Bettas Comabatibility

[hi567119]

Could I keep a male and female in same tank, non seperated? Will the male beat up on her (Unless) he wants to breed or will he just live happily with her untill that time of year?

 

[OohFeeshy]

No, don't try it.

 

[Kiarra]

They'll kill each other. Maybe not the first minute, maybe not the first day, but, eventually, one or the other is going to suffer.

Bettas in the wild only come together to breed. We must observe that in enclosed tanks, because they can't get away from each other before they kill each other like they would in the wild.

 

[xxSarahxx]

Sorry but NO WAY!!

 

[OrkyBetta]

Instead of just shutting you down, I am going to give you some facts on why this isn't going to work. I know I like it better when that happens to me. First off, thanks for asking before doing. It is a lot easier to ask than to have to fix what went wrong.

In the wild, male bettas have territories. They patrol their own space, and everyone stays in their own territory, so they usually don't fight, unless they are trying to settle out spaces. Not even females live in these territiories. They come in when it is breeding time, spawn, then leave the eggs with the male, who takes care of them until they hatch. Females kinda come in and out. When she is not breeding, the male will see her as a predator and an invader in HIS space. She will be injured, if not killed if she sticks around. In a tank, there is no way for the female to get away. Plus, what would you do with all of those fry? If they werent conditioned properly first, there would be problems anyways. Just splurge and get them their own containers. It isn' natural for bettas to share with anyone. "shares well with others" was never on their report card. Good luck, do your research, and enjoy.

 

[platyfreek]

read the last post and thanks for asking first! Oh and that last post was very informing about bettas in the wild.

 

[Mr. Shums]

I do it, but APPERENTLY the community frowns upon such behavior.

if you do, you need to be VERY sure the female is a seasoned mater. If not, she'll only aggitate the male. I would reccomend breeding the pair quite frequently before you do this. After though, I don't really see an issue with it. Males are very tolerant of females who resemble those they've mated with frequently.

Edit: If you do however just plop them in there make sure you have objects the females can swim around and through. PLenty of objects to slow down an overly agressive male, plants decorations etc etc. Males are pretty fast swimmers in a straight line, but that long finnage makes it much harder to manuver at quicker speeds. I would reccommend a five gallon tank for two fish. Enough space for personal room and yet close enough that they can always be in sight of one another. Initally when they forget about the other betta fish it just triggers the same agressive response the next time they come into sight of the other fish.
I'd say a fair amount of plant matter and decorations, but enough free swimming room at the surface for interaction.