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1K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  Hisaki Yuki001 
#1 ·
My question is regarding a male and female Betta possibly living together. I know in most cases that this isn't possible due to them being too aggressive and what the warning signs would be if they where to aggressive towards each other. I also know that due to this a lot of people would say don't even try it. I've heard about how sometimes, rarely, a male and female will and can co-exist with each other. I was just wondering what the signs of this would be as each Betta will choose weather or not he/she would allow a tank mate as such?

I'm having thoughts about this because I noticed that my male opaque delta-tail Betta has been very laid back since I got him. he won't even flare at his reflection or another Betta in a cup by him. I tried this once just to see if I could tell if he was a HM or not. My young female Itty Bitty is the same way. One night, using extreme caution, ready and willing to take him out if any sign of aggression was shown, I placed them in the same tank. I litrally constantly watched over the two of them for 4-5 hours to see if there would be any signs of aggression. There wasn't any sign of agression from either of them AT ALL. Itty Bitty would follow behind him every now and then to check him out, being her curios self. Whenever he'd see her he just ignored her and goes on his business exploring. Neither of the ever nipped, flared, or chased each other. After I was ready to go to bed I placed them back in their individual tanks just to be safe.

Well, I decided to try the same thing tonight, by putting Itty Bitty in Yaoi's, the same male Betta's tank to see if I got the same reaction. Tonight, as I thought, they are doing the same thing as before; no flaring, chasing, nipping or any signs of aggression. In fact, after they saw each other, it was like they recognized each other then went about their own business. Yaoi's mood actually seemed to brighten up, as he went over to his filter and started using it as a slide over and over. I've never seen him do that before. Itty bitty is just exploring everything. Even when she was at the surface he came up really close, to the point that I thought he'd try to nip or chase her, and what did he do? He looked at her, and then swam underneath her to go about doing whatever exploring he had to do.

Like I said, he sees her and ignores her, even with her a few cm in front or beside her. Does their behavior seem like it may be a possibility that they may be fine sharing a tank? Like I said before if I see any signs of aggression they will be promptly separated. Also, if it does seem that they don't really care sharing a place with one another, should I still take her out and put her in her own tank when I'm not watching them, or should I just let them be, and if anything happens or any signs of aggression show, then take her out? What are your thoughts?
 
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#2 ·
Do not put them together. Even if they are okay for a time, unless you have an enormous amount of cover and a large tank, one of the fish will certainly be injured.

Males and females are a no. If they dont seem too aggressive, they will likley become so with an opposite sexed tank mate and no way to get away from them over time...
 
#3 ·
I wonder if it would work in a established 55g community tank. I think then it might be a possibility.
 
#7 ·
Keeping a male and female together is discouraged because when someone new to the hobby read that this done- they think its okay and safe to do this in their 1-10gal tank, because someone else did it successfully in their large tank...just like with tank mates with other species.....they read about it without the understanding/knowledge base that tank size and how it is setup makes a big difference....a really big difference...life and death difference......its not commonly recommend and strongly discouraged for this reason....not because it can't be done....it can be done safely in the right setup....its actually easier than a sorority....but you will get spawning that may or may not end with viable eggs/fry for a number of reason and can often result in an early death of the female from being spent.

And even still.....just like sororities...they don't always work out long term...that calm fish you see now can change in a second.....that young female eggs will start to ripen from the male hormones in the water and then the pheromones she releases from the ripe eggs will trigger instincts in the male to spawn and if he doesn't preform to her standards she will tear him apart......

Bottom line...its a big risk unless you are experienced along with the right setup and this is more than just tank size involved.....
 
#8 ·
I understand. I wasn't permanently planning on keeping them together, I was just wondering if their behavior seemed like it would be a possibility to do so if I gave them the right setup and conditions because of their aggressive nature. I'd rather be cautios and ask questions and do research on something I'm not sure about, instead of just trying it out and seeing what happens. My first concern would always be their safety and well-being. That's why when I put them in the same tank I constantly watched over them for any signs of aggression as I stated. If one would've went after the other I would've pulled her out immediately.

Thank you for the info though. It really helped a lot. I didn't even think of the fact that the stress of being with a male and him constantly trying to breed with her would cause illness or death, or vice-versa. Due to that alone, I'm not going to risk it. I guess my thought in it was I would like to someday be able to set up a habitat the right way so that it would be very close to the living conditions they are in the wild, plenty of room for territories, coverage and everything. If I were to do that though, I'd probably try to go with a strain that's as close to the strains you'd find in the wild due to the domestic stains having been breed to increase their aggressive behavior, longer fins, ect. Like I said, this is a wish at this point as I still have a lot to learn. Not only that but it would be close to impossible to achieve due to many reasons. Thank you soo much. ^_^
 
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