Pet Store had 2 male Bettas in 1 tank!!!

[endparenthesis]

I value knowledge from experience ten times more than I value parroting back knowledge one has read. I would say an expert is someone who knows the workings of the natural habitat, knows what it takes to replicate the key elements as well as possible, and has the years spent experimenting and observing the results to back it all up.

I think I'm with BlueIce on this one. If you know what you're doing, you know what it takes to make it work. If you don't know what you're doing, don't do it.

 

[David]

Well all this may be true, but in that case how come every secondary source of information you look at (be it book, website, other people's experiences) comes to one single conclusion: male bettas should not be kept together. I'm sure it is possible if you're willing to go that extra mile and spend months acclimating them and whatnot, but IMO it is extremely unwise to toss 2 of them together and hope that it turns out okay. (I am not assuming this is what you did blueice, or that you don't know what you're doing but in your first post it sounded a lot like you just chucked 5 of them in a tank all together at once and got really lucky with them not fighting.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

Okay, first of all, bettas do not kill each other all the time, they do however fight, and one backs down. If they were that crazy about killing they'd have died out a long while ago. Second, most of those books are talking about people who want show bettas, i.e. not ones they are willing to have get the slightest shred in a fin. I personally would like a step by step detailing about mixing bettas, because it sounds very interesting, and I have a thirty gallon....

 

[GP]

The whole "two males will kill eachother" is an overused comment. If you have a big enough tank, lots of hiding spots, bettas can get along just like puffers.

 

[tear-scar]

I've been doing some reading about wild bettas recently, and it seems like Blue Ice is right that they cross paths often enough, but there's a separate reason why I'm not so convinced about the stability of keeping the males together.

That is, these ARE NOT wild male bettas . . . In the wild, one betta normally backs down (when it's not breeding season anyway . . . I think), but the domestic fish we have are descendents of Thai stock . . . that means, that at least a good number of the fish's ancestors were bred fighting plakats, with behavioral tendancies a lot more aggressive and vicious than the wild males . . . just my thoughts anyway.

Also, long fin varieties are a lot more delicate . . . short fin male plakats are fought against each other in SE Asia and most of the time both fish live afterwords; but long fin males just can't take the same injuries and come out of it ok.

I think there is a species of betta (besides splendens) that is actually less aggressive?

 

[David]

I've been doing some reading about wild bettas recently, and it seems like Blue Ice is right that they cross paths often enough, but there's a separate reason why I'm not so convinced about the stability of keeping the males together.

That is, these ARE NOT wild male bettas . . . In the wild, one betta normally backs down (when it's not breeding season anyway . . . I think), but the domestic fish we have are descendents of Thai stock . . . that means, that at least a good number of the fish's ancestors were bred fighting plakats, with behavioral tendancies a lot more aggressive and vicious than the wild males . . . just my thoughts anyway.

Also, long fin varieties are a lot more delicate . . . short fin male plakats are fought against each other in SE Asia and most of the time both fish live afterwords; but long fin males just can't take the same injuries and come out of it ok.

I think there is a species of betta (besides splendens) that is actually less aggressive?

Yeah it's called the peaceful betta. Dunno the scientific name though.

 

[bkk_group]

I've been doing some reading about wild bettas recently, and it seems like Blue Ice is right that they cross paths often enough, but there's a separate reason why I'm not so convinced about the stability of keeping the males together.

That is, these ARE NOT wild male bettas . . . In the wild, one betta normally backs down (when it's not breeding season anyway . . . I think), but the domestic fish we have are descendents of Thai stock . . . that means, that at least a good number of the fish's ancestors were bred fighting plakats, with behavioral tendancies a lot more aggressive and vicious than the wild males . . . just my thoughts anyway.

Also, long fin varieties are a lot more delicate . . . short fin male plakats are fought against each other in SE Asia and most of the time both fish live afterwords; but long fin males just can't take the same injuries and come out of it ok.

I think there is a species of betta (besides splendens) that is actually less aggressive?

Yeah it's called the peaceful betta. Dunno the scientific name though.

betta imbellis. i have two females and a male living together right now with no ill effects. still, i wouldn't house two males together unless divided no matter what. you can't really compare the habitats of bettas in the wild with the keeping of them in artificial environments as there is one big difference; in the wild, they don't have walls surrounding them in a confined space. that in itself will change their behavior no matter how many plants you put in there.

