bully male

[hozb]

K so got my tank set up 10g (uk measurements) and i got 3 females which are a bit on the small side and one male in there, Ifs said it would be ok to have them mixed and if not theyll have the fry from whenever and bring the male back with one or two for me

anyhow the males a bit of a bully and two of the females tails look a bit nipped will this settle down or do i need to separate them??? theyve been together about 3 days

 

[RandomWiktor]

Everything I've read says you should never permenantly house males and females together.

 

[hozb]

See i thought that but they i spoke to this store in northampton and they said there shouldn't be a problem with it at all and there normally really trustworthy in terms of their advice

 

[BettaMomma]

I'll probably get arguments for this, but I would NEVER house a male betta with anything - ever.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Stores are looking to make money If they are fighting, they should probably be separated before the injuries cause an infection, or the stress causes illness.

edit: BettaMomma I agree with you, I know some people have luck with males in with other species, but I don't feel that it is worth the risk of injury to the other fish, the stress on the male who feels the constant need to be on edge with other aquatics around, etc.

 

[hozb]

Thats what got me i didn't buy the fish from there and i was asking about tank dividers she even pulled a collegue over who keeps them himself- ive seen his betta hes gorgeous and he said i should be ok and remove teh divider i have to try it

 

[RandomWiktor]

:hrugs:: It really depends on the disposition of both the male and the females. My betta Tim could probably be in with other fish. I wouldn't trust Dickey to not kill everything that moves. But, if you are having fighting, I would forget what the store says, go by your own observation, and split them up before someone gets hurt.

 

[hozb]

could it just be putting eachother in their place as its only been 3 days? how long should they take to settle?

 

[RandomWiktor]

It could be that they are getting used to each other, but I wouldn't wait till someone is seriously injured to find out. I would suggest either getting a clear divider so they can see each other without fighting as they grow accustomed to one another, or simply remove the male as both he and the females will be happier without the fighting and chasing.

Edit: The females could also be bulling each other as usually for 10g, you want to have 4-5 females so they can work out a proper heirarchy.

 

[hozb]

have to see what happens if i notice him bullying again ill have to get a tank just for him set up

 

[veen]

i have 2 of my males housed in a tank with a clear divider which also has some holes (not large enough for the fish to go through) in it and both bettas seem fine with it. the veil tail flares much more often than the crown tail when the crown swims right next to the divider, but both seem to be doing fine so far. have had them about a week. they're eating betta pellets by hikari, some peas and brine shrimp.

here's a photo of it:

imho you should definitely divide them because i've yet to hear of male & female bettas doing well in the same tank w/o a divider.

 

[hozb]

i had a divider in the tank but the holes were a bit to big so having spoken to this ifs they asked why i had teh divider and advised me just take it out confused now they seem to be settling down a bit now they have their own areas bit i think ill get a separate tank for the male, it would be to aucward to get another clear divider and fix it in the tank and i dont wanna stress my fish anymore

 

[SRC]

On top of it stressing your females out..with the male chasing them...the girlies can stress your male out...as they can/will also chase and mutilate your male. Both of which can leave your fish suseptible to a varied assortment of ailments..such as bacterial infections and fin rot.

There have been so many threads here recently about females ripping males to shreds. Hopefully you don't want that to happen to your fish.

Plus, having a male in there will make the females produce eggs constantly...then drop them...and that can cause disease, from them messing up your water and fungus growing on them, in between the gravel.

Just doesn't seem like the best of idea's to me. I'd take him out.

 

[hozb]

yeah seems like the easiest plan to me just gotta get another tank set up so ill start that tomoro oh well never mind

 

[The_Gilly]

I had a male and two females in a community tank for 12 months without a single incident. Guess it's just down to the fish.

i currently have a male in a community tank and he's loving it. He tries to chase danios but he's not fast enough........