I have two female siamese fighters, one just recently died, but i got another about a month or so later to take her place and my old siamese still isn't getting along with my newbie. Its been about 6 months now, and louise (my first betta) is such a grumpy fish, she's always picking on every new addition to my tank! I recently bought 5 guppies, just for colour, and it took her 3 hours to reduce them to 3 guppies, and 4 days later i had none!! is this normal, or is she simply extra sensitive?? Im thinking of getting some freshwater butterfly fish, but as they are relatively inactive, im concerned louise will try her usual stunt and nip their fins. should i be concerned?? should i think of giving her a time out in isolation?
Grumpy Betta
- Thread starter prue07
- Start date
liz2
Fish Aficionado
are you positive it is a girl? I should put her by herself I have got a couple of feisty girls and I wouldnt put them in with anything else...
Positive she's a girl, she's beautiful but she's quite large and still has really small fins. She was fine when first got her, it just seems that since the other has died, she's taken over the position of owning the tank. Can bettas get possessive?
Ahh..i just saw a post of someone who thought their betta was a female, but turns out it may have been a male..thats got me worried. Im pretty sure she's a female. As i say, she's quite old now, ive had her for a while, and she has all the same features as my other females...
ibbledibble
Fish Addict
can you put a picture of her up? then we can say if she looks female or not.
with regards to the aggression, if she is a female there are several issues here.
firstly, how big is the tank? there needs to be enough space (and hiding places) for them to get away from each other and have their own areas.
secondly, yes bettas get VERY territorial, if you added the first two together, they probably each established their own territories and so it was ok. when the other female died, the whole tank became the remaining girls territory. this is why, when adding new females to an existing sorority, its recommended to remove and bag up all the existing girls, and rearrange the decor in the tank, add new plants etc. then add all the girls together. that way they have to establish new territories together.
thirdly, you should never keep just two bettas together, its recommended to have a minimum of 4 as this way aggression is spread out between the girls, rather than 1 getting bullied to death.
hope that helps
with regards to the aggression, if she is a female there are several issues here.
firstly, how big is the tank? there needs to be enough space (and hiding places) for them to get away from each other and have their own areas.
secondly, yes bettas get VERY territorial, if you added the first two together, they probably each established their own territories and so it was ok. when the other female died, the whole tank became the remaining girls territory. this is why, when adding new females to an existing sorority, its recommended to remove and bag up all the existing girls, and rearrange the decor in the tank, add new plants etc. then add all the girls together. that way they have to establish new territories together.
thirdly, you should never keep just two bettas together, its recommended to have a minimum of 4 as this way aggression is spread out between the girls, rather than 1 getting bullied to death.
hope that helps
Wow thats quite a bit of info there, thanks! The pictures ive taken are from my phone but are too big, and im completely technologically retarded and i don't know how to make them smaller and post them on. When i added my second betta, i changed the whole display of my tank, thinking exactly what you did, that maybe it would make it easier for her to settle in if the others were also getting used to new surroundings. I guess it didn't really help. My tank is 90 liters. I dont have that many fish, so there's definately plenty of room for the two of them, including hiding spots. She doesn't seem to harrass on a regular basis, just when she seems grumpy. Other days they appear to get along ok...i just dont know though. Im really worried about adding anything else to the tank. Its as if shes jealous... 
Hawkins
Fish Herder
I dont know if your question was answered, but...
Female fighters should be kept in groups of 4+ to avoid territorialness
and guppys have long fins, which get confused as other fighters, so they tend to attack them.
good tankmates should be shortfinned, and not fin nippers. i had a betta in with my rummy nose tetras, cherry barbs (although usually aggressive) and some catfish (not aggressive at all)
Female fighters should be kept in groups of 4+ to avoid territorialness
and guppys have long fins, which get confused as other fighters, so they tend to attack them.
good tankmates should be shortfinned, and not fin nippers. i had a betta in with my rummy nose tetras, cherry barbs (although usually aggressive) and some catfish (not aggressive at all)
Thats what we thought, that maybe the guppys were being confused as other bettas, but i thought i was just making this up!! i have both my girls in with cherry barbs, and various catfish. I dont know, im hoping she'll get used to everything/everyone. im not planning on adding anything else to the tank at the moment, and im not really keen on getting any more female fighters.. every time someone tells me to get more, my problems just increase!! but thankyou so much for the information, i might just transfer her to a tank by herself? My other siamese seems to get along with everyone.
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