Out of curiosity, I was wondering if a betta fish would show attraction to a molly. I woke up this morning to find my betta swimming by the molly's side, sort of brushing her side with his. He is a 5 month old black orchid crowntail, and she is a mostly-black calico. I'm saying this to be taken with a grain of salt as these two species are very different, but is this at all possible?
As a side note - I am not interested in breeding the betta at the moment nor do I have a female for him, but since the members on this side of the forum have more experience in breeding and breeding behaviors of bettas, I figured I'd ask here.
The real signs would be bubble nest making, the wiggle dance, and giving chase (and enticing). However it would also take the instinctual sight and sometimes smell, plus conditioning and proper conditions to actually get them "into it".
It may be possible he is actually pestering her what does he do exactly?
Well, there's no bubble nest or wiggle dance going on. He does chase her though. I think what happened is that my fish all gather near the small door opening on the top of my tank when I come in to feed them in the morning. I think he was sort of pushing her away from the opening to get to the food first.
Is there any merit to the claim that bettas don't like black? She is mostly black, perhaps that's why he chases and pesters her. Should I separate them? They do spend plenty of time apart, and occupied with other areas of the tank.
Surprisngly, betta fish actually are attracted or do not like certain colors
E! Darn mac Don't have the required java However, as for food time and shoving her away, probably. I had a betta with danios (yes, they got along) and he knocked them out of the ball park third day in, therefore he was king and he got food first
It may be that he just does not like her. What size of tank is it? Is it just him and her? I usually suggest lots of plants (silk, fabric and real) that are able to cover the top, middle, and bottom section of the water that way neither is annoyed by seeing each other too much.
It's only a 5.5 gal, and the plants are still growing (swords) but I have tall bushy plastic plants in the corners for hiding, and they do spend time behind them. It's betta, molly, platy, and 3 ghosties. Tank does handle the bioload btw - well cycled. They don't seem to be bothering eachother and I wish you could see the feed, because they seem fairly happy. If anyone else can see the feed, you'll see that the betta swims past the molly and platy and only pesters/chases once in a while. Nobody seems stressed, but I could always be wrong about that.
Well, I prefer platys and mollies in larger tanks (active) and when a betta is Ina community tank I like to give him room to escape :) just be warned those mollies are very prone to mouth fungus (due to being brackish water fish, living in fresh water). I say, keep an eye on everyone. Do you have a back up tank for the betta just in case something happens?
Do you have a back up tank for the betta just in case something happens?
Yes, sitting, ready. I always keep an eye, too. Haven't had any problems yet, and the 5.5 is all I can afford at the moment. I'm definitely not adding anything more to the tank, besides maybe more plants. I think [crosses fingers] these guys will be ok. It's been a week together with no serious problems - just occasional chasing. The betta also catches his reflection once in a while (when the lighting is right) and flares at the tank wall. The platy and the molly will chase each other on occasion as well, and really don't seem confined.
Here is a pic of the tank:
Last edited by JAGalletta; 12-06-2012 at 12:55 PM.
I just realized I might be wrong with my identification, since I wasn't paying the best attention at the pet store when I bought these guys - are they both platy's?
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what does he do exactly?
However, as for food time and shoving her away, probably. I had a betta with danios (yes, they got along) and he knocked them out of the ball park third day in, therefore he was king and he got food first 
