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?
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?