Don’t Keep Male and Female Betta Fish Together
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Okay, I have had enough of the questions about keeping male betta fish and female betta fish together. Just about everyday someone asks me this: “Can I keep my male betta fish with a female betta fish?” or “Why are my male betta fish and my female betta fish always ripping each other fins off?” or any variation of these questions.
From now on everyone he emails me this question is getting sent to this page.
No you CANNOT keep them together. They will kill each other. Don’t worry, they won’t get lonely either – obviously they don’t like to be around other fish.
Almost immediately after I say they can’t be kept together people always ask “Well then how do they breed?” For that answer you need to look at this page: http://www.ehow.com/how_2002252_breed-betta-fish.html
fortalina
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Betta Fish are what I blog about.
October 15th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
thanks. i thin this very important tips.
October 27th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
brelent post thare is another way with magic or psi but it is complex
December 8th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
WE have had a male and female together now for over a year. In the first few days the female ate his fins all the time but soon that stopped.
SSince then they have become like lovers, they sleep together always and eat together.
recently the male died and the female spent a day laying on him at the bottom and has shown signs of remorse for a few days, not eating and not responding to us at the bowl but now seems tro be ok finally
We had them in an 8″ bowl on the living room table.
January 2nd, 2009 at 3:51 pm
I think like people fish can adapt and even change their usually habbits I have two females and one male living in a tank with an algae eater they all seem to be doing fine. They fought but mostly just alot of chasing and fin flaring at first but, now a month has gone by and they are all fine.
January 4th, 2009 at 1:10 am
i’ve had a number of betta fish in the past and i found that female bettas can live with other females, as long as there is plenty of room for both of them.
January 8th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
They are not called Siamese Fighting fish for nothing
January 15th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Do you think that your fish might get kind of lonely ??? I keep one male next to another in a small square glass tank. Every one know that it not good to let two fishes look at eachother for so long. So I cut a one inch hole in the paper between them. This way they will be active all the time.
Or sometime I put a small female in the tank for 15-20 mins to keep the fish busy. Fish need play time too, Have fun ya.
Tong
January 18th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
males and females CAN live together! they only need a lot of space and places to hide if they want to be alone. YOU are completely WRONG. some people have even kept males together!
February 8th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
i have 2 females with one male and they get on just fine!
March 6th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
With my first female betta, PetCo said it was okay 2 put two FEMALES together. Nope. We ended up taking one back.
March 7th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Thats great to tell everyone.
April 11th, 2009 at 11:27 am
I was thinking I might get a female to keep with my male.
July 14th, 2009 at 1:05 am
well ive had my betta, for a lil over a year, and its a male, and im thinking today,.. he needs a buddy, so i went and bought a female… so i guess ill find out who servivess.
August 3rd, 2009 at 4:55 pm
ok well i have a male and female bettas seperated by a divider and my female jumped over the divider and layeds eggs THEY LOVE EACHOTHER they layed eggs together FOUR TIMES i mean ur betta has to like the other one to breed first cuz like u wouldent want to lay eggs with someone u want to stragle would u!?
September 13th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
i have a female and a male in a 3 gal tank but i also have hiding places for each of them and they get along just fine. when i get a bigger tank and get him recovered from fin rot im goin to try and bread them and see how they do. first few hours where the only ones i had to watch because he kept chasing her around with his gills flared out but thats it. males and females CAN live together and if a big enough tank with males that are docile they can live together in it to.
October 29th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
I had a male and female together in my 22g. Sometimes the girl would follow the male around, but seemingly out of curiosity then anything.
There was never any violence. Strangely seemed like they went out of their way to avoid each other.
November 27th, 2009 at 2:57 am
We’ve had a pair together in our 40 gal communityvtank for quite awhile…
She would tease him & he would chase her, then she would play hide & seek.
The male passed away one day, & the female became lifeless, & you could see how sad she was.
We just got a small crown tail male, nice & quite tyrp. The female now ‘clings’ to him, gills flard sometimes & tryies to wrap her body around him.
