"It's as if the natural world has been turned upside down."
Lord Mandrake

 

I also have 2 huge blood parrot couples that are so friendly they adopted a feeder fish that could fit in their mouth at any time... I raise some strange pets lol.

 

If your males are young, you need to separate them ASAP, even if you think they like each other, you can NEVER be sure.

♥ Grace ♥

 

A tank that size (and without any cover, filter, or heater) barely looks like it could handle one betta, nevermind two. Bettas need a bare minimum of a gallon of space, a heater, and preferably a filter. Take it from someone who has bred, raised, and kept domestic B. splendens for years now... The chances of this working long term are EXTREMELY small, both fish are stressed whether they are showing physical signs or not, and most experienced owners would consider this setup inhumane for a multitude of reasons. In the best interest of the fish, I would recommend separating them into well set up tanks immediately.

I'll be brutally honest... I'm yet to see a member who is "successfully" keeping two males together (even in tanks as large as 75g) NOT report failure and NOT mysteriously disappear from the forum eventually...

 

just out of curiosity how large do you think a tank would have to be to house 2 male bettas with no divider? 500 gallons? 1000 gallons? more? its NOT something i am looking to do but something i was just curious about. what about for a sorority?

 

Even if there have been a case in which males are tolerant, you should not risk it. They instinctively fight each other to death. Keeping females together is also very tricky.

 

Is that what they are in all the time?

They do not look particularly comfortable with the situation at all. Their fins are clamped most of the time, and apart from when they think they are going to get fed, they look like they are both just avoiding each other as much as possible.

I think your males are stressed and that you should separate them. Bettas are highly unpredictable and while it seems like yours are 'friends' I would not be surprised if this ended in disaster.

 

Hey guys thanks for the response. I know that the tank is small I bought it original for ONE but I try to get them to flair and notice they have no interest in it. They have been together for over a month now. If there were any signs of aggression don't worry I would pull them right away. You can see how healthy and happy they are so at the moment there is no need. I will be getting a bigger tank for sure.

 

Kudos to you for going and seeking out advice. Many people don't and then their fish suffer the consequences.

Welcome to the fish hobby! :-D

 

Aggression can be very subtle in its presentation with these fish. The way one fish approaches another for example, can be an act of aggression/dominance even if the fish is not flaring or showing any obvious signs of hostility.

I do personally see aggressive behaviour in the video and fish that do not look happy with their situation. In a couple of places I can see where it looked as if both males were contemplating something more physical.

Also your tank is definitely too small for two of these fish and there is nowhere for the weaker male to hide should the other male decide to attack him.

 

Your red betta has had the crap chewed out of its fins (at first glance I thought he was a crowntail)... The blue's anal has quite a few nips in it, too. There's definitely something non-peaceful going on in that tank... Whether that's aggression or stress, I can't say (both, most likely) because I don't know your tank, but I would really recommend getting them both their own set-up.

Please, please, please listen to what these forum members have to say. You may think your bettas are fine, but they really aren't. They are not "happy and healthy" as you say. Like LittleBettaFish, I see aggressive behavior in your pair of males, and the torn fins suggest the same. IMO it's very cruel to keep two male bettas (or two of any fish, really) in such a small tank. Your boys need separate homes with a heater and some hidey-holes, at the very least. We could all make some excellent suggestions if you're short on cash. :3

 

There is a need to separate - as others have said. Just because you think they're happy, it doesn't mean that they are happy.

 

I agree. although they seem to be tolerating each-other at this moment, they might just randomly decide enough is enough! and unless you want to wake up to two mostly dead bettas still trying to go at it...youll want to separate them.
+1 on the fins being chewed, or something...they defiantly dont look healthy
you could get them a divided 10g so they can still see eachother, but not touch!

maybe you can try to give them each their own 10g with other suitable tank mates, like cories, shrimp, maybe even a small school of fish. but pleeease no males together!

 

Thanks for all the feedback and I know you guys are vets. with bettas SO I am taking all advice seriously. I am not new to fish keeping (just betta) and if you guys are 100% certain this will not work out I will remove them from each other. It's just so hard as they DO seem to be "friendly" and non agressive. As for tail biting I haven't witnessed or seen any changes they are the same shape since I bought them but will pay closer attention, thanks all.

 

I have to say that it makes me very happy to see someone who's willing to learn from us! You and your fish will be much happier once you make the switch! You wouldn't believe the amount of people who come on here and just fight tooth and nail with us that they can live together! So good on you thangster0 for letting us help you ^_^

 

Yes, you will definitely need to separate them. No bettas are 100% tolerant of each other. I suggest putting each one in their own container and buy at the minimum a 1G tank ea.

 

You are humanising their behaviour. In your video you said that the two males are 'friends'. Unfortunately, when it comes to this fish, this kind of thinking can be harmful.

