Female Betta and Plakats??

[MattL]

About 2 months ago i bought approx five female betta. Anyway within a week 2 of them had mysteriously disappeared from my community tank, which i thought was strange as i never had problems with females in the past. Anyway I went and bought another two to try and spread the aggression...then the extra two disappeared. I noticed that 2 of them was particularly agressive to all the other fish. Anyway i thought nothing of it.

I went to my LFS yesterday and spotted they had a male betta in with alot of females and he was having great fun chasing them around.....he couldnt catch them and they all seemed healthy....so i bought them to add to my community tank. I didnt think it would do any harm!

So....in goes the male with all the new females.....then i spot one of the aggressive existing female* betta flaring like a good un and then take a big chunk out of my new boys fin!!!

So she and the other aggressive one was straight out and into my split unfiltered betta breeding tank (currently empty). Upon closer inspection i couldnt find an egg spot on either of them and i got back today and theres a bubblenest in there!

So it turns out my LFS looks to have sold me 2 plakats instead of females!!! Is there a definitve way of telling? They are really really aggressive!!

BTW new boy is fine with all his females he chases them around a bit but there is quite a few in there so none of them are getting stressed and his fins are still in tact. So before anyone says....its not cruel!!!

 

[Sorrell]

You can tell the difference between male and female by finding the oviposter on the female. It presents itself as a small white tube on her belly.

I won't say what you're doing is cruel as per requested, but it certainly isn't smart. The only time males and females should be in contact is during spawning. You have stated that they are fine, but you have also had four deaths in your tank. I'm not suggesting you have to raise to my standards, but that doesn't qualify as fine in my house.

 

[MattL]

Yes I had four deaths, which were down to the plakats who have now been promptly moved to a divided tank so they can t get at each other or anything else!

Is there any other physical difference between Plakat males and normal betta females apart from the oviposter? I have already stated that i couldnt see an "egg spot" on either of them.

Im guessing temperement!!

Also is it ok to keep male plakats together, found some thai sites that say its ok but not too sure!

 

[rollntider]

Yeah I would probably keeps males by their self, but that is me, if you have good luck with males and females together more power to ya.

 

[jacblades]

ONE MALE BETTA PER TANK!
NO MALES WITH FEMALES!

 

[Sorrell]

No more then one male betta splendens per tank, period.

 

[MattL]

I have told you what Im doing and i also said dont bother telling me its wrong!

There have been lots of cases where males and females can live together just fine!!! its not as if they are in a pint glass together!!! He is in a large communty tank with lots of females and other fish and lots of places to hide!

He has already develeoped his own territory in the corner of the tank and doesnt stray to the far side of the tank, so the girls have a safe area to goto!! They all show interest in him, but none are aggresive toward him. It is working out just fine!


Can someone who knows what they are on about categorically say that male plakats can or cant be kept together? Instead of just a blanket statement of one male per tank! I want to know specifically about plakats! As i said earlier have found some sites that say it is good to keep male plakats together and that they dont fight to the death!

I can read just fine jacblades no need to shout or the large font!

 

[Sorrell]

I just said betta splendens can be kept one male per tank, maybe you should read people's answers before getting angry at people who answer your questions.


Plakats are betta splendens, they are also the most agressive of betta. The other species of betta are the only ones who can be kept together, and that is a limited few.

 

[MattL]

im not gonna get drawn into an argument Sorrell and who said i was angry at anyone???

I was just asking for answers from people who have actual experience with Plakats...i know they are Betta splenden, but i was after first hand advice. I know ALOT of people on here just parrot advice back at people and it doesnt take long to get distorted! As i said, i have already read some conflicting advice from other websites!!!

I admit that i am totally new to plakats and dont fully understand the differences...hence my question. I have just read a a different thread and everyone on their was just saying outright that you shouldnt keep 2 males together whatever the circumstances / tank /environment etc and i know this to be untrue!! So alot of bad advice is given on this forum!

Also i dont mind people giving me there opinion as long as they put some reasoning behind it. if someone was to say.." i dont think you should put 2 male plakats together as they are the most aggresive form of betta and bred for fighting!" that would be great but to just "1 male per tank" doesnt really fully answer my question does it and i know its opinon!

And besides they already been in the same tank for months with other fish and theyre fine, not even a nick of damage to their fins! Just one is clearly more aggresive than the other and thew weaker one backs down!

 

[Sorrell]

I have 54 plakats and I am trying to help but apparently my experience is not enough since my advice is not what you are wanting to hear.

If you read my post I do not ever say that no male bettas can ever be kept together, I say male betta splendens cannot be kept together. If you are looking at imbellis, falx, etc I would tell you different.

Once again, i have already stated that plakats are the most aggressive form of betta. I'm not sure what else you are wanting information on. They can't live together, sorry, it just doesn't happen.

 

[wrs]

dont be rude to Sorrell, she knows whats shes talking, and is one of the nicest people on the forum!

 

[GuppyDude]

look matt no one is trying to argue with you, they have all told u clearly how bettas should be kept. regardless of how well your set up is working right now it shouldn't b that way. your only going to end up with an empty aquarium.

females are the only bettas that can or should be kept together. they need 2 gallons to a fish if u plna to keep a community. males should live alone unless ur spawning them.

no plakats cant be kept together nor can any other fansy betta. the only kind of betta that im aware of that can be kept together are mouth brooders and ur not going to find those at ur lfs.

stop being a jerk and listen to sorrel, she knows wat she talking about.

 

[juliethegr8t]

I'm completely behind Sorrel and jac both. If you want someone to tell you it will be ok to keep your male with females in the same tank, you're probably gonna need a different forum. Almost everyone here knows it won't work out, and many of them have first hand experience. I am one of those people, and agree with everything those two have said. Plakats are extremely agressive fish. Perhaps you are confusing them with Betta imbellis, which are also a short tail type of betta (though not splendens), and sometimes the males and females can be kept together. About 99.9% of the time this should not be done with splendens, however, especially not plakats. They might look like they're doing ok right now, but it wouldn't surprise me if you woke up one morning to a tank of dead females and perhaps a completely ripped up male. Please take our advice and seperate them.

 

[jacblades]

i would consider sorrell one of the plakat masters of the board.
im sure bkk group will second her answer.
and wuvmybetta.

i have several plakats and i can tell you that sorrell is absolutely correct. plakats are the most aggressive of all of the splendens. no males should be kept together, especially not plakats.

male/female combo tanks are a possibility only for the truly experienced betta enthusiasts. and even most of them wouldnt dare put their fish in that sort of position.

bottom line-if you care about the fish, please take our advice.

 

[mandi]

I agree with what everyone else has said. I think it really boils down to what is best for the FISH, not what the OWNER wants.

Being that they're aggressive toward one another, wouldn't it just be better to be "safe than sorry" and do the kindest thing for the fish!??!!

I mean, the only reason I could see keeping them together is if they were like a shoaling fish that is unhappy without companions -- obviously this isn't the case for bettas, so it really is kinder for the animal to be kept by itself?? (referring to the males, not to a female-only community)