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how bad is to put a male and a female betta together in one tank?
i don't have enough experience with it at all, and i understand they might go on each other.
is it something they start off immediately, or would they start fighting later?

it sounds like a tricky thing, but tempting...

Usually, the bettas will start to fight right away. They will flare at each other first, and then go at it. Whichever one is biggest (normally the male) will end up being the winner of a long battle.

Of course, this all depends on the personality of each betta. Some are very peaceful, while others will attack anything, even the tank's caretaker! In some cases, it would be entirely possible to keep a male and a female betta together. This is rare, though. Usually, at least one of the bettas is aggressive.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

If the male is even peaceful in any situation, the female would not be, and gaurenteed she could get at the long finned male

You should never keep bettas together. I tried that many times and the female used to end up dead and the male injured. Even when you breed bettas you need to watch them constantly. Even then the female might die.

If you want to keep bettas I would suggest that you put either a couple of females in a community tank(if you have one), or a male. Provided there are no fin nippers in your tank.

anyway, i could try and see if they don't get worked up, right?
i have a male. beautiful one. he's the most friendly fish in the tank. he likes petting! every time i open the tank, he's there, brushing against my hand (my very wet hand).

i could try, and take the female out as soon as troubles start, as long as they don't wait to lights-out to start the fight.

Just a thought. I maybe wrong. But should you be touching a betta(or any other fish)? I thought that the temperature difference between our body temperature and theirs is enough to give them a nasty shock.

No, the temperature difference doesn't matter much. What does matter is that the fish's natural slime coat is disturbed, and the fish loses electrolytes because of it. Even a gentle touch could be bad for a fish. The risks of 'petting' a fish outweigh the rewards.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I dont see putting animals in potentially hazardous conditions on purpose as "tempting."

Last edited by Daniel at 30-Oct-2004 19:36

I wouldn't try it, no matter how friendly the male is

first, as far as i've been told, having your hand soaked in water means the hand fats don't hurt the slime coat because they are encapsulated by the water. i don't know if that's right. anyway, that fish asks for it actively, and it's hard to deny him that practically.

somehow, there's always someone who'll take it to the extreme. actually, every time you add fish to the tank you play with the current roomies life. who knows, maybe that fish will misbehave...maybe they come with some dormant trouble waiting to burst in your tank...maybe 2 weeks QT is not enough...
my question was can i notice their fighting BEFORE they hurt each other, and remove the threat in time. i never said i'll let my fish get hurt just to see if that's possible.

put them next to each other in a holding jar... Watch flaring. Then you'll see that it wouldn't be a good idea unless u have conditioned them to breed and do intend on breeding.

in my 30 gallon i had 2 female bettas and a male, there was flairing, and chasing, but no fin damage, later they had territos, and were peacfull. eventually i had to put all the fish that were in the 30, back into the 10. the 2 females dident like it at first, but later got used to it. eventually i went away for a week and came back to a disaster, i had lost 1 female betta and several other fish to some sickness, i had 1 sick guppy left (all other's in tank were fine) but later died 3 days after i started treatment in a hospital but the male and female got along fine, no flairing no nohing. eventually (like months later) they bred but the nest got destroyed and now i am breeding mr.fishy (red was in there previously) i had no divider yet, but he was extremly aggressive to all the other fish in the tank, so up went the divider. i tryed breeding him and she devil, but thst dident wok out so good, i seaperated them again, and he is still working on his nest, and im gunna wait till sat to reintroduce them again, if that fails still, im putting red back in.

i took him out so he could have a break, the female wanted to breed again so bad that he started having to get aggressive with her, but they both helped build the nest and put the eggs upbut they never tore any of eachothers fins even a little