Some questions about Betta Smaragdina

[Elisabeth83]

I bought a male and female Betta Smaragdina a few months back. Both lived together for quite some time happily. Just recently though the female had been beating up the male very badly. At first I didn't know it was her so I moved both of them out to their own tank but then it happened again and this time I wasn't even sure if the male was going to make it because he was hanging out up towards the filter some scales missing, pale and some torn fins. I immidiately moved the female back to the other tank. Since then he's looking more beautiful that ever he's all healed up and he's displaying better colors. He is though however pacing up and down the aquarium more often than he did with the female being in there. Maybe she controlled him too much before?

Anyways from everything I've read they are more social bettas and like to live in groups. I wanted to get more but the shop I got them from hasn't gotten more in so I've just had the 2.

My question is can the male and female live apart happily or will they both kind of fall into a depression? If I do find more should I buy them and have a nice little group of them? I read somewhere your supposed to actually have more males than females? What is the best ratio? How many should I get? Maybe a group of 5-6?

Thanks!

 

[Synirr]

Two questions; how big is the tank, and are you sure it's a female? I don't have any experience with smaragdina, but I do have a pair of imbellis that live together in a 10 gallon and nothing like this has never happened with them

Anyway, about housing them as a group... I wouldn't do it unless your tank is 20 gallons +. Some people might say otherwise, but just the fact that they're bettas, no matter how peaceful they may be, makes me think that there's no way to overestimate tank size for these guys. You should not have more males than females... I dunno where you read that, but I'm not sure what sense it would make to have more of the more aggressive sex.

The IBC says a group of 5 fish, 1 male and 4 females, can be kept together, andwww.FishBreeding.dk says:
"Betta imbellis and B. smaragdina can usually be kept in groups in medium sized tanks. Aggression is usually confined to squabbling over territory, and involves males in the main. The two fish act very much in the same way as B. splendens, flaring of gill covers to give a sense of size and using the body and fully-erect fins to waft currents of water at the opponent to emphasise strength. Some fin nipping and tearing will occur when a male has a nest and this must be catered for when considering keeping and breeding these species."

 

[Elisabeth83]

I'm pretty certain that the other "aggressor" is a female. She's smaller is all sand color except for a few flecks of green near her face. The male is longer, longer fins, and is a lot more coloful. I bought them from the shop as male and female Maybe the smaller one is a different species?? I will try and get some pictures tomorrow of her and him. I am 100% sure he is a smaragdina though.

About the male/female ratio it seems I must of been reading about another fish and it stuck in my brain it was about the smaragdinas Oops!

My male and female lived together for at least 2 months happily..I'm not sure why she is suddenly attacking him. I'm starting to get the feeling maybe she is a he of a different species or something.

I thought maybe she was attacking him because I was supposed to have more than just a pair together but seeing as you have a pair of imbellis together and they don't fight then I would think the smaragdinas would act in a similar way. The tank they were in is a 14.5 gallon tank along with 2 licorice gouramis, 2 dayi gouramis and some pearl rasboras. Now the female is still in that tank but the male has moved out into another 14.5 gallon tank. I'd love to put them back together but I'm afraid she'll kill him. I know it was her attacking him because at the time they were the only 2 fish in the tank and I even saw her chase him.

I will get some pictures tomorrow and maybe Kelly will come in and can help me determine if the female is actually a female smaragdina as I know she keeps smaragdinas too. Of course I'd like help from anyone who can give it.

edit: Here is a picture I just got of my male...since moving the female out his colors are really starting to come out. This is with flash on so he is more colorful than when flash is off.

Here is a pic of the female I took when I first got her. I already turned the lights off the tank tonight so I couldn't get any of her. I will try tomorrow to get a better pic. Her colors are better now than in this pic.

 

[Bettaman]

need a real close up to tell but that could be a male as well, as my two male are different sizes and go that colour when not happy, ........close up i know they hide but having said that my two males live together in well planted tank they need to hide so good luck with a close up female do show the egg spot, put caves in the tank if you can,,,,,,,

 

[Elisabeth83]

I'm pretty sure she has an egg spot..I mean I looked for it when I got her and thinking back I am sure I saw it. Now though I'm wondering if she does ...geez 21 and I already have memory loss??

