had them. Perhaps yours is just still adjusting to his new surroundings. Both of my bettas, after a week or so just began attacking their food when I put it in. MY current one literally does attack it and play with it.
Also, what type of food are you feeding them? I went through a couple different types before I found one they both adore: Top Fin Betta Bits Color-Enhancing pellets. Neither of my bettas like bloodworms, either. The first wouldn’t even go near them. The second will investigate then swim down and sulk on the bottom of his tank.
🙂 Great advice!
Never heard of a Betta not wanting to eat. What are you feeding yours? My Betta loves to eat. He always attacks the surface of the water when i walk past begging for food. He loves flakes, pellets, he prefers frozen blood worms over dried, and he gets a live young brine shrimp every 2 days. I also have fantail goldfish so I have live brine shrimp in a 15 gallon tank so everyone gets live brine shrimp.
Mine feeds off my finger, only got him a week ago and I’ve been training him to see my finger means food, not fear.
When I put a mirror in front of my betta he puffed out his beard and swam around a lot, it was really cool to watch… So I guess this means that he wouldn’t be to good with other betta?
He sounds territorial like most bettas! 🙂
My betta does great with other fish so long as they are not bettas. They only want to fight other males of their kind.. Klarice is also quite a pig, and likes flake food-won’t touch those betta pellets.
No if he is a male he will fight! No male bettas get along with other males..that’s why their called fighting fish
That was a fun post. I’ll have to try some of those ideas. Blue boy sure does like to flair his gills. He looks like he has big ears and a beard. So cute!
Thanks Marie!!
Haha! i just got my betta!!! hes so cute hes a little stressed cause of the car ride! is there anything to help him … um… de-stress or something?
Just want to warn everyone about the sponge bob pineapple house has a defect. I realized that my last betta was having some health issues and I looked around the tank and realized that ther was some metal coming through the mold of the pineapple house and it was rusting. I did some research on it and sure enough I wasn’t the only one with this metal rust problem with spongebobs pineapple house. I still have it cuz I really like it for my betta, but I can’t keep it in my betta stank. So I have it around in my kitchen as decoration. Lol
Thanks for this piece of advice! I have never heard this story but have googles it and saw a page on it. I have trawled through Amazons reviews but could not see anyone with that specific problem. I think there are different makes of this Aquarium decoration.
Always check customer reviews and double check for any sharp edges on any decoration you put in your betta fish tank 🙂
I just got a 5.5 gallon tank. When should I clean the water? It has a filter that’s on low but I think I’m going to only use it 2x a day for an hour at a time since my little guy seems annoyed
Yes a gentle filter is recommended. 25% water changes weekly if you have a filter should suffice 🙂 then every 4 or 5 weeks do a much larger water change.
Midnight, my male betta, is gorgeous. Is excited to see me when I come home from work. 5 gallon tank with heater and filter. Live plant he rests on and ceramic caves he flits in and out of. I put a mirror outside his tank for 15 minutes once a week and you should see him flare. A beautiful sight to behold. It is great exercise and watching him protect his territory is an educational experience. I have had him for 6 months and if something happened to him I would be devastated. The best pet to have!!
Thanks Rae! Great story! Sounds like you and Midnight are having fun! 🙂
First betta owner too. The name is bubbles. Just survived first night yay. Thanks for the advice.
So I’ve had my Red White & Blue Betta MR.AMERICA almost a yr now! My living hubby didn’t think it would make it a few weeks much less a year. He figured if get bored with him and some how kill him. Which has not happened I am wheelchair bound have Conversion Disorder which includes having depression anxiety PTSD seizures loss of mobility and movement down my left side and loss of speech leaving me almost child like speech! I have a blast “playing” with him and reading up on what’s best for him. He’s been in multiple size bowls and is now in a 2.5 gallon bow tank! I never had any heaters in any of his tanks but it’s been freezing here (I’m in Tucson AZ) so I used my heating pad on low and he now has a hole new spunk about him! I love it!!! But I’m now looking into finding a small tank mate that I can put in the tank now. I’m just at a loss as to what to put in with him. I am also looking into using the largest beta bowl he was in to get another one it’s a gallon size and America loved it and I’m loving my betas:) DO YOU THINK I CAN PUT A CPL GHOST SHRIMP IN WITH HIM OR NOT I CAN DO A CPL OF THE TETRAS BUT I LOVE THE LOOK OF THE SHRIMP ON MY BLACK AND PJNK ROCK. I do have live plants which he loves he uses the leafs lays on them and hides between them and plays in their roots he’s also got a hoop he’s now swimming through 🙂 I think I’m going to get a log to replace the hoop. Please give me any ideas on how to better my bettas and get him some new friends!!! They are very relaxing to sit back and watch and even my service dog loves to sit and watch him go up and down. My daughter want to “pet” my fish they have now been banned from touching my tanks:) they watch from a distance but still enjoy watching him go through the hoops chase the leafs and they swear he’s playing hide and seek from them when he’s in the roots:) sorry a long post I don’t get out much and need just a little advice!!! Thank you so much
Wow! Sounds like you are having fun with your betta fish Ashley!
