Bird or bloke - 7 week old betta

[Sgooosh]

They are so much fun but they have taken over the last 7 weeks of my life! One of the best times was when they were just eye-stalks and a tail, and they realised that they were in a tank with others of their kind. They would swim right up to each other and just watch

aaahhhH! i really want to breed them now hahaha

 

[On_a_dishy]

I might put the jarred ones back in their original 34l Fluval tank. That would mean 3 x 7 week olds and 5 x 5 week olds in the same tank, but they know each other and were getting on fine until I panicked and jarred 2 of them for flaring and nosing.

 

[On_a_dishy]

aaahhhH! i really want to breed them now hahaha

The tank of babies, and one of them as a tiny fry (eyes on stalks!)

 

[Sgooosh]

The tank of babies, and one of them as a tiny fry (eyes on stalks!)

WAY too cute

 

[EllRog]

If you've separated them, you won't be able to reintroduce them without fighting.

Males have a 'beard' which you can visibly see when they flare that females do not have. You can also see the organs when you look at the fish side on. Males can have visible egg spots as juveniles, so I would look for the organs and the beard. Google can give you references to compare to your own fish.

 

[On_a_dishy]

OK - still working on this...
I think I might have jarred 1 male and 1 female.
I can't tell if the dark bits that get flared are the gills or a beard behind/under them, but the fish on the left is much more active, agitated and obstreperous when I remove the card.
It also approaches the jar of the other fish, whereas the other fish is less interested and tends to move away.
Thoughts?

 

[EllRog]

OK - still working on this...
I think I might have jarred 1 male and 1 female.
I can't tell if the dark bits that get flared are the gills or a beard behind/under them, but the fish on the left is much more active, agitated and obstreperous when I remove the card.
It also approaches the jar of the other fish, whereas the other fish is less interested and tends to move away.
Thoughts?

Males and females both do this as they both have their own personalities. Hard to tell from pictures, for me personally, a male will have a beard that wraps around the bottom of its face to the gills where as a female doesn't. I'd check out Google images to get an understanding of what I mean

 

[KatieMR]

I don't know if this is helpful or not, since I've never had a male betta, I can't tell how my female's behavior compares. She is very active though, she is always swimming around and exploring. And when I come up to the tank she gets very excited . . . and is pretty likely to throw a tantrum when I don't produce food. I think she is pretty young. I got her about a month ago, but the store could only tell me she had only come in recently.

 

[On_a_dishy]

More photos (in better light) in my effort to work out the genders of these two. All photos show them flaring.
My problem is I can't tell what is gill and what might be beard. I think with one I can see black, but with the other it's just an impressive gill flare.
My determination is because I don't want to be jarring a female by accident as I have a lovely community tank set up to house a little sorority!
Thank you to everyone for your help!

 

[Sgooosh]

More photos (in better light) in my effort to work out the genders of these two. All photos show them flaring.
My problem is I can't tell what is gill and what might be beard. I think with one I can see black, but with the other it's just an impressive gill flare.
My determination is because I don't want to be jarring a female by accident as I have a lovely community tank set up to house a little sorority!
Thank you to everyone for your help!

so cute

 

[Colin_T]

More photos (in better light) in my effort to work out the genders of these two. All photos show them flaring.

the fish in the top row of pictures is a young male. cant see the fish in other pictures due to glare on the glass. but if they are both flaring at each other, they are both males.

 

[On_a_dishy]

Thank you, Colin_T! I think all 3 survivors from that (my first) spawn are male. When I remove the cards and let them see each other, they flare so much their faces look like moons. I have a very dominant fish ruling over my 5 week olds, too - I think he'll be joining the jar-crew soon!