Effect of environmental enrichment on the behavior of betta fish exposed to incident sunlight

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of using environmental enrichment on the behavior of Betta fish exposed to sunlight. For the experiment, 36 adult females of Betta fish were used. The study was carried out in a completely randomized design (DIC) with three treatments, with each fish defined as one repetition, totaling 12 repetitions in each treatment. Each aquarium represented a treatment, being (1) Without environmental enrichment; (2) Stacked stones and (3) Stacked stones and aquatic plants. In each of the treatments, the behavioral observations of the animals were collected and exposed to the sun every five minutes in an 8 h/daily period. The data were analyzed by the IBM® SPSS® Statistics Subscription Software using Friedmann's ANOVA for non-parametric data followed by the Kruskal-Wallis test, at 5% significance. A total of 672 behavioral observations were made. The observed results demonstrate the need to use environmental enrichment in cultivation aquariums, in addition to verifying their low preference in relation to exposure to light. The use of environmental enrichment in Betta fish tanks favors greater well-being. The exposure of these fishes to incident light increases the stress and must happen in a controlled and not a direct way.