Flaring

[andy_j]

Would you considder it cruel, unethical, bad practice or ok to allow males to view each other all the time in divided tank setups.

I was accused of being cruel on another forum (a UK gardening forum by someone who knows very little) because of all the gill flaring with the males. Mine are each in 8" x 8" square sections and can see each other through white plastic mesh.

I'd love to hear your comments

Thanks

Andy

 

[Monty2451]

I don't think it's cruel as males see others in the wild quite often I would imagine and have there little tiff and move on. But on a constant basis I would imagine that they would come to expect the other males presence and either slow down or stop flaring all together, depending on the fish's temperament. I don't see whats wrong with having male bettas get the blood pumping every now and then , as long as it doesn't stress them too badly, of course. Besides, if you really don't like the idea, there are opaque tank dividers on the market the fish cant see through, so just get them.

 

[andy_j]

No it doesn't worry me mate...i just wanted to know what other peoples opinions were.

Thanks for your reply

Andy

 

[Monty2451]

No, I know it didn't worry you, it was just a general statement to those who might find it worrisome.

 

[Jaded12]

Some people find in cruel, I personally dont, like sean said, eventually the males get used to the other males presence and stop flaring. Though some males do stress out more then others, if a male has stress lines or is blowing out their fins from over flaring then I wouldn't advise it but otherwise dont see anything wrong with it.

 

[blue_betta]

nothing wrong with it, they eventualy become habituated to each other and largely ignore one another. as long as they can get away from it and have othr distractions in ther space, such as plants and caves and stuff

 

[stang1]

It all depends how stressed they get. When I first put my males in a divided tank, they had a gap where they could see each other. One of my boys was swimming into the perspex to try to get to the other and wouldn't settle down. I decided to frost the perspex so they can't see each other and in return, have a more peaceful tank!

 

[Thomas 2507]

Andy

Sorry to go off-topic but are you Andy from eBay who sells the plants?

 

[Bubblenester]

As everyone else said, they get used to each other and start ignoring each other for the most part. I use plastic needlepoint canvas for my dividers, and it seems to obscure their view of each other anyway so they only flare if both fish happen to be really close to the divider- is that what you're using, or something similar?

 

[devon_charm]

As long as they don't get too stresed i don't see any problem. I have a barracks where the males can see each other and they are all fine, they still have a go once in a while which is good excercise for them

 

[Amunet]

Ditto what everyone else has said.
I've never had 2 males with eachother, but I would think they'd get used to eachother after a while and so long as there are things to distract them on their own side, and neither are getting too stressed out from it then I don't see what the problem is.