My Bettas

[shaz3271]

hi,
i set up a community tank with lots of livebears and a few neons, i have a few apple snails and a plec.
when i was in my lfs at the weekend my daughter who is 5 fell in love with the dark blue betta and asked if she could have it, knowing nothing about them i asked the owner of the lfs if i could house it in the 4ft tank along with my other fish, he said yes it will be fine but it might nip the fins of my guppy males, i thought thats fine i only have 1 guppy male and hes not got very large finnage, i decided to let her have it then do some research when i got home.. while i was there i found a loverly female and decided to take that too.
he put them both in the same bag and i brought them home, placed them in my 4ft tank and away they went.
well i decided to come and read about them and have been some what suprised what i have read.
dont put them in large tanks, dont put male and female together, these fish are agressive, and so on.
i have been watching them and there behavior very closely over the the last few days and this is what i have noticed.
the male loves swimming in and out of the filter current, and swims the full length of the tank ignoring all his tankmates apart from the apple snails, he sometimes trys to nip them. he feeds well and looks good.
the female also likes to swim around the tank following the male around, (it looks to me like shes trying to get his attention) , she also ignores the other tank mates.
the male will flare at her and she doesnt swim and hide she stands her ground until he gives up and swims away.

my question is, should i put them in a smaller tank, and should i keep them apart.
thanks, sorry for the spelling
i have a 10 gallon tank empty

 

[MHunt]

From what i've heard you've got a rarity there. Maybe the large tank gives them both space to have their own territory, without any major fighting. I'll leave a real answer to someone who actually has a betta.

Good luck!

 

[catxx]

if the tank has enough hiding places and you have mild-mannered bettas it COULD work but you would still be running a risk of one day one taking a real dislike to the other and turning on the tank lights to very shredded or even dead bettas.

if they haven't ripped each other apart yet you may have got lucky with wimpy bettas hehe.

but if the male does start showing uncalled for aggression he'd do find in his own tank alone. bettas aren't bothered about company.

females tend to fair better in mixed communities, but don't be fooled, they can still be just as vicious if they want to be!

 

[athao04]

Id probably take out the male and put him in a smaller tank. If you dont have an extra small tank, just use a good sized jar. I keep mybettas in a 1 gallon+ tanks.

They might be doing okay one moment and kill eachother the next, atlleast in my experience lol. Just keep an eye out for them and you should be good =D

 

[lisie]

Definitely separate them... you can either divide the 10 gallon tank you have (make sure they can't jump over though) and put the male on one side and the female on the other... or if the female is doing well in your big tank, leave her in there and put the male in the 10 gallon. Housing a male and female together is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[FishySarah]

My betta didn't do well in a community tank at all. I had to remove him, put him first in a bowl, then a five gallon. He is doing well now, and I think he loves the extra room. A five gallon really gives a betta room to shine! He can swim a bit now from one end to the other and looks much better than when I had him in a one gallon jar for three weeks. I know there is nothing WRONG with keeping a betta in a smaller setup, but I feel he is showing his best colors and best personality since getting his big home.
BTW, I tried to put an otto (A mild mannered algae eater) in with him and he promptly attacked it. My betta is just too 'high maintanence' to put with any other fish. I'm thinking of trying a snail, with my bigger tank as a 'just in case' home if it doesn't go well!

 

[ZeeZee]

I think you should leave them. but if problems start to develop, you should move at least one of them.

 

[92cw12]

I think you should leave them. but if problems start to develop, you should move at least one of them.

i think u should leave them there if u want to breed them buy a tank just incase

 

[shaz3271]

I think you should leave them. but if problems start to develop, you should move at least one of them.

update , i have had to move the male today he has become very agressive toward my male sordtail, no damage done but i know it wont stay that way.

looks like all the posts are right about not putting them in a community tank (in my case anyway)

thanks for the advise