Male & Female Betas Together

[Amerce]

Hi glad to hear that his bettas are in good condition and I do understand that you would question our answers on the forum especially when you get conflicting information from a shop that you normally trust.

I am constantly learning myself about fish and like people they have their own personalitys and traits, I've had male betta's that are so laid back you would'nt believe it, but then I've had others that would as soon as kill another tank inhabitant than share his space.

But we can only advise on the forum, it is your tank and your fish and I hope that we have in some small way assisted.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy the bettas.

 

[tibby25731]

We'd love to see pics of the bettas, and hope you both stick around to share your experiences! Bettas are amamzing fish, and I think in this section of the forum we have a tendency to get a little hot headed when we think there is a chance a betta make get hurt. We can't help it, most of the betta keepers here would agree I'm sure, that keeping a betta is like keeping a beloved cat or dog - they are so much more than just fish!! You'll come to understand soon enough and be warned, you WILL get hooked on these fish! I agree with the last few posts - yeah, get some more girl bettas, you will really enjoy them, and err on the side of caution like Modaz says, separating the two girls for now until you can get some more girls. Your boy will be very happy in his 5 gallon, get him lots of nice plants and stuff to investigate, they love to explore and usually decide on a favourite plant to rest on to sleep
i too find that a lot of otherwise good LFS seem to have the same idea about bettas, that keeping 2 girls to one boy is correct. It's such a shame that a lot of people go by this rule as it does usually end in tears. I think thats why you got the responses you did on this thread, as none of us here have successfully done this, though many will have tried when they started out due to misinformation, or kept a male betta in a community tank only to find him dead one morning, bitten to death We all learn from each others experiences though, and so now I will always advise against keeping in a community tank for instance, due to my own bad experience doing this, which I still feel incredibly guilty for
I think the tone on this forum sometimes doesn't come across quite as it was intended, but at the end of the day, i can vouch for the posters on this topic - they truly are just trying to help you not to make a mistake, and they just want you to enjoy your bettas
Now get some pics up! It's the law on this part of the forum, did nobody tell you?

 

[lilfishie]

Just a word of warning, there very addictive!!

Look forward to piccys

 

[rdd1952]

I just want to hear about peoples' experiences

It has nothing to do with not hearing what I wanted. I haven't received what I asked for in my original post!! I know that people recommend you don't keep them. I also know that there are very, very few success stories. Does that mean I shouldn't ask?

MartinD, the reason you aren't getting an answer to your question as to what people's experiences have been is that no one does it. You are in a community of betta lovers and they know that males and females can't be kept together so they don't try except for the short period of time required to breed.

There was a similar situation recently in the Predatory section where someone was asking what could be kept with pirahnas and what others expereinces had been. The same result there: people know you can't do it or that the results will be bad so they don't attempt, thus no one could relate good experiences. It's like asking what you're experiences have been when you jumped off a 10 story building. I doubt very many people have tried and those that have aren't in a position to relate how things went.

 

[danni_69]

QUOTE (Sofia @ Feb 7 2009, 11:04 PM)
IMHO the OP had a right to have a go, the first three responses were informative and useful but danni 69's response was negative, rude and unhelpful she should not have posted at all. she added nothing to the discussion, in fact she just caused controversy and arguments, well done


Don't even bother making me out to be a bad person.. It would have come up from someone else eventually, and I have my rights to an opinion just like EVERYONE else on this forum. If I think that someone who has read good clean advice from a lot of experts (not myself as I've only been keeping bettas for a year or so) and then still goes against what they had said, then I will say what I fancy..
and I agree with what Netty had said.. and i quote
"I really get the feeling Martin that you knew exactly the response you would get from your post. The mere fact that you said goodbye when you didn't hear what you wanted and yet still stayed logged in watching your thread, makes me think you're just looking for a row."

I totally agree..

nuff said..

 

[Truck]

QUOTE (Sofia @ Feb 7 2009, 11:04 PM)
IMHO the OP had a right to have a go, the first three responses were informative and useful but danni 69's response was negative, rude and unhelpful she should not have posted at all. she added nothing to the discussion, in fact she just caused controversy and arguments, well done


Don't even bother making me out to be a bad person.. It would have come up from someone else eventually, and I have my rights to an opinion just like EVERYONE else on this forum. If I think that someone who has read good clean advice from a lot of experts (not myself as I've only been keeping bettas for a year or so) and then still goes against what they had said, then I will say what I fancy..
and I agree with what Netty had said.. and i quote
"I really get the feeling Martin that you knew exactly the response you would get from your post. The mere fact that you said goodbye when you didn't hear what you wanted and yet still stayed logged in watching your thread, makes me think you're just looking for a row."

I totally agree..

nuff said..

im agreeing with this but the argument ends here!

 

[danni_69]

Deal

 

[dave_oddballs]

i have a 125 litre community tank with a wide variety of fish from goldring butterfly loach to rachovii and australe killifish, and from discus to chocolate gouramis, and supprise supprise, 1 male and 3 female bettas! absolute perfect health, not a single fight!
they have been together for well over a year and are a very happy little family!!
mabe im the only person in the world to keep male and females together with not 1 single problem?
doubt it though

 

[Netty]

Any pics....would love to see them.

 

[bronzecat]

Hiya

Nah, i can confirm Dave_oddballs, you're not the only person in the world to get away with Its not so much that it cant be done, its more that it is a risk to the health of the fish thats the issue.

IMO, its a risk that can be avoided, and one that I wouldn't want to put the fish through. My personal advice to anybody intent on taking the risk is to have a back up plan in place. i.e. means of seperating them.

One thing i have experienced is the behaviour in my female tank. On more than one occasion i have had particular females that were fine one minute and the next minute were like raving psycho's. With these particular fish i also witnessed that they didn't let up either, to the point that they had to be removed and housed seperately. I believe this happens more often when you have 2 or more very dominating females. They even attacked my otto's! Luckily the otto's were faster.

 

[Amunet]

One thing i have experienced is the behaviour in my female tank. On more than one occasion i have had particular females that were fine one minute and the next minute were like raving psycho's. With these particular fish i also witnessed that they didn't let up either, to the point that they had to be removed and housed seperately. I believe this happens more often when you have 2 or more very dominating females. They even attacked my otto's! Luckily the otto's were faster.

I had a very similar experience. When I had a sorority tank. There was 1 dominant female. She never actually did physical damage, but I guess the flaring thing was enough to keep the others in check.
Then all of a sudden one day, the smallest of the bunch started to become VERY aggressive towards all of them. Just out of nowhere she went psycho. So aggressive that she was starting to nip and do that mouth lock thing with the other females and was causing them all a great deal of stress. I had to put her in to her own tank.

So even w/ your sorority, have backup plans just in case. You can never tell what kind of personality a betta will have when you first get them.

 

[newfishy]

I agree, I have one female that cant be housed with th others because she wants to be queen of the tank. princess2 also wants to be queen of the tank. however priness2 is much nicer to those ranked below her. celest torments them with no mercy.