Two males that get along?!

[Sarahlydear]

This weekend I had to emergency rescue three goldfish and they got put in my 10 gal, so the two boys in there had to be put somewhere else. I don't have enough heaters so I put one in my other boy's 3gal tank with a divider until I can get something else worked out.

Last night they got past the divider while I was out but when I came home no one was even nipped. They were just sitting, near each other I might add, and not even flaring. Neither has any injuries and while one male has lost some color (don't blame him) they seem perfectly fine; ate well and acted normal when I came up to the tank.

I tried to fix the divider and make it fish proof, but they got into each other's tanks again, and again nothing happened and there were no injuries. I went ahead and took the extra boy out and put him in a cup because I don't want to press my luck but I'm still confused.

Can males tolerate a certain amount of time together before they flip? I spent the night at a friend's house and didn't get back until noon so they could of easily been in each others side for a few hours.

I am NOT going to experiment and see how it goes but I was curious if anyone else had an experience like this?
Thanks for any comments. :)

[LionCalie]

I think you were very, very, lucky. Perhaps your boys are less aggressive/territorial than most Betta's? More times than not when they get past dividers the outcome is bad and they immediately got after the other one.

[Kytkattin]

Every fish is different. Just consider yourself very lucky!

Some people (such as OldFishLady) have been able to keep spawns together. That is many males and females together. As you can already guess, this is very risky and best left to those who have been keeping and breeding bettas for many years.

[SnowySurface]

I guess the closest I get to your experience is how much Luigi and Snowy refuse to flare at each other. Instead of going nuts and flaring if they see each other, they look at each other and then swim away. I mainly noticed this when I was doing 100% water changes on their old set up. I filled 0.5 gallon QT tanks about 1/4 way so they had some water to float in until I was done but there was a 3 inch gap between the water surface and top of the tank. They could see each other, but wouldn't be aggressive.

That being said, I would never put them together in the same tank. I just noticed that for the most part they aren't insanely agressive towards each other. They can tolerate the other's existance if there territory is secured. So it doesn't surprise me that your fish did injure each other, but I still think it was all luck. As chilled as Luigi and Snowy are when they see each other through the sides of their tanks, I still think they would fight if one fish invaded the other fish's territory.

[Myates]

Most likely since you had just transferred them to that divided tank, neither had set up their territory, both were still adjusting to the new tank. They were most likely unsure of each other, thinking the other will attack since each one thought they were in the other's territory. Definitely lucky, glad you separated them because at some point, one of them would of gotten a little too curious and risky.

[Sarahlydear]

The tank belonged to one male and I cut his in half but I didn't change anything, last night I went to Petco though and I was able to buy a new heater so everyone is able to be in their own tank.
Mkay I understand how lucky I am and I will definitely be trying to avoid that in the future I was just curious as to if anyone else had this happen.

[Bombalurina]

Wierd, but kind of cool. Wouldn't it be the most beautiful sight if males could live together?

Do you have a permanent home for the goldfish? :)

[Sarahlydear]

Oh it would be awesome! :) If only, if only lol

Right now they are comfortable in the 10gal (they're not huge yet) but as soon as the school year is over I will be moving to an apartment and getting them a kiddie pool to live in. I do plan on keeping them if that's what your asking, my roomy and I are already attached, of course lol. Luckily I met a girl just as crazy as I am when it comes to critters and fish. :D

[Bombalurina]

^^ Lucky you, and lucky fish! :)