Adding Females

[daryl1]

hi i'm looking at adding 2 females to my betta tank. is this going to be ok???
and how can i tell wot is fight and wot is like a mating dance lol

cheers
Daryl

 

[silverrabbit]

You must NOT keep male and female betta splendens (fighter fish) together. Please do not do it, they do not breed like that. The females will gang up on the male and can even kill him. I have seen this happen in a shop, do not risk this with your pet please.

 

[Paradise3]

So how come our male killed out females when we had them? Just wondering as it shocked us when we woke up to dead females.

Xxx~misscosmo~xxX

 

[aly_starh]

They kill each other. Females are just as aggressive as males.

 

[Paradise3]

It's just they had lived so well together for about 2 years and then 1 night we saw him chasing them and nipping and everything that inclined to a fight and we woke up next morning and all 5 females were dead.

Xxx~misscosmo~xxX

 

[silverrabbit]

That's what happens - it'll be fine but it's a ticking time bomb. Males are slower with their finnage, and even if they aren't killed, all parties will have heavy fin damage. They might have died from the stress of being constantly chased too.

 

[Paradise3]

That's what happens - it'll be fine but it's a ticking time bomb. Males are slower with their finnage, and even if they aren't killed, all parties will have heavy fin damage. They might have died from the stress of being constantly chased too.

Could we have upset them? Because the day before he started attacking the females we added 2 male guppies, which he became best buds with even though people say they shouldn't be kept together. If you look at 'well i would like a male betta' you will see our old male betta before we upgraded his tank and moved other fish in with him.

Xxx~misscosmo~xxX

 

[silverrabbit]

The flashy colours of the male guppies might have upset him (brightly coloured to them = another male), but I think the stress of the situation anyway would've lowered their immune systems and made them more likely to die. It's a ticking time bomb though - things may look fine for a while, and then it goes pear shaped. Better to not risk the life of your fish.

 

[Paradise3]

Yeah i agree it may have taken 2 years for ours to be upset with each other but it could be a matter of minutes with yours it depends on the individual fish. Btw my BF thinks i'm mad about fish because i have 4 tanks and 3 of them are going to be heated. The other tank is gonna be a cherry shrimp tank.