Male or Female Betta?

Coool · Feb 15, 2020

A few months ago my girlfriend and I purchased a female Betta for our fish tank.

Over the last couple of days she/he has been making what looks like a bubble nest?

I have attached some pictures, can anyone confirm the gender of our Betta fish please?

Essjay · Feb 15, 2020

The long ventral fins make me think it's male.

Have you tried using it's refection in a mirror to make it flare? If it's female, the gills will stick out just at the sides. if it's male, the gills will go all the way under it's chin as well, looking like a beard.

It is not unknown for short finned males to end up in a tank of females at the shop. Are there any other female bettas in the tank? If there are and the new one is a male you'll need to separate him as males and females should only be kept together for the duration of mating.

Coool · Feb 15, 2020

Hi esjay,

I've seen him/her flare before and I do think that the gills go all the way around. I might try get a picture later if I can.

Nope, no females in the tank couple of Otto's and some glass blood fin Tetra. I was very close to starting a female Betta community, it's a good thing that my eyes caught the bloodfins.

Thanks for your reply

Coool · Feb 15, 2020

I tried my best to get some pictures of him/her flaring but they're all a bit blurry, but I think you can kind of see the outline of the flared up gills... Thoughts?

Essjay · Feb 15, 2020

The gills do look as though they are sticking out right round the underside of the head. In which case, male. This does fit with him having longer ventral fins (the ones hanging down under his head) than I see in females.

Retired Viking · Feb 15, 2020

Beautiful Betta, the red and blue contrast is really nice, my guess is a male

OlWolf · Feb 23, 2020

Looks like a Plakat make to me.

betta fish · Feb 23, 2020

Yep most def a plakat male, often mistaken for females due to their short fins, he's a very nice one too :wub:

FishGuest5123 · Feb 23, 2020

Another vote for male. Both the ventral and dorsal are larger than most female plakats have. Same then happened to me with a male veil tale once and he was in a sorority. I thought he was just aggressive but as he matured a little more, I realized she was a he.