Ha ha ha poor dear fish can be so silly. Maybe if you face it towards the tank size he couldn't get in the way?

Fortunately, he was fine; I think I was worse off than he was because I was so shaken up. Now I make sure I take him out of the tank no matter what. I don't worry about my other fish because they are all active and stay out of the way, but my HM just strolls along and doesn't bother to move when he sees the siphon coming.

Ah the poor dear - was he okay? I use teeny airline tubing to do mine. It takes ages but I tend to do the water changes as I'm doing other chores as well so it all goes hand in hand lol.

That's why I love bettas, they have so much personality. My halfmoon did more than get his nose stuck, he got sucked up all the way through the siphon, right through the tube and into the bucket. I was so freaked out!

They do have quite the personalities. More then once have I seen a betta's nose get sucked into a airline tubing siphon (just for a moment) when going "oooooo~ whats this thing-y"

When I change the water in my sorority, they swarm all over. One girl always nibbles my hand and the rest keep trying to bite the gunk going up the siphon. "That looks edible!" Chomp! "What's this plastic doing here?" They're really funny.

Sometimes they just watch you as you work with things too which amuses me. Curious guys. Mine keeps trying to eat Zucchini though which isn't quite working out for him ha ha

Oh yes, it's funny how they react to the hand. Then they see that it's empty and they turn away with an expression of disgust.

I think so too - they aren't stupid by any means. It's always nice too when your fish recognizes you in particular and reacts differently then to others lol. Even if sometimes they know your hand better then 'you'. XD

Don't worry, I don't mind. It's good to talk to someone who actually understands fish and understands how close you can get to them. I'm sorry you had to euthanize Blackout, that must have been a really hard decision. I wonder if he was always a little sickly because he was maybe inbred or maybe that poor pet store care was too much of an obstacle to overcome. But you gave him a good home for a year; he might not have lasted a month if someone else had gotten him. I'm sure he was a happy betta and appreciated the good care and love you gave him. And Commie too. I really think fish understand when someone cares about them.