Male And Female Betta Questions

[juiced1300]

Ok, i have a couple of questions really. First off, I got my first 2 female bettas recently, up until now i've only kept boys. One female is adult sized and is quite happy in my community tank with a few danios, rose barbs or cherry barbs...i forgot which, they're really small, theres an old pleco thats nearly 10 years old now and a blood fin tetra. The tank is heavily planted and has tunnels, big plant pots to swim into etc and she has adapted very well as far as i can see. I was concerned about the water current, its nothing crazy, I have a couple of aqua clear overhead filters but thats about it, the tank is a 60 gallon. Do females deal with "sane" water currents ok?

The next question is I have several male bettas, and one of them is just the calmest and nicest natured one I've ever had. I floated another female in his tank for half a day and he barely paid her any attention, keep in mind he can see his neighbors as well, theres another betta tank to his right and my community tank on the other side. I have a lot of real and silk plants in my betta tanks, lots of java moss, java fern, some stem plants and then a few silk plants to fill in the background. I released her into his tank and besides being a little big of a show off he hasnt attacked, hasnt nipped etc etc. They actually both ate together. Shes small, not fully grown yet and seemed scared to death in my community tank but in his tank she seems quite content. She pays the male betta little notice and seems to enjoy playing in the java moss more than anything. Is it possible for them to coexist? I know theres a general answer of "no" but I also know that bettas have personalities that can very just as much as people. Im not exactly looking to breed them, but if it happens I have the means to handle that situation as well. More than anything I would love to just see the both of them live happily. Of course if things go south I can easily pull her out and put her in the community tank and see if she'll take to it, or provide temp housing while I set up a new tank and borrow established water from my big tank. Without cursing myself, so far it seems ok. Can this work?

In the near future I want to buy more glass betta tanks and keep a few females but I started thinking that if these two do breed I could raise all the females in my community tank when they're big enough to be moved into it safely. Theres more than enough room in the big tank since I was more focused on planting the tank and getting my co2 and lighting right than adding more fish to it, so its got plenty of space and more than twice the filteration it needs currently. Actually, as the plants started to establish and flourish I started cutting back on some of the bigger more violent filters because they wernt needed anymore, the water is crystal clear and now its not overly filtered by mechanical means.

Ok, any help is appreciated, any ideas to making this successful and safe is also appreciated.
~VinnY~

 

[Amunet]

Well there are people who do have a male and a female together in a tank, but it's still rare and VERY risky to keep them together.
I'm sure it does depend on individual personalities and you could be one of the lucky ones, but with bettas' reputations I just would be extremely hesitant to risk it.
It would just break my heart if I did do that and then wake up one day to find both beaten up or dead.
Why not just get a divider? Get a plastic mesh (ones that you can get in arts and crafts sections/stores) that way you can keep them in the same tank, they can still see eachother, but there won't be that risk of them MAYBE fighting with eachother. Just a suggestion.

It's what I'm doing with my 10gal and both of the bettas are very happy. They have their own space to call their own and if they want some company, they watch eachother & flare at eachother through the divider.



Oh and I'm not sure what you mean by "sane"?
The female betta in the 10gal divided tank I have deals with currents just fine on her side. Since the filter is on her side, there is quite a bit of current, but she gets around just fine since she's gotten used to it.
Same with my female that was in the community tank. We have 1 biowheel filter and another hob filter on the tank and she adapted to the current just fine.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Query- why would you want to keep them together anyway? Even ignoring any risks (which can happen before you can react, at night, etc.), there are absolutely no benefits to either party, and plenty of drawbacks.

 

[juiced1300]

well the only reason was because she was much smaller than my other female and I didnt want her to get exhausted in my bigger tank, it wasnt something that was permanent. Either way I moved her this morning into my community tank. But neither her or the male were beat up or anything of the sort so no harm done. I'll post pics of the females in a new thread