Breeding Bars, No Ovipositor - Need Some Advice..

[Elisabeth83]

I posted last week about buying 2 Betta Smaragdinas. I thought the "female" turned out to be male and I was planning on returning him but I am not so sure now. "She" is still a juvenile and I have been reading some conflicting information in regards to sexing them. In the last week I've noticed she will display the vertical breeding bars yet I cannot find an ovipositor. I've read the ovipositor only developes once she is sexually mature. Is this true? Also do these vertical breeding bars only appear on a female or can a male have them too? The information I seem to keep finding indicates she is in fact a female but on some websites I've read males can have vertical bars (not horizontal) too if stressed. Help!!

 

[Dominus_XVIII]

Wild males can also display vertical breeding bars, breeding bars aren't usually uniform, so if they look all even you may have male on your hands. Bettas will be sexually mature at 3-4 months of age, at that point an ovipositor should already be present. If your not sure of your betta's age, at 1" an ovipositor should be showing.Usually the absence of an ovipositor will tell you that you definitely have a male, but there are also other various indicators.
Another way to check if it is indeed a male, is to look at the fins, especially the ventral fins (if they are long, then it's a male).
Females are also more drab in colour compared to their male counterparts. If she's bright as your male, then it's highly possible you have 2 males.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Thanks for all of that information, definitely helps. The betta in question is an inch in length and there isn't an ovipositor and it's ventral fins are long. When I saw the vertical bars I felt relieved thinking it was female but now knowing that male wild bettas can display the vertical bars pretty much confirms that it is another male. The larger male is 1 1/2 inches long and pretty much keeps to himself under the driftwood while the smaller "male" is quite confident and cruises around the entire tank. When they do meet up the larger males normally charges at him and the smaller male will then retreat. There hasn't been any actual fighting going on and at times they will hang out together. I was going to return one of them to my fish shop this morning but like I said after thinking it was a female didn't end up going and wont be able to get there now until Thursday. Is there no chance that they can live together harmoniously? Is it only a matter of time before the smaller one matures up before I will have a problem on my hands? Thanks again.

 

[Dominus_XVIII]

From owning a Imbellis and Smaragdina community tank, I don't think you'll need to worry about it too much. Smaragdina and Imbellis are actually more docile, if compared to Mahachai. Mahachai are bred with female plakats to get more aggressive male fighter plakats.
Having only 2 males in your tank, will most likely make them more aggressive towards eachother. That being said, it's not impossible for them to live in harmony together. If you added another male and a few females, aggression will go down (that's if your tank is big enough for more).
Smaragdina males can live peacefully together, once both mature and establish who's the alpha, the lesser male will back down.
I would only advise separating the two, if fin nipping is becoming an issue or if one is bullying the other into stress to the point where it won't eat.
Competitiveness, is only natural with males. It actually does them good, believe it or not. It keeps them active, and healthy.
This is just my opinion, but the decision is entirely up to you if you want to keep the male or return him for a proven female.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Thanks again for replying! The tank is 54 litres and heavily planted with drift wood/plants and at the moment I have it stocked with 6 cherry barbs a bristlenose pleco and the 2 smaragdinas - probably towards my limit I'd say? If that's the case do you think if I kept just the 2 males and didn't add any females they would become too agressive towards eachother? I would like to keep both and get a couple females but I think it might just push the stocking over the limit. I'd like to see the natural behaviour between male and female although with the cherry barbs being in there I don't expect them to be able to raise any fry sadly. I did have a 30 gallon tank with just a pair of Smaragdinas about 8 years ago and they did breed and successfully raised aout 26 fry which was a joy to experience.

 

[Dominus_XVIII]

Thanks again for replying! The tank is 54 litres and heavily planted with drift wood/plants and at the moment I have it stocked with 6 cherry barbs a bristlenose pleco and the 2 smaragdinas - probably towards my limit I'd say? If that's the case do you think if I kept just the 2 males and didn't add any females they would become too agressive towards eachother? I would like to keep both and get a couple females but I think it might just push the stocking over the limit. I'd like to see the natural behaviour between male and female although with the cherry barbs being in there I don't expect them to be able to raise any fry sadly. I did have a 30 gallon tank with just a pair of Smaragdinas about 8 years ago and they did breed and successfully raised aout 26 fry which was a joy to experience.

Keeping the males alone together will make them more aggressive towards eachother, but eventually one male will become dominant. It's not a bad idea a few females, if you want to switch out the barbs for the females.

 

[Elisabeth83]

If I had room to keep multiple tanks I would only have the Smaragdinas but unfortunately I live in a small flat at the moment and can only have the one tank so having it as a litle community tank and the cherry barbs add a little movement and color. Tomorrow I'm taking one of the males back and hopefully swapping it for a female. This time I know more of what to look for although with being juvie females it's hard to pick....fingers crossed!!