Is It Possible...

[monica]

Is it possible to keep 2 males together?? I read somewhere that someone does it all the time -successfully-

How? On the website it said to figure it out I would have to buy the book, but I dont really want to. HE said something about the betta feeling that his territory is HIS to protect. Therefore flaring, and such... He said there was some way to Diminish this in bettas, therefore keeping 2 or 3 males together in one tank! (of course a larger one, like a 10-20 gallon, not a 1 gallon lol)

 

[PoptartShop]

It's very rare that males can be kept peacefully together.
So, I wouldn't risk it.

 

[Amerce]

10/20 gallon is still too small, they wouldn't really have anywhere to hide.

What website and who is HE ?

 

[monica]

there, I found it: http/caringforbettafish.com/
And I remember once seeing it in my local pet store in a 50 gallon (maybe more, maybe less) community planted tank. One red male, one blue male, and they totally ignored each other... That is what sparked my attention, and then when I read that...

 

[dwarfgourami]

Hmmm.... that web site looks like a bit of a con to me. There are several sites like it, proclaiming that if you just send your money they will teach these mysterious fishkeeping secrets that nobody else knows about. Oh yeah! Mysterious secrets like not needing to use bottled water and what temperature to keep your betta tank. As if nobody else knew. I wouldn't trust this man further than you can throw a betta bowl. The people on here will give you reliable information for free.

As for keeping 2 male bettas, no doubt you could if the tank is big enough. But it would have to be big, and well planted and there would always be an element of risk. I don't see how a 10 gallon would do it. We did have a poster on a couple of years ago who claimed he was doing it successfully, but he then posted pictures of his tank and, to put it mildly, his bettas weren't in terribly good nick. A little tattered, shall we say? Obviously, bettas have different personalities, and some are quite laidback- but it doesn't seem worth the risk.

 

[Bubblenester]

Aggression in male bettas is very affected by isolation- I've even read several studies done on this! A male betta that is raised alone without seeing other males will be much more aggressive than one that is raised with or within sight of others. Many breeders claim that brothers who are raised together can be kept together in the same tank (it still does need to be big enough and have hiding places just in case)

I've never intentionally put males together, but I did have one who got through a divider and there were two males in a 1/3 section of a 2.5 gallon tank for several hours. They didn't even touch each other, and they were both plakats which are generally very aggressive. I think that it was because they had been "neighbors" for so long (they could see each other through the divider) that they just got used to each other and each didn't see the other as an intruder.

If you want to try keeping males together without breeding and raising a spawn to get brothers, try allowing two males to see each other 24 hours a day. You will probably see that they flare less and less as time goes on. Then if you're not seeing much aggression anymore (remember, bettas all have very different personalities so it still might not work), put them in a larger tank together and see what happens. Of course, you will want to keep a very close eye on them and be ready to pull one out if they start attacking. If you try this, please post about it!

 

[monica]

okay lol. If I do I will be sure to Thanks for posting.