Three Males One Tank

[loraxchick]

I think it might just work. IMO knowing the species well, I honestly do not see a single male claiming 100 GALLONS of water. These fish are territorial, yes but 100 GALLONS? I dont think so. Make sure it is heavily planted as you stated. Id Imagine theyd take about 30 at most so three would be pushing your limit. They will likely squabble to establish the hierarchy at first but will likely pick their own territories and stick to them.
Of course they are not wild fish but still have instincts. Instincts are not to kill each other but claim their space. Death happens when they are put into comparatively tiny volumes of water and cannot get away from each other. Even wild bettas only claim small (less than 3 square feet) of territory if theyre lucky, and even in nature territories overlap. They just need enough room to stay out of each other's way. I can see potential "arguments" from time to time but one fish will concede, swim away and the "victor" will just go back to being lazy. I doubt they will chase each other around the tank constantly and fight non-stop, killing each other. Those huge fins just dont allow for that. They get tired. I could go on and on but Ill just stop here.
Id like to see photos or video of the setup when it's complete. Im curious and have wanted to do something similar myself.
Id like to see less finger pointing and blatant statements. I dont see any of the above posts being helpful or relevant, other than to discredit the OPs very relavant question and also the notion that it simply will not work and will end in deaths all over the place. I just dont see that happening. Keep it civil folks.
Thanks
Cheers
ps there are PLENTY of betta keepers who have successfully kept 2 male splendens in the same tank without massacre, and in less than 100 gal i might add.

 

[The_Betta_Lady]

I wish you the best of luck and hope your plan works, for the fishes sake not yours.

P.S If it was so easy to do loraxchick then every single bit of information you see on every site would not state so very clearly and adamantly not to do it.

P.P.S use siblings if you can they are more used to having each other around.

 

[micko]

You believe its "smartness", I would say different. I've suggested wild betta's, so I have contributed toward the thread. Of course you wouldn't go into a thread to say to put 3 males in together because hopefully the vast majority wouldn't and would know better.
As your insisting on doing this all I can say is that I hope the fish are ok.

I give UP!!!!!!

 

[Tizer]

Bettas are for girls, i would stay clear of this forum if you value your tackle.

 

[Fishball7]

loraxchick Thanks! Much appreciated. I will surely document my success or failure and let you know. Would you be able to point me to these successful keepers so I may be able to glean some ideas off of them?

 

[Malawi MaD]

Seen people keep multiple males in 150G ponds, 100G is still a decent size so i dont see why not.

 

[fuzzynicki]

Referring only to the point in question! I am one person who has successfully kept 2 male bettas in a 260 litre (approx 57 imp gallons / 68 US gallons), along with a whole load of female bettas! I started off buying 6 females from my lfs then adding to their numbers with purchases from elsewhere. These purchases included a breeding pair of gorgeous copper dragon HM's. I added the girl to my tank and put the boy in a fry floater whilst I did some maintenance on his new home. There was no flaring from him and by the time I returned to the tank to remove him from his floater trap he was no longer in it, but swimming away happily with all my girls! No flaring and no aggression from any one of them! As my original 6 grew I notice that one of them was becoming a bit 'stroppy'. After posting pics of her on here I realised that he was infact a young PK male. I removed him from the tank and all was well. Checking out the other females I noticed another of my original 6 that looked just like the one that I'd discovered to be male. Yes,- I definitely had another male! The only thing I needed to change in the tank however was her name! My two boys made their 'home' at opposite ends of the tank,- but regularly swam into each others territories or met in the middle. There was never ever any aggression between either of them with each other, or with/from any of the girls.

I know most people would say you cannot or should not keep males together,- but I personally think it just depends on the nature of the individual betta. They are all so very different! I would not intentionally add another male in with my girls once both my males have passed on,- but I see no reason to change anything in my tank whilst they are all so peaceful together! I am very lucky I know to have found two such placid, laid back boys!


My tank is very densely planted with java fern at each end and floating amazon frogbit. Lots of places for them all to rest in and call their own

 

[Better is Betta]

It has often crossed my mind as to whether males can live in the same tank together but I have never invested in a big enough tank to experiment. I believe there is a member on the forum that has successfully housed 2 males in the same tank but she has a lot of females in with them and its a large heavily planted tank. I can't see why 3 males would make any more difference. I would try your tank idea with careful selection but have 7 to 8 females for distraction. The reason I feel it could work is I accidently housed 2 males together in a small 40ltr tank believing one was a female. They lived together for 2 months without any problems then one day I noticed my king pk had frayed tail fins and a small white patch on his side. I thought he had a touch of fin rot so I gave the pair a complete water change and after 3-4 days I noticed he wasn't getting much better. Luckily I discovered the mistake in time and separated them. Thats what got me thinking...maybe with careful selection and the right environment, you could be successful in housing males in the same tank. My pk didn't look all battered up like he just came off a 12 round boxing match, no he looked pretty good and the other male was untouched. So keep me in mind when you go ahead with your project as I feel this could work.

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Hi Fishball....I too have heard of this being a very successful rtank. As long as only 3 males are used its possible. Lots and lots of plants and tonnes of hidy holes ( half buried terracotta pots of different sizes, and urns and the like. A good friend of mine has had success with this very thing, and has had her bettas for 4-5 years. good luck

 

[Whisper]

fuzzynicki is correct. It will depend on the individual personalities of the fish. I think what you are trying to do is admirable and so is the way you are going about it. You are doing RESEARCH first and you do have a backup plan in case it doesn't work. I have no experience with multiple Bettas in one tank so I can't help you there.

