Male Betta - should i get a female?

[Justin.Accurate]

I have had a male betta in my tank for about 6 months. He is a visious little thug and doesn't like any other fish, chasing in particular my male rosy barb a LOT . He even sort of attacks the magnetic algae scrubber when i'm cleaning the tank . Anyway - i sort of want to get him a partner to maybe chill him out; he has built bubble nests a couple of times in the past. But I'm worried there may be a possibility this could make him more territorial if he builds another nest.... Anyone got any opinions on this?

 

[aernympha]

personally i wouldn't really go there................ its might get even more tetritorial and kill teh female u pput in there cos shes not ready to spawn!!!

 

[juliethegr8t]

I wouldn't suggest getting a female betta. Especially if you're not an expert when dealing with betta breeding - you can be asking for trouble, since male bettas are so aggressive. Female bettas have been killed in the past because of an overly zealous partner. Usually the only situation in which you'd want a female betta is if you're specifically wanting to breed... then you would only put them together for a short period of time to spawn, and then seperate them again. Anyways, do you have plenty of plants and hiding spots (not to mention significant space) in your tank? You don't want any of your fish getting stressed by your betta's behavior, so having some place to escape him is important. Having a well planted tank may also minimize his behavior, if he can't see them, he won't bug them.

 

[Alien Anna]

Definitely not. He sounds like a feisty fellow and very territorial. If he is causing real havoc in the tank I suggest you get him a 5 gal tank of his own.

 

[Kossy]

I agree with alien anna. This seems like a very territorial fish. Soem bettas are simply like that. (mine never have been). Don't get a female for this one (p.s. people never get a female but get at least 3 females.)

 

[H20-Cam]

how do u find out the sex of a betta? i want to put him/her with my other fish if its a female.. is that ok?

 

[rosierabbit]

Especially if you're not an expert when dealing with betta breeding

i agree with what everone is saying, cos your fish doesn't seem like the friendliest of fish (!) but i just thought this was a little bit silly - if you don't try, you'll never be an expert, so non-experts need to breed to become experts (ok, i'm waffling now )

 

[Kossy]

how do u find out the sex of a betta?

Firstly females are no where near as aggressive. Ok generally males have big long fins. They are bigger than females. Males are colourful while female bettas are generally dull. However I have seen short finned males. these shrot finned males look like a female however they have slightly longer fins and appear slimmer.

 

[Justin.Accurate]

Thanks for the advice, i'll not be getting a female....

However on the question of sexing, I once saw a tank full of brightly coloured short finned bettas at a LFS; i had to assume they were all female because they were not attacking each other, but apart from that i didn't see how you could tell - it's a good job *they* can

 

[wuvmybetta]

maybe you can purchase a small 1 or 2 gallon for a female and set it beside your tank. You'd be surprised at how a girl can soften up even the toughest of males, my oldest male lived in a community and he was an attack machine, once I moved him to his own tank and gave him a lovely neighbor he seems very content. They dont HAVE to breed, it's just something about being around one of their own kind that's soothing to them , he'll be so busy flirting with her through the glass that he'll lay off the other fish for awhile ,or not, bettas are tricky fish and a female might just make him more aggro towards the others, but it can't hurt to try