I've had them for a couple of months now though and she's stayed the same size and has always been a sand color. The male has grown a bit and his fins have gotten longer. Her's are short and she's quite a bit smaller than the male as well. They have been seperated for about 1-2 weeks now and she's stayed the same colors so you'd think if she was a male and unhappy with the other male being in there that with him gone she (he) would then start displaying more male colors?

So if she is a she why would she suddenly attack the male?

 

[Synirr]

If she is indeed a she, she might have been attacking him because they were trying to breed? That's the only time my pair even so much as flare at one-another, so that's the only explanation I've got

 

[Elisabeth83]

Finally I can turn the lights on!!

So I just had a check and she is definitely a she. She has a nice white egg spot like I thought she did

The weird thing is I never saw them acting like they wanted to breed or actually trying to breed so I'm confused if that's the only reason why she might decide to attack him

What should I do? Because I'd really like them to be together

 

[Bettaman]

Give them loads of plant cove they will work together better that way they are a shy fish i have found but when happy they are out all the time, but they do need there own hiding places i have a flower pot in and on uses that infarct i think they take turns to sit in it, not sure why the female attacked the male usually the other way round, especially at breeding time when the male builds a nest, thats all i can suggest if your 100% its a female........

 

[Elisabeth83]

I have a lot of plants and wood in the tank so there are plenty of hiding spots for each of them They are out all the time both of them greet me when I come to the tank so it's not as if they are nervous or shy in the tanks they are in. The male does seem a lot happier without her though. She must be one of those controlling types

Maybe he's just a bit of a wimp? easy target ?I don't know Say out of 100 cases maybe this happens once..of course it has to happen to me right? I get the freaky couple!!

Yes I am 100% sure it's female..I'll try and get a picture but the chances of me being able to zoom in and focus on her egg spot isn't too high..I will try though

I actually managed to get a O.K. shot of her egg spot. She was really wondering what the heck I was doing ..I think I scared her a bit.

 

[supersixone]

i'm glad to see this topic, i'll be getting a pair of betta smaragdina next week, for an empty 10 gal i have. should i get more than a pair, if they like to live in groups? the breeder has 20 pairs so I could get more if that's a good idea...

 

[SRC]

Maybe you could put a plexigalss divider in the tank, so they can still see each other but not get at each other?

 

[Synirr]

i'm glad to see this topic, i'll be getting a pair of betta smaragdina next week, for an empty 10 gal i have. should i get more than a pair, if they like to live in groups? the breeder has 20 pairs so I could get more if that's a good idea...

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You could go for a trio (one male and two females) if you want, but I think a pair should be fine.

Elisabeth83, are you 100% sure it's not the gouramis that were tearing him up? I mean, I know you saw her chase him, but I just can't figure out why she'd tear him up so badly

 

[Elisabeth83]

Synirr - That's what I thought at first too that it was the gouramis that were beating him up that's why I moved both the male and female smaragdina to an empty tank. The male wasn't looking too great but I was thinking everything would be ok now that they were in their own tank. I had seen the female chase the male a couple of times while they were in their new tank alone but I didn't think much of it. Then a couple days later I came home from being out and my boyfriend said to my that the male wasn't looking good that he's been hiding on top of the filter all day. So I go to take a look at him and he's got missing scales and his fins are torn..even the top fin had a little chunk missing out of it. He looked that bad that I really thought I was going to loose him. He looked very stressed out.

Fin rot crossed my mind but then I kind of put 2 and 2 together after thinking about it and thought it must of been the female so I immdiately moved her back in with the gouramis. Since I seperated them his torn fins have healed, his missing scales have healed he's out and about a lot more and his colors have improved immensely.

I think within the week I may try and put them back together though. He's had time now to kind of claim the tank he's in now. Maybe he has more confidence. She on the other hand will be coming into a new tank that she's doen't know so maybe that'll knock her confidence down a notch. Well at least this is the advice I was told to do with my chasing/nipping pair of rams so I'd think it would work with other fish.