Male And Females Divided?

[leec]

Hi folks

I have a 20 gallon tank cycling at the moment, and have the tank divided into 3 sections. I intend putting one male at either end and 3 females in the middle. The dividers are transparant, so each male will be able to see the females in the middle but not each other. Is the notion of a male being in constant eye contact with females a problem in terms of stress? I know its not good to have males in sight of each other, but will males and females in sight of each other calm down eventually?

Thanks for any opinions
LEE

 

[kewskills]

i'm not a betta keeper myself however from reading posts it may stress them out, i know of members on here who have lightly sanded there dividers to make them opaque hope this helps

 

[Glod]

You could always grow some plants along the dividers so that at worst they will only catch fleeting glimpses of each other. Kewskill's suggestion is also a good one, sanding the dividers to make them 'frosted' is also an option.

I'm not sure what size each of the compartments is, but if the center one is about 50% of the volume you could have 5-6 females in there. The slightly larger number would be preferable to balance out aggression. 3 may work or you may find one gets picked on and possibly killed.

 

[Booboo puppy]

Generally, it is recommended that you have at least 5 females together to spread out aggression. That also requires lots of hiding spots. With 3, you will likely experience 2 picking on 1. 10 gallons would be the minimum size for 5 females. I would recommend against putting females in the tank. Perhaps another male instead (3 males total in divided 20 gallon tank).

If you put a female in the center section, I think that it would be stressful for all the fish because placing female and male bettas next to each other (in separate containers) is part of the "conditioning" process required prior to breeding.