New To Bettas - Need Help!

[kykartracer]

Ok, so I got a pair of male bettas about a week ago. They started off in a divided half gallon tank, very small I know! I setup a 10 gallon tank, divided with a plastic barrier and planted seven live plants in it with an aqua culture 5-15 gallon filter rated at 100 gph flow. I just released my guys into the big tank tonight after letting the water settle and get right for them. They both freaked out! They started swimming all around, the one on the filter side was being whipped around and the other one was flaring like crazy! I quickly disconnected the filter and made a baffle out of a plastic bottle, then powered it back on. That helped a lot, but they both seem stressed out still. Is this normal behavior going from the plastic cup to a half gallon and then into a ten gallon tank? They both ate a little and seemed to calm down some after a couple hours in their new home, but want to make sure I am doing the right thing to keep them alive.

Would adding some Cory catfish later help distract them from seeing each other between the divider and also seeing their reflection on the sides of the glass tank?

[kykartracer]

I posted a few pictures of my setup in my picture album, thanks in advance for the help!

[Bombalurina]

It's perfectly normal for them to be stressed, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they see all that open space as a chance for predators to get them. Adding floating plants to hide them from birds, and lots of decorations to swim through, hide behind or sleep in will help them feel safe from other fish who might eat them (I know there are no other fish, but they don't. :p) Secondly, they are used to being stuck in an itty bitty little space, so their muscles aren't yet strong enough to cope with lots of space+filter flow. They feel weak, and that again means that they are susceptible to predators.

They will get used to all the space, but definitely do pack it full of decor. Live plants are great, if you can get them. :) As for the cories, that's a no-no. If it were an undivided tank I'd say go for it, but cories need the full length of a ten gallon, as they are active little zoomers. :)

If you need to prevent the two boys from seeing each other, you can do a couple of things. You can make a central compartment for the filter between the two boys, which also acts as a kind of air-lock if one of them jumps the barricade, or you can just line the divider with plants to break up their line of sight. :)

[kykartracer]

Thanks! Definitely going to have to get plants for the divider...they are both patrolling it and posturing to each other. They look great all flared out, but pretty sure it is stressing them out!