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Notone

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Oaky, so I have a community tank ,almost a 40gallon, (mostly small guppies) and I have a pair of Bettas( female and male). They used to be best buddies, he was non aggressive and he wouldnā€™t even approach her unless she was in his spot or something akin to that. Recently (a week and a couple of days), I bought another male and placed him in another tank. I wanted to breed the new one with her, so I did my research and asked thoroughly to the experts. Did everything and all, but failed (which is fine). So I moved her back into the community tank with her old buddy. But now, heā€™s constantly flaring and chasing her around. He didnā€™t use to do this, like I mentioned he was very non aggressive. But itā€™s almost like heā€™s telling her ā€˜she betrayed him or somethingā€™.

The new male is in a cup inside the tank as well and he looks more calm even though the other male (alpha of sorts) is flaring at him, he just doesnā€™t respond or anything. He looks more surprised about the vast space for swimming than exerting dominance (which is very cute). But every time the female passes by his cup, he flares at her as well. (He wasnā€™t even interested in her when they where in the breeding tank). Now I feel bad because is like sheā€™s the outcast of the bunch. I donā€™t know whatā€™s going on.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum :)

You messed up the pecking order by moving the female out for a few days and the old male claimed the entire tank as his own and now considers her and the new male as intruders.

If you move the old male and female out for a few days and then put them back in together, they might settle down again.

The spare male should be kept in his own tank where the old male can't see him.

Make sure you have lots of plants in the tank to break up their line of sight (out of sight, out of mind), and to provide more hiding places and territories. Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta) is the best floating plant for Bettas and can be grown on the surface or planted in the substrate.
 
Agree. Male bettas are not community fish, so returning the second (unless you have a separate tank minimum 5 gallons for him alone) would be advisable.
 
Wait, let me get this straight, you have a male and female Betta in the same tank?
 

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