Multiple Bettas

[Questions?]

i know if you keep female bettas in odd numbers this can be done. but my LFS which gives really good information, said you could keep multiple females and one male together in the same tank if thier is enough hiding places and enough plants, etc to break the line of sight. is this true?

 

[BlackyMoory]

Personally I think it is asking for unnecessary trouble, Since you do know the repudiation of the Male bettas and that if it says  
 

enough hiding places and enough plants, etc to break the line of sight

 
I think it is just really bad cause if there is a fight it is unnecessary injuries or death! 

 

[VickyChaiTea]

Long answer: Theoretically... but it won't work out about 80% of the time (personal
estimate) and the only way to test is it is to throw them together...
and risk killing fish. Wild Betta splendens can be kept in a one male to two female ratio in a planted 10 gallon no problem. But the ones in pet stores are way more aggressive. Male bettas do not have "harems" in the wild and therefore won't treat a group of females as one. At best, it may cause him to spread out his aggression between them, harassing them equally so he doesn't kill any specific female. However, he may still stress them all with constant combat/displaying/chasing/nipping.
 
But I've heard of peoples personal experiences that say the males go out of their way to find and attack females.
 
So yeah, maybe if you're lucky you can get a not very aggressive male and some nice females to coexist... but the longevity of that peace is unpredictable at best and when things go wrong they go very wrong. So it's not a 100% of the time they'll kill each other thing but it does do some pretty bad things. It forces the fish to stop displaying normal behavior, it greatly increases the likelihood of fights, death, infection, stress, and all around unpleasantness.
 
Short answer: No.

 

[Flute]

I did it in a 60 litre for about 6 months, but the male was bought as what I thought was a tiny juvenile female with the rest of the group. He did ok for a little while, but when he got to about 7-8 months old, bam, he became a foul tempered brute and had to be separated, and now flares constantly at me, his reflection, the snails, etc. I think it can be done in some circumstances, if the male is laid back enough and there are a large group of females to spread out any aggression, but you're looking at a pretty big tank, and a back up plan in case things went wrong. So personally, I wouldn't risk it

 

[372xp]

Like Flute I also have ended up with a male amongst the girls. The first one was aggressive and was rehomed. This one was a killer and mauled my best female as well, she never recovered. I have another one now, fool me once, shame on you-fool me twice, shame on me! He is awaiting rehoming now. This male, unlike the first one, is extremely laid back and lives quite happily with the females. There is the usual bickering amongst the lot of them but nothing from the male. He was brought up amongst females and has lived as one all is life, I dont think he knows hes male. This fish is not your usual larger fancy finned male, it is only an experienced eye that can tell him apart from the girls, that and his long pectoral fins.
All being said I think the idea of having a male as well as females is that you can tell him apart and he would be a more fancy fish. So there would be no point in having one that was brought up with girls and looked pretty well like one.
I would say dont even try it with splendens. Imbellis and wild type bettas maybe. You are opening yourself up to a whole world of strife and suffering if you do.
A happy fish is a healthy fish.

 

[Questions?]

alrights thank
i wasnt going to try it, but my LFS mentioned to a customer who was unwilling to try it, and it got me curious

 

[RCA]

I keep all my boys separate from my group of girls.  There is more information in a similar topic here
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/414500-is-there-hope-that-female-and-male-betas-get-along/

 

[Questions?]

thanks

 

[Paradise3]

If you want any chance of achieving this you're looking at a heavily planted 3-4ft tank with 1 male and possibly 5 females. And when I say heavily planted, I mean heavily planted! As in, you cannot see anywhere but maybe 2" into the tank. Even I couldn't achieve a tank this planted and I have also had experience of male and females together. I've also had experience of 2 males together but not on purpose. The male and females, the females beat the crap out of the male and he was constantly hiding. He was a plakat and he was so aggressive I couldn't even keep a snail with him without him harassing it to death(literally) so I was shocked to say the least. The 2 males is a different story. I had a Halfmoon Plakat and a Plakat. Now I had gotten rid of my females and so my Plakat went into the main tank with the other fish and the HMPK was separated by a divider whilst I cleaned their divided tank out. At some point whilst I was cleaning their tank out, the HMPK jumped the divider and ended up swimming in dangerous waters with my PK male. I went to catch him when the tank was clean and that's when I found him. They were quite happily swimming around together. No flaring, no attacking. Just swimming together. I did, however, quickly separate them just in case. and I definitely do not recommend anyone try this themselves! It was a mistake I made by thinking that the water level was low enough that he couldn't jump it and I was wrong. It could have ended up with 2 very beaten up or possibly dead males. I was lucky, very lucky.
All this in a 3ft long tank that was densely(but not heavily) planted.
 
My piece is said.

 

[Questions?]

so i guess that is a no no, cant help to dream i guess

 

[Paradise3]

so i guess that is a no no, cant help to dream i guess

 
I'm saying it's achievable but only in very large, very heavily planted tanks and if you have the space to separate the male from the females as soon as you see any aggression. It's also down to luck, you need a lot.

 

[Questions?]

maybe eventually when in rich and famous
i could get a 100 gallon tank and heaveily plant it so it look like a tank with different shades of green coloured in

 

[Paradise3]

maybe eventually when in rich and famous

i could get a 100 gallon tank and heaveily plant it so it look like a tank with different shades of green coloured in

 
Maybe.

 

[RCA]

Funnily enough I always went for males, and started to have the problem of MTS (Multiple Tank Syndrome), for obvious reasons.  However, since I set up my 215L planted with lots of bogwood/hiding spots and put girls in there, I absolutely love them.  I have a variety of types and colours and they are so entertaining.  They are also very nosy!  Whenever I am servicing the aquarium, they are there, often in my way seeing what I am doing.  When I enter the room they all gather together, hoping I will notice them and feed them.  So, maybe you could have a few girls, without the male and still be content?  Be aware though that girls can still squabble and you need to have plenty of space, plants and hiding holes for them.

 

[Questions?]

lol, ok. if i ever upgrade my 10 gallon, i might try and get 7 girlsin a 30 gallon, would that be good?