female betta is attacking the male

[sidawg79]

Hello,

I have a runt male who is pretty lethargic in his 1 gal bowl. He's been beat up a couple of times so I took him away from my lil brother (was his fish). I've been trying to raise it up but he doesn't seem very active at all.

Today I put him in a small 2 gal tank that houses a female betta (she's wonderful) to see if it would spark the male's agression/mating instincts... bad idea. They both kept at separate ends of the tank for a while until the female went over to explore her new "buddy". The male freaked out and the female started chasing him relentlesly. I left for 5 minutes and when I came back I saw that the male has a couple of rips in his fins so I removed him immediately (I'm going to hell for this one I'm sure).

Does anyone know howcome the male is so scared? Is he permanantly scarred for life after getting beat up at a young age... it seems as if his growth has been stunted.

Thanks to anyone who can help

 

[Scarab]

not sure why the male is that way...probably due to the poor conditions he's suffered through with your brother. It may take him a while to get back up to full health, etc. But give him some love and hopefully he'll come around.

On another note...you should never put a male and female betta together in a tank. Unless you're breeding them and then only for that moment. Once they're finished you have to remove them from each other. As you learned the hard way, they'll end of fighting.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi sidawq79 and welcome to the forum.

Sounds like Scarab gave you good advice. After he heals, this fish will always be special to you, even if he is a little runty.

Do you have any more fish?

 

[sidawg79]

Thanks for the advice Scarab

I guess I'll just keep on giving the runt some TLC and hopefully he will recover in time (maybe a late bloomer???).

And Inchworm... I only have 4 bettas right now (1 red veil male, 2 red females, and this blue/white runt that I like to call "junior") but hopefully I can get them to mate soon.

Thanks for the helping out guys and I'll keep everyone posted on Junior's recovery!