a community of girls + boy = harmony

[xanthianacid]

I posted yesterday concerned about my new community of female bettas aggression towards each other. They were ripping each other apart, even though I thought it might settle it didn't. As an experiment (as two is heavy with eggs), I put a betta male in with them, fully prepared to remove him if things went nasty.

Well, two things happened. The girls stopped being aggressive to each other, and started vying for the male's attention. The male displayed but was never aggressive to the girls AT ALL! Stress barbs changed to the horny kind ) in the two most aggressive females (the ones laden with eggs). Nipping has ceased (which is a BIG relief as they have split and torn fins, which was what I was most concerned about.) Its almost a full day later, and none of the aggression has returned.

The male, even though he didn't seem to know what he was doing at all) has actually made a huge bubble nest amongst the folage on top of the tank. He and the horny girls on and off have displayed to one another, but then go off and do other things like sleep, eat, play in the current (they seem to love that). The male is currently asleep. Cute

It's a really peaceful happy tank again. I'm so pleased.

What do you all make of that? Maybe it is possible to keep a community of girls and one guy together peacefully, its early days yet, but I am watching and hoping it will be cool.

Xanthia

 

[BettasRFriends]

Actually...the agression will eventually turn on. It's pretty much inevitable. Two of my female bettas got along great for a week or so until they tried to rip each other's throat off.

 

[RandomWiktor]

I'm glad it seems to be working out for the sake of your fishes, but as said, agression will probably resurface.
And... and not trying to yell at you here so please don't think I am, I'm more or less soap-boxing it... I really don't think it is a good idea to post stories like this on the forum, because it is so very rare that it will actually work. And only a day isn't necesarrily a sign of long term sucess. Newer betta owners might read it, think its perfectly OK to put 2 males and one female together even though time and time again its been proven that 5 females or 1 single male are really the best set-ups for bettas, and do it themselves. They'll wake up to three injured or even dead fish. I think I mentioned in my other post that posting rare exceptions are something of a pet peeve of mine, because I have seen many people whose fish maul one another say "I don't understand! ___ put her two bettas together and they got along fine!" Yes, exceptions exist, but we probably shouldn't give people the idea of risking it.

 

[FishyLoveBug]

Not to mention your most likely going to end up with babies it sounds like. Bubble nests are for breeding and if they full of eggs well....

 

[Kiarra]

I have noticed that, with some tanks, if you even put a male NEXT to the females, the girls end up battering each other worse, because they're trying to show the male that they are strong, and they would produce strong children.

I'm glad it's working for you, honestly, but watch them closely in case things turn nasty. They might not, of course. But they have the potential to turn REALLY bad.

I'm really hoping that everything stays working fine, though, and at least it solved your temporary problem of your girls tearing each other up.

 

[OrkyBetta]

Bubblenests ARE for breeding but I doubt you will get any fry. If you don't remove the female, she will have a nice meal of caviar. The male betta does all the egg tending.

If I were you, I would buy each of your bettas separate tanks. It's too risky. At least take out the agressive female and the male.

 

[xanthianacid]

Still going well. There is two more aggressive females who both need to drop eggs. I don't want to breed, but I do want them to drop them so they don't get sick. The biggest one is a concern, shes the half moon and I don't want them to die being egg laden. I don't mind if they eat the eggs, in other words, I just want happy healthy fish. Actually its going so well that one of my females (a non aggressor) has finally lost all her stress lines which have been a permanent fixture, unfortunately. So I am happy with the set up, but am fully prepared to change the tank situation in the event that they aren't happy anymore.

 

[Kiarra]

If the male DOES breed with one the females, he'll likely kill or severely injure all the females (and other fish) in there, out of trying to protect his spawn. So if he DOES breed with either one of them, PULL HIM OUT IMMEDIATELY. Or pull out all of the other fish, if you don't want the eggs eaten. It sounds like that doesn't matter to you, though, so just pull him. That would at least take care of defattening one of your females, and save the others from his wrath.

 

[Idolz]

How big is the tank?
I think its possible to keep a whole community of male and female bettas. As long as you can simulate the natural environment well enough.

 

[xanthianacid]

How big is the tank?
I think its possible to keep a whole community of male and female bettas. As long as you can simulate the natural environment well enough.

Hi, Its a two foot tank.

It has lots of plants, a rock, a pretend log with lots of holes and a real log. It has floating plants in it as well. A sandy substrate.

4 Betta girls, a Betta guy, 2 penguin tetras, 4 cardinal tetras, a very juvi moonlight gourami and a baby bumblebee goby, 4 panda cories and a bristle nose.
Actually except for the bettas everyone is not fully grown yet... a cute youngin' tank.

The aggression is still low. Occassionally a girl will chase a girl. Everyone else is peaceful. I've never seen Mr Personality (the male better) be anything but a flarer and he doesn't really chase the girls let alone nip, he just seems above that kind of thing....

 

[Kiarra]

I'm glad he's a very chilled out little boy when it comes to the girls. How is he with the Gourami? That would be my other major concern when it came to him. My girls get along fine with my Croaking Gouramis, but my males tend to get kind of...mean.

The Tetras aren't picking at him at all? You may want to be wary of them with him. I know Neon Tetras very often nip mercilessly at male Bettas, but I don't know if the Penguin or Cardinals do. Keep an eye on his fins, though, and, if he's showing nip marks, you may want to pull him for his own good.

It does sound like a decent tank for that kind of thing, as long as you watch them closely. I wouldn't try it, personally, because I've seen things go horribly, horribly wrong. At the first sign of big trouble, intervene. It could mean the difference between the fish living or dying.

 

[xanthianacid]

Mr Personality isn't showing nipped fins in the slightest. I believe the tetras are leaving him alone because they have enough to cope with shoaling/aggressing with each other, not that they seem to be aggressive at all. Its like the female betta thing suppose to work I think, the tetras sought it out amongst themselves if there is enough of them.

Don't worry, I like my fishes to be happy and healthy. If there seems to be any call to remove any of the fishes I will, they have happy homes elsewhere to go to in the event they start getting nipped. The gourami is always playing in the current. She's very young, I'd say smaller than a dwarf gourami at the moment. Shes happy to leave all alone, and visa versa.

I'd have to say that it is a pleasant surprise its working. I was expecting to pull out the male because the females would attack him, but it isn't that way at all. I guess its just luck.

 

[Kiarra]

Luck is a definite YES! There are so many variables, with all the different personalities. You can never really tell how something is going to go before you do it. There's statistics, and they are usually pretty good to go by...because plenty of people have tried things before, and have told about it. But you can never really tell. It's just not usually worth risking it, especially for inexperienced fish keepers who may not know the signs of trouble.

 

[xanthianacid]

They still haven't gone anywhere near dropping their eggs though. Thats what I'm really concerned about. When I brough the halfmoon snakeskin even the LFS woman said get her into a tank with a male and try breeding with her as she didn't want to see her drop dead with eggs. She is huge. Doesn't stop her being very active though, and trying to be queen bee Its just like Mr Personality to not really know what hes doing? Tried breeding with him before and he just played really. Its a bit of a concern.

 

[Kiarra]

Well, the females initiate spawning, so it's really her move. All the male has to do is say "okay!"