 

[turbotiber]

...funny thing is the same guy says to me so do you want to get him a friend..a female is nice and it will keep him company!! Can you believe that? I was just shaking my head inside

I went to an aquarim here a few days ago and I was asking info about betta's and somehow bubblenests came up and the guy said to me "oh why don't you buy him a female so they can cross, if he's making bubblenests it's because he needs to be a father." I said to him "no, it because he's ready but being ready doesn't mean he HAS to be one, plus there are loads of veil tails out there AND I don't have the time or experience." He said, "it's not that hard really, nothing too complicated, and if you do have success I'll take them from you."

What a dork.. I think that's very irresponsible... It's sad to know people like him are giving advice to people who know next to diddly squat

 

[zoraak]

In the wild when two male bettas encounter each other and fight, one of them sensing defeat will simply glide away and escape. In a confined space – fish tank the loser cannot escape and the winner thinks "he did not have enough" and ends up killing him... a fight between two bettas usually result in nipped fins and injuries which make them quite susceptible to disease... So, no don't ever put two male bettas to gather unless you enjoy two animals fighting and take pleasure in their suffering.

 

[tekknocolor]

The worst kind of fish provider is an uneducated one. If you don't know anything about fish... why are you selling it!? Anyway, that stuff makes me irate, especially when I encounter it at the store.

 

[Elisabeth83]

I don't plan on putting 2 males together. I wouldn't want to risk it and if they did end up fighting I'd feel horrible seeing them in poor shape or even dead. I'll just stick with using dividers

Also if they fought and nipped eachothers fins it could lead to all sorts of diseases or death and I wouldn't want to go through all of that.

Maybe wild short finned bettas would fair better but I don't think the long finned bettas like the veiltails I have would ever be able to live together.

turbotider I agree it's really sad that people who work in pet stores don't have proper training. You'd think because they are dealing with animals they would have to go through some type of training and learn the basics. You'd also think if they were working in a pet store that they would be interested in learning about fish/birds etc.

Oh well

 

[Gill]

Hi Guys

When I had the Pond Carcass in the Tank.

I tried Different Mixes Together and Found a Red and Cellophanne That Got along fine, They would swim around together and sleep/Lie next to each other on the Nooks and Crannies.

THe females would do the same and would stay with the Males in a group sometimes.

The ones in te store may ne lucky that they got 2 very docile males.

It can happen.

But you need lots of places to hide and lots of plants and caves.

 

[zoraak]

Hi Guys

When I had the Pond Carcass in the Tank.

I tried Different Mixes Together and Found a Red and Cellophanne That Got along fine, They would swim around together and sleep/Lie next to each other on the Nooks and Crannies.

THe females would do the same and would stay with the Males in a group sometimes.

The ones in te store may ne lucky that they got 2 very docile males.

It can happen.

But you need lots of places to hide and lots of plants and caves.

It can happen.

But you need lots of places to hide and lots of plants and caves.

then again, why risk it -- to prove a point?

Betta's are instinctively engineered by millions of years of evolution to fight for their space and treat any other male as the difference between mating and not mating... its not that some bettas are well behaved and others not. bettas are naturally programmed like that and we have no right to "see" whether two male bettas get along or not.

The market is full of community fish so lets leave bettas in their own small space.

 

[tear-scar]

So, no don't ever put two male bettas to gather unless you enjoy two animals fighting and take pleasure in their suffering.

Then again, as a male (of a very different species, but you know) I think life would just be too insanely dull if I never got to beat the stuffings out of other males . . . that's why I'm in wrestling . . . Very few things in this life more fun than grinding another guy's face into the mat.

One of the few things better than "grinding another guy's face into the mat," would be . . . well, sex. Life would suck WAY WAY BAD if I was stuck in a jar the whole time and never got to breed. As a guy, I g2 feel sorry for those VTs that "shouldn't be bred" and never get to. That's gotta suck.

 

[zoraak]

So, no don't ever put two male bettas to gather unless you enjoy two animals fighting and take pleasure in their suffering.

Then again, as a male (of a very different species, but you know) I think life would just be too insanely dull if I never got to beat the stuffings out of other males . . . that's why I'm in wrestling . . . Very few things in this life more fun than grinding another guy's face into the mat.

One of the few things better than "grinding another guy's face into the mat," would be . . . well, sex. Life would suck WAY WAY BAD if I was stuck in a jar the whole time and never got to breed. As a guy, I g2 feel sorry for those VTs that "shouldn't be bred" and never get to. That's gotta suck.

humm, so you're comparing yourself with a Fish?

These days guys don't beat each other, they simply shoot each other... were you bullied in grade school that you want to beat up other guys?

I'm male as well, and I don't lose sleep thinking i should beat up other guys, isn't that normal, or I should worry about my lack of "male instinct of beating up other males"?