Brought My First Female Betta Today:)

[BettaAsh]

Hello!!
 
I'm very excited and wanted to share with you all, that I purchased my first female Betta today. She is very small. I brought her from a pet shop. She was in a nice tank with a few other females (unlike the males, in small bowls fins torn and very unhealthy), I watched them for a while, and she seems to be the least aggressive (so far)
 
I have a tank set up for my male Betta, he loves his home. He either curls up to the heater or rests on his plants, and when feeding time, he follows the tip of my finger around, waiting for a meal!! He has not made a bubble nest (I've heard they might do this even without a female)
 
The tank is a little under 2ft (will have to measure) heater, filter, plants, places to hide. I have put my female Betta in with him.
 
Before I released her, I left her in the bag and at her in the tank so they could view each other. Neither of them seemed interested in each other.
After a while, I released her into the tank. He would swim up to her, showing off. But seemed very shy. If she turned to face him, he would swim off. He followed her a few times. They showed no aggression towards each other.
 
Now he is on his leaf near the heater, and she is on the opposite side of the tank, hiding behind the filter...
 
Will they be ok to stay together?
 
My aim is not to breed (at the moment) so I she was to eat her egg (if they spawned) I wouldn't mind.
 
I know they could "turn" on each other, but if they are fine with each other, can I leave them together?
 
Thanks to anyone who can help

sorry a few typos, my keyboard isn't then best lol

 

[Sophie]

I'm definitely not a betta expert but I wouldn't take the risk personally. How can you monitor their behaviour at all times? It could turn nasty overnight and you could find one deceased when you wake - morbid but I'd be terrified of this happening.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

I recommend that you half the tank with a seperator.
Male and females shouldn't be kept together unless spawning (which is only for a few hours).
It is stressful on both fish, particularly the female since the male will chase her around trying to spawn.

 

[attibones]

The fact that one of them is hiding behind the filter is an indication that your fish are stressed. They would be more active and healthy if you separated them.

 

[Wildbetta]

Keeping male and female bettas in the same tank when not actively spawning is a ticking time bomb.  They do not like to be in the same tank and do not "make friends".  Unless you understand betta behavior, a lot of the stuff you see will look like they are "playing" but is really aggressive posturing and chasing.  The fact that the female is already hiding is a bad sign.  She is stressed and that leads to all different kinds of issues.  When stressed a betta's immune system is not good enough to fight off infection that it normally would which makes it more likely to get sick.  Also no matter how unaggressive she looked in the store, she can easily turn on the male and tear him up. The same could easily happen with the male getting the female.  All the people I have ever known that tried this scenario -- it has ended up in disaster (or after a little while you never hear from the person again which to me points out that it didn't work either).  The worst that can happen is you lose one or both of them.  I know you are not wanting to breed and wouldn't care if she ate her eggs but the fact is if they were to breed, the male would most assuredly kill her since she would be a "threat" to the nest and eggs.  The best way to remedy this situation is to divide the tank (if you do not have another tank to put one of them into).  I have kept males and females side by side in divided tanks with great success and totally recommend it.  For the safety and health of your bettas, you need to separate them as soon as possible.

 

[BettaAsh]

Ok thanks everyone.
Will be separating them tomorrow early morning. The guy at the pet shop store said it was ok to keep them together as the tank is large enough for them to stay away from each other.
I should have realised when I saw the males in small jars on the shelfs...
Anyway, Im going to correct this as soon as possible, I just hope nothing bad happens over night!
Could I possibly keep her in a small container over night?
Im worried she will get cold though as I wouldn't be able to supply a heater for her...
HELP!!

 

[Wildbetta]

You can put her in something and float it in the main tank that way she is separated and stays warm.

 

[biggerfish]

They are called fighting fish for a reason they can and will kill each other, idk why pet stores tell people you can keep them together its a disaster. What you could do is throw some ghost shrimp in there with them and some snails just to add to the tank. Best to keep bettas as the lone fish though.

and yeah best to go ahead and separate them.

 

[Sophie]

They are called fighting fish for a reason they can and will kill each other, idk why pet stores tell people you can keep them together its a disaster. What you could do is throw some ghost shrimp in there with them and some snails just to add to the tank. Best to keep bettas as the lone fish though.

 
Depending on the betta they can also be aggressive towards the shrimp causing a lot of stress for them and reducing them to a quivering mess and trying to hide all the time.

 

[biggerfish]

in a smaller open tank they will, but in a 2ft tank with plants and hiding spots they should be fine. but if you do get ghost shrimp just make sure you watch to make sure your Betta doesn't get too aggressive.

I have had bettas ignore shrimp and some chase shrimp it also depends on the betta, your female sounds docile and would probably do good, but i am not so sure if your male will.

 

[ncguppy830]

i agree with wildbetta, you will also need weeks of conditioning than acclimate the male and female to each other for a couple days than slowly intrudce them.

 

[Wildbetta]

i agree with wildbetta, you will also need weeks of conditioning than acclimate the male and female to each other for a couple days than slowly introduce them.

 
 
Slowly introducing them would only work if she was planning to breed which she isn't.  The container floating in the main tank is a temporary way to keep them separate in heated water until she can either divide their tank or get another one for the female.

 

[ncguppy830]

 

i agree with wildbetta, you will also need weeks of conditioning than acclimate the male and female to each other for a couple days than slowly introduce them.

 
 
Slowly introducing them would only work if she was planning to breed which she isn't.  The container floating in the main tank is a temporary way to keep them separate in heated water until she can either divide their tank or get another one for the female.
 

oh no i was saying that if she wanted to breed them. should just get a divider to keep them seperated.

 

[BettaAsh]

All is working well.
I have not had one problem with my Bettas as yet.
They are getting along well.
I have a divider in the middle which is a very small (holes) mesh that they can see through but in no way can they injure on another.
I do remove the divider when I am in the room and when it is feeding time, and they do not show interest in each other.
Occasionally (very occasionally) the male will swim to look at her, but she pays no attention to him so he swims back to his leaf.
They love me spending time with them.
Both swimming around like crazy when I enter the room (food and "big tank" swims lol)
She is more friendly them him. Always following my finger around the tank, even resting in my hand sometimes (in the water and washed clean hands)
I thought he was building a bubble nest, but after a few hours, I went back and it was gone. So I took that chance to change the water.
I love my Bettas <3

and have also decided against breeding them.
One, I don't have enough knowledge yet.
Two, it isn't cheap, so I don't want to do it then find I cant afford them and they suffer.
Three, I just enjoy what I have now

 

[ncguppy830]

cool glad to know its gooin good