Male Ratio To Females

[HayzH]

i was told by my LFS that it was quite safe to add a male to my tank of 3 females...
To bide my time i have tried to breed the male with one female in a seperate tank to no avail. So i think i will put them back in their main tank..
 
So am i worrying un neccesarallyabout putting the male in with the female trio? thoughts please?
 

 

[Wildbetta]

I highly advise you to disregard the advice of your LFS.  Keeping male and female bettas in the same tank is a recipe for disaster.  Even if neither sex actively attacks and kills each other, the stress of being in the same tank will eventually make them sick.  Female bettas are as aggressive (if not more so) than male bettas and are faster than male bettas (normally since they have shorter fins) so the male is at a disadvantage.  99% of the times I have heard of people keeping a tank like this, they have though the bettas were getting along fine and then woke up one day with a massacre in the tank. Males are territorial so they try to defend a territory and will want to breed with at least one of the females which causes its own kind of stress.  I think you should keep your male in a tank and then keep your females in a separate tank of at least 10 gallons(38L) and I would get at least 2 more females if you decide to not separate them.  3 females is not a good number for a sorority since that normally means that one will get singled out by the 2 most dominant females so more is better to even out aggression.

 

[372xp]

Aye, spot on Wildbetta. Not much more to add to that. If you are going to add more females try to get ones of a similar size and age to the ones you have got. Fully mature females can be pretty intollerant of upstart juveniles.

 

[RCA]

I agree ...
 
My first male was in with two females at the LFS and on the day I went to buy him he had no fins left, as the girls decided to beat him up in the night!  I still took him and his fins grew back, but a lesson learnt with the girls and boys, do not mix unless they have been fully conditioned for breeding.

 

[HayzH]

hmm..i already have 4 tanks.....looks like i maybe selling a male

 

[RCA]

Or...get another tank for him?

 

[ReiRei]

Please don't mix male and female bettas. There'll be a lot of trouble with aggression, constant harassment, and I doubt you'll manage to do it long without any casualties. Instead, considering the situation you're in, I'd suggest putting money towards a new tank (25litre or so) and putting him in that on his own.

 

[HayzH]

Don't think i will be aloud another tank..
 
do they have to be filtered??? is this vital?
 
short on cash atm... and....especially as it looks like one of my females MAYBE a male?!!!!.