Can They Turn Nasty?

[Dextersmummy]

Hi. I have one Simese fighting fish he is red and he takes absolutely no notice Of any of the other fish at all. I have ale Dalmatian Molly that chases him around he just swims away. Iny aquarium I have mollies, platties, neon tetras and two gouramis plus a few loaches and two corys. I wanted to add a couple of female bettas tho I was told I should only stick to my one male as by havin females in he would make a nest she would lay and become nasty towards other fish whilst protecting her eggs. Is this true and am I better to stick with my one male? Thanks x

 

[Llegmore]

Never keep a male and female Betta in the same tank. The problem isn't egg protection, it's that the male will harass the female to death. Stick to the one boy and you'll be fine.

 

[Dextersmummy]

Thank U for your help. Sorry to be thick but what if there was one male and say two or three females? One male still the best option? Just checking for he future thank you x x

 

[Cazgar]

Male & females shouldn't be kept together as usually it ends badly.
You already have gourami in your tank, which aren't usually compatible with Bettas.
As they seem to be getting on ok so far, adding females to the mix could end in disaster

 

[Dextersmummy]

thank you I will listen to your advice and leave well alone, just a pity it turns out I adore my betta but I know for the future now how they are best kept if I ever get another aquarium! xx

 

[OldMan47]

There is no number of females that can be kept with your male. Just forget that, it is not an option.

 

[onidrase]

the gouramis aren't compatible with the bettas, nor are the livebearers in most cases. I'd remove the betta now before things get nasty. If the betta isn't picking on them, they may end up picking on the betta.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Very very very few people have successfully kept male and female bettas together. Your best sticking to your male

 

[DarkPride]

Thank U for your help. Sorry to be thick but what if there was one male and say two or three females? One male still the best option? Just checking for he future thank you x x

allot of pet shop owners tell you that 3 females to a male will be ok, though what there saying is the females wont get hurt,
after the females accept each other there will be one left that wont be accepted 90% of the time,
there is a chance that the females will accept the male into there school though it is low, most of the time they will beet him to death,
if there are less then 3 females then the chance is they will beet each other to death leaving only 1 half dead in the end.

if your trying to breed them, your going to need to have 1 full tank and something you can sit your females in that can sit in the top of the tank or submerge, submerging is not a good idea though, as the air gets old fast, lol so it wont be very nice to breath.

btw if you cant get something right away to put them in that is heated,
this is something cheep you can use, only about $2, not grate though it is good for a wile, if you sit it in the top of a heated tank then the water in this will also heat, this needs a daily water change though, only about 25% to 50% will need the change though 50% would prob only need every 2 days,

i also use these to stimulate my males for breeding

 

[OldMan47]

Dexters, I am not going to tell you what fish you cannot keep with a nice male betta. I have kept plenty of community fish, especially peaceful community fish with Betta splendens over the last 50 years. I have yet to regret a pairing that I made while keeping in mind that a betta is a peaceful and somewhat slow fish and must not be confronted with fish that will challenge or harass him. As I go forward, I find that all of my Betta splendens do well and live to a ripe old age of over 5 years in my tanks. I never baby my fish, they must deal with filter flows in my community tanks, and they never let me down by not being able to deal with filter flows. It seems to me that Betta splendens is quite capable of living with active fish and actually enjoy doing so. Active fish of other species around my bettas provide a distraction from ailments that some solitary fish endure like tail biting. I have frankly never seen such self-destructive behaviors in my fish.
I have kept my bettas mostly with peaceful livebearers since I mostly keep livebearers, as a livebearer specialist. I do not place bettas with mollies because some mollies are just not all that peaceful. I have never had any problem housing them with platies, guppies or endlers and presently have one living in my 45 gallon endler breeding tank. I am well aware of the cautions you will have likely seen about housing a betta with guppies but I have actually never had any problem doing so. Yes I have placed bettas with guppies quite often.

 

[Dextersmummy]

thank you old man 47 what a lovely helpful post it means a lot and thank u all x