You have given your males two choices: either fight until one or both of you are seriously injured or killed, or cohabitate in this sort of uneasy truce like we see here in your video.

By their very nature, betta splendens are a solitary and territorial species. When trying to keep these fish successfully, we should always work with their instincts and natural behaviours, not against them.

 

Thanks guys I know what everyone is saying is true and of course researching online. I thought it was rare but didn't know it was impossible(has there really never been male bettas who lived together?) I will be moving them to a new tank but seperating them may wait until I see any signs of physical agression.

 

As has been noted, there are already signs of aggression. Even apart from the state of their fins, many of us were able to see it in the video just by how the two interacted with each other. The biggest thing that stuck out to me was the way a fish would react when it realized the other was behind it. It just seemed like the two are incredibly wary of each other and waiting for the other to start something.

I know that not all betta are equally aggressive. My guy is super non-aggressive. At the same time, not long ago I picked up an impulse rescue that I floated in a tupperware container in my guy's tank. My guy wasn't overtly hostile while the rescue was in there, but his behavior changed. He started glass surfing and started fin-biting, and that was with the two being separated. It took a day after the other fish was removed for him to really calm down, and that was with the tank light off and a towel over the tank.

*PLEASE* separate your fish. If you get a larger tank, you can potentially keep them in the same tank if you get a divider. But even then, you would want to make sure the tank is planted and provides places for each of them to get away if needed.

 

Like I said I really would just split a 10g down the middle with some plexiglass or something so they can see but not thouch, for both of their saftey!

I am glad you are agreeing to get them a larger tank at the least, I assure you none of this is personal, its just all from experience...we want the best for your (and every) fish!

 

If you're going to upgrade their tank and insist on keeping them in one tank, then I suggest getting a 5 or 10 gallon and dividing it for them. If you wait until you notice physical aggression, it may be too late. Based on your video, and on what I know and have researched of bettas, it's highly unlikely that all of those fin nips are pre-purchase -- especially for the red one. You likely haven't witnessed it, but I suspect the blue male is the more dominant one, and has bitten the red one's fins.

 

Why not just separate them? They are most likely highly stressed and even if they don't fight, this is going to leave them extremely vulnerable to disease.

There is a reason groups of female bettas living together are more susceptible to disease, and that is because it is such a high stress environment.

Yes it is rather unusual (I will not say impossible because I have seen it done before) to have two males living like this, but this sort of arrangement is always for the benefit of the keeper, and not in the best interest of the fish.

I have been in a similar situation before where I had a male living alongside a group of females for close to a year with absolutely no issues. That was until they literally tore him apart without any warning whatsoever. His death was entirely on me because I should have separated him out right from the beginning.

Bettas are extremely unpredictable and long-term keepers/breeders will all tell you this. In these types of situations you cannot predict their behaviour from one day to the next. Your males may be tolerating each other for the time being but when things go wrong, they can go wrong fast enough that you won't have time to react.

Based on previous experience and from everything I've read online, it's best if you separate them now.

 

I think it's clear that everyone including myself believes you should separate them ASAP... I just wanted to add and make it clear that you may not see any aggressive behavior before one ends up dead... It just happens, often very suddenly.

 

If you can get away with it, that's cool. But man that tank is so bare and small. Find some cheap upgrades on Craigslist, you'd be surprised at the stuff you find there.

Last summer someone posted a full 5 gallon setup with heater, filter everything for 10 bucks, she just wanted to get rid of it.

 

I'm not an expert on Betta history, but I can think of 2 reasons right off the bat as to why bettas had specifically been bred to be aggressive:

1)Bettas flare when in an aggressive state, so putting them in this state (by way of another fish or by showing them a mirror) allows a person to see their finnage in full.

2)Unfortunate but true, a sad part of the Betta's past is that this breed of fish was bred specifically to fight - sort of like we have "cock fighting" contests in some less-than-animal-friendly areas.

 

That is just sad & wrong. :shock:

 

Update: They are in a huge 35 gallon tank now and still can't seem to stay away from each other. Enjoy.

http://imgur.com/lSyS4jyhttp://imgur.com/lSyS4jy

 

Update: They are in a huge 35 gallon tank now and still can't seem to stay away from each other. Enjoy.

http://imgur.com/lSyS4jy

This is not good. You cannot have more than one male betta in any tank.
Our members have let you know you can't keep more than one betta in a tank. You seemed to understand this then go and put them together again?
This is the only post I'll make on this, because I am just exhausted from all the other threads where members have tried to help and the threads just went downhill, but I have to agree with our other members. They are not near each other because they get along,but because they are sizing each other up to eventually fight each other.

 

Well...I guess I have to rescind my comment then :-/