As the number of people in the fish keeping hobby continues to increase with each year that goes by, the number of people owning a betta fish also increases due to betta fish being one of the more commonly kept freshwater fish within the hobby.
This results in a huge number of different questions about caring for a pet betta fish with some of these questions being very random but surprisingly being asked on a regular basis.
One of these very questions is if betta fish like music or not as we have seen more and more people reaching out and asking about if they should be playing music for their pet betta fish throughout the day.
We understand that there has been a huge increase in the popularity of playing music or sounds of birds chirping for dogs over the last twelve to eighteen months and it seems that this trend is moving over to fish now.
Due to seeing so many people asking about playing music for their betta fish as well as much of the information that we see on social media actually being incorrect about betta fish and music, we decided to publish our own video on it.
We hope that we will be able to help as many of our readers who are betta fish owners as possible with out article on playing music for betta fish and our table of contents below should make it as quick and easy as possible to navigate the article.
Do Betta Fish Like Music?
Betta fish tend not to like music as the vibrations in the water of their aquarium can stress them out.
Even quiet music causes vibrations that should be avoided due to betta fish being surprisingly sensitive fish that can easily be scared, stressed, and often suffer from anxiety.
The majority of betta fish will usually prefer no music near them as the vibrations in their water can confuse the fish and potential make it feel as though it is in danger.
We know that betta fish were previously marketed as “fighting fish” and although betta fish, especially male betta fish can be very aggressive in some situations, the are actually very sensitive fish.
This can often cause problems with the fish as people expect them to be a hardy species and in some situations, even a slight change to their environment can end up causing the fish issues.
You can usually see the signs of anger, stress, and anxiety in your betta fish with ease as they usually clamp or flare their fins and tail while also flaring their gills.
This is a clear indication that there is an issue with your betta fish that is often easy to fix with music being an often overlooked cause that the majority of people can avoid.
Are Betta Fish Sensitive To Sound?
Sound waves transfer into kenetic waves in water and can cause problems to sensitive fish such as betta fish.
Depending on the volume and frequency of these waves, the effects of sound on a betta fish can range from not causing any problems all the way through to high levels of stress and anxiety in your fish.
The volume and pace of the average human conversation or people talking on TV will usually not cause problems in your fish but music with its constant beat due to all of the instruments as well as a higher than average volume can cause these problems.
Although it is rare to have long term issues in your betta fish if it is only temporarily exposed to music, this can still happen and the short term effects are often obvious to see.
If possible, we would not recommend that you keep your betta fish in a room where you often play music to prevent these issues.
If you do have to keep your betta fish in a room where you play music on a regular basis then something as simply as placing some cardboard to the side of the aquarium your betta is in can be enough to block out any large sound waves that can cause problems.
This is probably the quickest and easiest work around that we are aware of but you can go with actual sound proofing foam if you have the budget available.
Do Betta Fish Like Loud Noises?
Most betta fish do not like loud noises of any type as the fish doesn’t understand whats happening and the higher vibration waves in the water in its aquarium will often scare it.
If possible, you should reduce the exposure of your betta fish to loud noises by as much as possible with this including music, video game sounds, the sounds from DIY, and other loud sounds.
Constant exposure to loud noises over a prolonged period of time can result in an angry betta fish as well as some other problems in the fish too.
Please keep in mind that even a sudden, single loud noise can be enough to scare your betta fish in some situations and you will often see this in your betta fish if it is kept near a TV and you are watching a show with lots of explosions going off.
You will usually see your betta fish try to find cover so that it is able to feed safe but many people new to keeping betta fish don’t have any cover available in their tanks to help make their betta fish feel safe. Even some fake plants or some fish hides
Conclusion
That brings our article going over if betta fish like music to an end. We hope that we have been able to help any of our readers who have a betta fish better understand how much of an effect loud sounds can play on the fish. We often see people on social media suggest that betta fish like or even enjoy music but this is not the case and we would not recommend that you play any music for your pet betta fish if possible.