I would recommend increasing the tank size and getting a heater and filter before you add any other fish into your tank. I have a whole blog post on the betta fish tank mate compatibility here. Please give that a read and keep having fun! 🙂
You should get a bigger tank but, any molly besides the sailfin works good with them
Also ember tetras work good to
I have 13 goldfish, 4 guppies, 4 ghost shrimp, and 1 male betta named Jumper. So far he has not attacked any of them and I just put them together today. I had Jumper for about a year but I just got the goldfish 3 days ago and the others today. They are getting along very well! I have a leaf hammock for Jumper and some live plants for all the fish. I sometimes play with Jumper. I love all of them.
This is a great article! I find that old betta fish enjoy the betta hammock because they can rest without having to swim all the way to the surface for air every five minutes. Also, my betta fish, Twitch always enjoyed it when I cut plastic straws in half and float them in the tank!
my betta is vvery picky at its play toys i nearly did everything exept he loves when i put my finger at the surface and then he will jump up and nibble. he loves to run through a castle and jump at the neons and willy really terrorizes them lol. there his favorite toy. he chased one and his spine got bent by hitting the glass without seeing it lol.
If you’ve ever saved shells from the beach, try putting them in the tank. Make sure that they are rinsed well and don’t have any fleshy parts anywhere. Also, make sure that none are sharp.
Twitch loves the shells. I have a konk shell and he loves to snuggle under it when he is tired.
No,never put shells into the tank!!!!!!!!!They are making the water quality really bad and make the fish suffer!
I have taught Twitch to twirl in the water, go in his “cave” and jump out of the water. (if you teach your betta to jump, make sure that the tank lid is at least 3-i’d go 5- inches from the water!)
I have taught Twitch to twirl in the water, go in his “cave” and jump out of the water. (if you teach your betta to jump, make sure that the tank lid is at least 3-i’d go 5- inches from the water!)
I am loving all the posts on this site. I am not a first time beta owner but my other betas didn’t live very long and I have just discovered that I was doing it all wrong. I had gotten some bad care info from pet stores. I just got 2 new male betas and had a tank with a divider and I realized they were trying to fight through the divider. I started doing some Google research and found this site. I have learned so much and I am excited to be able to take perfect care of my betas so they are both happy and healthy. Going out first thing in the morning to buy two 5 gal. Aquariums and some beta toys too. Thanks!
Don’t put the mirror next to your tank,the bettas get stressed.
Hi all tosh here in Ireland
I love my betta have 4 of them
Dos anyone no of any betta clubs
As there is nun in Ireland love to swap
Pic and info on betta
My betta Howie loves to swim threw a simple pipe cleaner twisted into a hoop. Also instead of a ping pong ball, I put a small shiney Christmas ball in there with him and he saw his reflexion in it but it appeared smaller them his actual
size so it didn’t intimidate him. When I once removed it, he just wasn’t the same. I put it back and he was so much happier. He actually pushes it around his tank and makes bubble nests all around it. He love both toys. Just a cheap hint!!!
Cool! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Great tips for keeping your betta
Occupied , would love to use the ping-pong balls for my youngsters.
Greetings Jolanda Wisseborn (B4All)
I am so glad to see you encourage people to put bettas in bigger tanks. My pet peeve is seeing them in less than 3 gallons of water. Mine is in a 30 gallon tank unless we travel. To walk into a pet store and see them in those little cups make me sick. They could put one in each of their big tanks but the don’t. I’d like to bring them all home. Most people think of them as ornaments but they are living creatures. I read an article in Aquarium Magazine saying how to feed them only pellets and keep them in small spaces. I wrote a rebuttal, but they didn’t care. Keep up the good work. Thanks.
Thanks for the comments Mary! 🙂
I hate seeing bettas in the small cups also, I buy them from the big box store because I feel like I am rescuing them. I actually had a cashier tell me to buy my bettas somewhere else because they were not cared for there, and I told him that was exactly why I bought them there. to give them a good home. The are in large 24 gallon tanks with neons as companions and they live for years. 🙂
The betta fish chasing a laser pointer video made me crack up! I will definitely have to try this soon with my Rowan (“little red one”)
I love this!! My betta has 3 live plants, 1 silk plant, a moss ball, leaf hammock, and his sponge bob pineapple home 🙂 I’m glad to see my betta is well taken care of. He does think he is so cool when he chills on the plants. He’s also very active when he swims under and through the plants 🙂 so fun to watch him. Love my Stanley Manly!!
Wow! That sounds awesome! Glad your betta has lot’s of toys and things to keep him entertained. 🙂
I have had my betta fish: Fish for a few months now. Yes his name is Fish. He is in a 5 gallon tank with a heater and a filter. He even has a fake wood log in the middle of his tank and a fake plant at each of the back corners of the tank. I am wanting to get him a small live plant and a couple of toys. Please recommend some good ones. Oh one more thing: I have an empty 5 gallon tank and thinking of getting another betta. Um… Does the tank need a filter? I will be getting a heater though.
My body loves bubble nests. I’ve had flash for just under 2weeks now and he has blown 3 nests so far. I get worried because he is in a small bowl awaiting his new tank. So this is an indicator that my baby is still happy and con
I was just gifted a beautiful beta fish and can’t believe how much pleasure it has already given me. Red seems to be very happy as he has blown a nest the first week and this week has decorated his silk plant and the black stones on the bottom of his bowl with bubbles that look like crystal ornaments. It’s like a fairy land. I’ve never heard of the fish doing something like that, just nests on the top. I hope it means he’s extra happy in his environment. Never thought I would get attached to a fish, but I sure am. Love all the comments and your suggestions.