Can't Sex Female?!

[xamy_valox]

Hi there,
I recently bought what I thought was 2 females for my brothers tank. He has a Male in there at the moment and a few other fish. However, the one female is displaying constantly and chasing the other female around the tank! The fish only has small fins, unlike a male and was labelled as a female, amongst other females but I al starting to worry about wether it's a male? The fish are currently in my friends tank as I only have a fluval edge with a male in there along with others and thought it would be too small to house all 3 bettas even for a short period.
How can I know for sure wether it's a male? I dont want a fight to ensue between my brothers current male and this new one!
Thanks, Amy xx

 

[-FighterFishh]

Hi there,
I recently bought what I thought was 2 females for my brothers tank. He has a Male in there at the moment and a few other fish. However, the one female is displaying constantly and chasing the other female around the tank! The fish only has small fins, unlike a male and was labelled as a female, amongst other females but I al starting to worry about wether it's a male? The fish are currently in my friends tank as I only have a fluval edge with a male in there along with others and thought it would be too small to house all 3 bettas even for a short period.
How can I know for sure wether it's a male? I dont want a fight to ensue between my brothers current male and this new one!
Thanks, Amy xx

Hold a mirror up to that fish. If it flares, it's probably a male, and you need to separate all three as soon as possible, or there will be casualties.

 

[lilfishie]

males and females should not be kept together anyway, but if you check the link in my signature it should help

as said all 3 need seperating

 

[xamy_valox]

Currently there is only 2 in my friends tank as I haven't given them to my brother who has a male at the moment. Can a male have smaller fins then? As in as small as a female? I can't upload a photo of it to show you at the moment. If I took it back to the shop and got a definite female would 2 females and a male be ok in my brothers 125 litre tank?
Thanks.

 

[betta fish]

A young male can have small fins that resemble a females if he's an inch or so but if this fish is fully grown at around 2 inches then it could be a plakat male which will have short fins, or a female, look for the bright white ovi spot on it's belly this will show on a female but not on a male, only female bettas can be kept together and then only in groups usually more than 4 to spread out aggression, males and females should not be kept together regardless of the size of the tank.

 

[lilfishie]

the fish in my avi is male, shortfin males or Plakats as they are known can be found often amounst females, i got 2 out of a bunch of 5

as said you cannot keep males and females together so no the won't be alright

 

[xamy_valox]

Ok, I'm gonna try and take them back to the shop tomorrow then as if they can't be kept together full stop they are homeless!! Just out of interest, if males and females can't be put together, how do they breed?!

 

[betta fish]

Ok, I'm gonna try and take them back to the shop tomorrow then as if they can't be kept together full stop they are homeless!! Just out of interest, if males and females can't be put together, how do they breed?!

When bettas are bred it's a very controlled process, both male and female are conditioned separately beforehand by feeding them live high protein foods to make sure they are strong enough for the process, this usually takes around two weeks, the female is then introduced to the male in a clear container such as a jar so he can see but can't touch if all goes well and he builds a bubblenest and she shows vertical breeding bars and responds to him favorably she can be released, once they have spawned the female must be removed or the male will kill her as he is now trying to protect the eggs from her trying to eat them! a female unwilling to mate may be killed by the male or vice versa, keeping them both together long term is just a no go, in the wild they come together only to breed and then go their separate ways which they cannot do in a tank leading to stress and aggression, some people may have been able to keep male and female together in a very large tank but this is still an exception to the norm! and should not really be attempted