my new male bettas

[RedShark]

I just got 2 male bettas and I have established them in a tank that has a clear divider and they keep puffing out their gills and trying to attack each other. Is this ok? Is it constant stress for them? Would they be better off if I put one of them in my planted 10 gallon w/ 2 cherry barbs??

 

[redbetta]

I don't know about the cherry barbs, but I know that if they are constantly flaring at each other trying to attack, that it's not so good for them and can cause stress. I think once in a while would be ok, but constantly... no. Just my opinion. I'd try to put a different divider in or split them completely.

 

[Mariah]

When I first divided my tank with my 2 boys they would see each other and were flaring alot. They will get board of doing that and eventaully stop flaring all the time. No need to worry

 

[FishEnthusiast]

Do you have places for them to go hide when they are tired? I have used clear dividers too, and in the end I got some craft canvas to use instead. The canvas makes it harder for them to see eachother. I also have lots of plants and other places for them to be.

At this point they are probably trying to discover who is the more dominant of the two.

Another solution...If the tank is big enough, divide it again and put a female in the middle. They will flare at her too, but to a much lesser degree I have found. How big is your tank? I have a 10G divided 3 ways, female in the middle. The boys spend their days competing to see who can make the biggest bubble nest.

One word of caution though. Make sure they can't jump into eachother's side. I know that I am not the only one that had this happen. I was lucky in that it was a female that jumped in with her brother, some here have not been as lucky and have had a male jump in with another male. The result isn't pretty. What I do is cover the girl's compartment with craft canvas under the hood so she can't jump out. I have also lowered the water level, there is probably only 8-9G in the tank right now.