I would only suggest that when you first put the fish in, do it at the start of a long vacation so you can be home watching them constantly to insure they are not hurting each other for days. And I would watch them from afar in case their reaction to each other might be different in your presence from out of your presence.

I don't see any harm in trying this so long as you maintain your backup plan and can monitor them constantly until you are sure they are getting along. In fact, I think it's great that you are willing to do the research and put up the expense to try to do this right. I'm sure there are not many posters or Betta lovers around the world that would not want a nice big tank with several Bettas in it.

Bottom line is, you may have to go through dozens and dozens of Bettas before you get three that will get along because the biggest factor is going to be their individual personalities as fuzzynicki has said. One other thought is that when you find three that get along, you still have the question of weather they will continue to get along as they age and some of the charactoristics of their personalities may change. If one Betta weakens from old age befor the others, will the others have their way with him? Just some things you may need to think about but I hope you do it and are successful and then share your results with us here.

 

[Baccus]

I have often considered the possibility of keeping males (of course limted numbers together), they should quite happily develop thier own individual territories within the tank, especially if your planting and other decore provided secret nooks away from each males line of sight. Feeding too can be acheived by putting a bit of food into each males individual territory so they don't have to stray into a neighbors area.
I have heard of set ups where people have kept a group of males who tended to keep to the surface of the tank plus a group of females that had total freedom to do anywhere in the tank, in and out of the males territories without agression from either sex. To my way of thinking with a large enough tank, properly aquascaped with a resident group of bettas, would be much more natural than individual tiny tanks to house one male.
I have kept male betta's in 4ft tanks with guppies (sole male figther) without problems, they are a smart fish and quickly learn what is what within their home. And to prove there was no issues my last male lived happily with the guppies and cory's for 5 years.
I would choose my males very carefully (perhaps even aim for young males, although they may feel they have more to prove while older mature males maybe more laid back and not so inclined to fight), while selecting these males and introducing them to the tank I would keep some other smaller tanks set up just incase any need seperating. Also when introducing the males to the established planted tank I wonder if placing the male in a clear large live barer trap for a couple of days, secured in the area you most want him to claim will help with him claiming that area and pretty much sticking to it?

Good luck and please keep us posted with your endevours.

 

[lilfishie]

not read through the whole thing as i can imagine what has been said, but have you considered females? there are some really gorgeous females appearing recently, plus theres less risk and you could have more

IMO i think it 'may' just work but please do have spare tank/s just incase

 

[Fishball7]

Thanks guys! All your posts have been most appreciated. A pattern seems to emerge that, from people who have actually kept male bettas from different spawns together, either coincidentally or intentionally, the personality of the betta is one of the most important factors for such set ups to succeed, something that I didn't put a lot of thought into until now (I only thought not to get the aggressive ones, but not to spend lots of time carefully choosing).

Better is Betta "I would try your tank idea with careful selection but have 7 to 8 females for distraction."

In my original first draft plan, I did think of putting in another four female betta into the tank with the boys, but after much imagination during my insomnia one night, I decided against it because I imagined the boys would have their own territory with the girls more free-spirited (since they can be 'forced' into sorority) and less territorial, more of passing through territories to mate, therefore boys would fight over them. Moreover, it seems girls are also rather aggressive to each other and to males; they're still species-solitary by nature. I decided to remove this large, unpredictable factor which also gives more space to the boys.

Whisper I will surely watch them for hours ;D That's a good point about their old age and when/if their personalities change, regardless because of age or other factors. If it so happens that after months one of them snaps, then I would be fully prepared to put him in a 2ft tank by himself (am also wanting to do an iwagumi scape eg http/www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/9/freshwater_album/iwagumi_large.jpg)

Baccus "To my way of thinking with a large enough tank, properly aquascaped with a resident group of bettas, would be much more natural than individual tiny tanks to house one male." That is exactly how I feel and why I want to do this. I love nature aquarium and splendens. With carefulness given to their modified aggression, it seems more natural to me.

"Feeding too can be acheived by putting a bit of food into each males individual territory so they don't have to stray into a neighbors area." Someone in another forum pointed out feeding aggression and I was just thinking of how to solve it (silly me). That is a great idea.

"I wonder if placing the male in a clear large live barer trap for a couple of days, secured in the area you most want him to claim will help with him claiming that area and pretty much sticking to it?" I wonder too, as this contrasts with my initial plan of just plopping them into the plants in different spots to find and establish boundaries. That's something I can work on. Thanks!

 

[riogal_11]

I am not of the opinion that this could never work. I might even get the guts to try it one day, as I sit here looking at my empty 75 gallon. I will say though that I'd add some more betta friendly fish to the mix. That way, they won't be so focused on each other. I have kept numerous females together, and they will pick a territory and stick to it. I imagine it would be similar for the males. I've heard several stories over the years that are similar to fuzzynicki so it certainly can be successful. Why not ask someone who has a new spawn coming up for sale and you can get tankmates that have already established their hierarchy? I would think that would be helpful. Goodluck, and keep us posted. About the feeding, I would try using three seperate feeding rings to it stays in that one area.

 

[Kelly-Jo]

"To me, the success is greatly worth it. I cannot stand betta living in small tanks and the sight of dividers. I'm willing to do a lot of research, pray for inspiration, and smartly do my best. "



Yet you don't mind watching 3 bettas get ripped to shreds by one another?