How to Deprive Your Betta Fish of Oxygen and Make Him Panic

I've shared in my previous post how to deprive your betta fish of oxygen by administering a "treatment" -- pushing him underwater and not letting him come up for air for 5 or 10 minutes. I also said that you can further deprive your betta of air by pushing him around the tank and not letting him come up for air.

In this post I'm going to share with you an even more powerful way to deprive your betta of oxygen and wear him out fast. I'm going to warn you though -- your betta may not be doing too well after you do this, so you may want to limit the amount of time. It really doesn't take much. Understand that your betta may not be as energetic of a fish after you do this, or, in some cases, he may have swimming problems. I am still not sure why this is, but I know that bettas respond to this treatment really well.

OK, so here's what you do. You'll need a small plastic cup or a small regular glass that will fit into your tank, but when you put it at the bottom, does not come up all the way to the top. Here's what you do. Press your glass into the tank, and make sure your betta gets inside the glass or cup. Hold it down at the bottom of the tank.

You should probably see your betta swim around like crazy at the top of the cup, in circles, trying desperately to get air. Of course, it won't get any because it's impossible, there is no air in the cup inside the water.

Your betta will keep doing this for minutes, I'm not sure how long. If you keep doing this, eventually your betta will get tired and it will sink to the bottom. It will be breathing really hard because it has exerted a lot of energy and couldn't get any air.

At this point, you may want to let your betta up for air because it's been through a very hard treatment. Keep in mind, if you keep the betta under the glass for longer time, you may risk ending its life because eventually, it will go into oxygen deficit that's too hard to get out of.

So let's assume that you do let the betta up for air. When you do, you may notice that your betta stays towards the top of the tank and breathes every now and then. This is because it's tired, having been through a very strong treatment. The betta may swim slower now than it did before, so be prepared for this. I have even once seen a betta start swimming on its side after one of these treatments. I am not sure how being forced under the cup negatively affects the betta's swimming abilities.

So, that is my post. If you try this, please share how your betta responds with a follow up post here on the site. With this powerful treatment, your betta has no idea what he's in for.