The poor guy, probably too young yet, always trys to get away & she follows him..
No fin nipping or aggresiveness.
I guess it depends on each community & fish whether or not they can be kept together..
Ours are GREAT!
Ceaser & Simone are there names…
January 16th, 2010 at 11:51 pm
i have 2 betta fish and they fight with 1 another and one eat the other ans fin i separated them because one was o ready dying it was bleeding !!!(:
March 23rd, 2010 at 1:27 pm
If you want to buy you’re male betta a little friend, avoid another fighter, female or male. Don’t keep a fighter cramped up in a jar, put him in a tank so he can show his true colours!
Fish you can trust with betta’s: #1, (5) Tetra’s (Smaller ones). (4) rasbora’s (Smaller ones). Some other small fish too. Guppies can live together with fighters, but the ph is different for each fish, so watch out and choose carefully.
August 7th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
what are you talking about?????? iv had a male and female betta live together in the same 9.5 litre tank wich isnt that big and they seem to like each other.. they dont attak each other or anything i have lots of plastic plants and little hiding spots like the spongebob pinaple house. i dont know why everyone keeps saying that they cant live together.
August 29th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
cane you beleav the piksher?!!!!!!!!!!
November 7th, 2010 at 8:13 am
people say you cant keep male and female bettas together because they will kill each other, well i have 1 male in with 5 females and they are fine. no aggression from either of them. the male doesnt even flare at his own reflection
November 24th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
How will they mate or have eggs?
January 7th, 2011 at 1:26 am
My boyfriend and I got a male and female…we kept them seperate for awhile then got a split bowl (a slotted peice of plastic in the middle) in the same evening that I first placed the male and female on his ans her side…she jumped the wall and was swimming with him. I was sitting painting my nails as I watched tv, each fish onits own side of the plastic look over awhile later…BAM! She made a move. Put them together slowly and they get to know each other and then in the end they won’t bite or rip fins just a lot of chasing. Meh they eveb fight like people the male puffs up the female flips some’tude and then they are fine
February 18th, 2011 at 11:32 pm
Like any other animal, it ALL depends on the individual fish’s temperament.
Some will get along with others, some will not. Just like you don’t want to put two alpha male dogs together, you probably don’t want to put two male bettas that have been living alone together. It’s all a question of do you want to risk it
March 25th, 2011 at 1:05 am
i just bought two males. i attempted to put a divider in a 5 gallon tank but one of them got thru to the other side. i’ve been watching them for a little over an hour now and they r leaving each other alone. one of them is flairing his fins a little bit but hasnt bit the other one or charged it. i think them bein in separate bowls but next to each other on the shelf for a few weeks (about the avarage shelf span) has calmed them down and gotten them used to having another betta near. however if they start fighting i will separate them. these r my 4th time havin betta fish. this is the first time i’ve had 2. it all really depends on the fish(es) and it’s temperment, whether u can have more than one.
March 25th, 2011 at 3:30 am
well…one ended up pinning the other one against the corner. the one who got pinned got free. his fins were flared and even his gills! so i separated them. im gonna get another tank tomorrow.
November 17th, 2011 at 7:11 pm
i have 2 betta male and female so i can put them into gether and they will mate
December 6th, 2011 at 3:48 pm
It all depends on the fish’s temperament, I have 9 Females, 1 Male, 6 Cory Catfish in a 35 Gallon tank, they are all fine ! go figure.
December 18th, 2011 at 7:17 pm
I have just begun mating my beta fish and all seems to be going well, thankfully i have the assistance of an experienced fish breeder. But i have always had a male with a few females and other fish in my main tank which is 40 g and the only time they got rough was when i put a larger female into the mating tank with the male i took her straight out a switched to a smaller one and now things are progressing nicely. And i know people are gonna rip me for this but I didn’t set up two tanks put the male in an hour before the female once the fertilization occurs i will put the female back into the main tank ans same with the male once the eggs hatch and swim independently.