Would this be a good idea? or not?

[BettaMomma]

Floor Boy (from wuv) is patiently waiting to come and live with me and be the mascot of all my fish who've made it through some hellish period in their lives.

ANYWAY....
I have determined that little Liza is going to be destined to live alone, and only with me because of her specific diet requirements. (The little hag will only eat bloodworms off a SPOON from me and peas. That's it, nothing else.) SO... I had a thought yesterday as I was looking over the little tank I had decided long ago I would get for floorboy.

It's a red 2.5G minibow to go in my kitchen.
The ones I was looking at yesterday are the "designer" type - (that just means they're fancier colors) - include a betta divider.

So, my question is - would it be a bad idea to put Floor Boy on one side and Liza on the other? The divider is see through, now I could always get one to put in there that they can't see through, but would there be problems with flaring and eggs and such? Too much stress?

And I am not so much worried about the size of the area they'd have to swim around in - Liza is currently housed in a 1/2 G fish bowl and I think Floor Boy is in a relatively small place too, so it wouldn't be like they'd be downgraded at all.

My main issue here is that I can NOT get 2 more tanks. I just can't do it. And I have 2 fish to house. I think this could work.

Anyone have reasons why it woudln't?

 

[FishyLoveBug]

They cant release the eggs by themselves right? Other than that I think they would be fine as long as you went to a craft shop and got one of the plastic sheets with holes in it. Gosh Im not sure what they are called you use them with yarn.... and um.... they have diffrent colors... and.... holes...
Anyhow I know the bowfront comes with a clear divider which drove my bettas nutso, once I added the colored plastic they calmed down a ton. I also took fake leaves and wove them in the clear divider.

 

[BettaMomma]

Yeah they kick out the eggs by themselves I guess.
Liza is really really timid and I wouldn't want her to be so intimidated that she would go back to not eating again. That's just my biggest concern. BUT - I guess if neither knew the other was there it'd be not a big deal... probably.

right?

 

[FishyLoveBug]

I dont think it would be a problem Keep in mind I know ziltch about females. Probably best to wait for some better advice.

 

[BettaMomma]

I know zilch plus a teeny, tiny little bit.
I think the whole thing will be fine, though

 

[nashnutny]

Put them next to each other and see how she reacts.

 

[BettaMomma]

Okay!
I guess I should tell wuv she can send him to me pretty soon then
I haven't even bought the tank yet so I should probably go get that this weekend and set it up.
Yay, how exciting!

 

[MegTheFish]

FishyLoveBug, you were thinking of the plastic canvas sheets, right? Because that would be a great idea to maybe lay it agiasn't the divider if they flare to much.

 

[Kiarra]

I have an idea.

Yes, put them both in, one on each side of the divider. And plant heavily the side with the divider, so they can SORT OF see each other, but only in spots. So that they have company, but so she can still hide from him. This can be accomplished with real or plastic plants...doesn't matter.

 

[BettaMomma]

Good idea.
I think it just might work out to have them together!
yay!

 

[newfishies]

you could also use an opaque divider. or put some of the background paper over the divider so they can't see each other.

i had thailand and sumatra in a divided tank where they could see each other and they didn't get freaked out or over flare, but i got sick of cleaning up her eggs, which she would dump all over her side of the tank!!! so now they are separated and she is waiting to move into my 20 gal long!

betta momma, i am about to pm you!

 

[FishyLoveBug]

I heavly planted mine but the thing is that they look for each other all the time. They know another betta is over there and will always be at the divider. The canvas sheet was the only thing that finally stopped the little buggers.

 

[Kiarra]

Awww, but it's so CUTE watching them look for each other....

 

[Synirr]

My divided 10 gallon has clear dividers, but with a plant in each betta's section, it doesn't seem to cause a problem. I didn't even put the plants against the divider, perse, but they still provide enough cover so that the lovely boys housed in that tank don't flare themselves to death
Being able to see one-another every now and then sure does promote bubblenest construction, though!