My Male Betta

[GaryS]

Hi,

I'm new here and am looking for a bit of advice regarding the bettas that me and my girlfriend bought at the weekend.

We've had the tank for a while, keeping guppies and tetras, and decided to add some bettas to the tank. It's a 30 litre tank, which had 2 guppies and 2 small glowlight tetras (I know, they need a couple more little tetra friends).

We went to the pet store and had a look. The guy there said that if we were to buy a male, we had to have at least 2 females with it. We went along with what he said, though from what I've read since, I'm not sure he was right (?).

We brought them home, and everything seemed to be fine. However, on the Sunday we noticed that the male's fins were a little shredded. Having watched the tank closely, it appears that one of the female bettas was being a bit of a bully, but there were never any big attacks or anything. I certainly wouldn't have guessed that she was biting off enough of his fins to cause the damage we were seeing. This seemed to continue on the monday, and by this morning we had one dead male betta

I've checked the water quality/temperature and it's absolutely fine. All of the other fish are absolutely happy and healthy, though since the male bettas death I have noticed that the calmer female has started to get more negative attention from the one that bullied the male.

Before he died, the male didn't seem particularly upset. He was swimming around, and seemed ok. However, he didn't eat anything from the day we bought him to the day he died, perhaps apart from a little bit of the plant that's in the tank.

Does anybody have any idea what happened to our male betta? Is the same thing likely to happen to the female that is getting a bit bullied now? We would like to keep a male betta. Is it worth trying again, or is the female betta likely to do the same thing? Or could it purely have been down to the betta not handling the stress of the move from the shop?

I would be very grateful for any help anyone could give!

Thanks,
Gary.

 

[Night61]

you going to hear this alot.
but never put male and females together unless your going to breed them. and from what i understand some times even then the little buggers go after each other.
you have to remember they are fighting fish, and while females can get along (sometimes) girls and boys will attack and kill each other.

next time put the boy on his own he will live longer and all the other fishies will live in peace.

 

[catxx]

that guy at the fish store was very very wrong! and you should definitely go back and tell his manager that. male and females shouldn't be kept together as sailornight6 said. even keeping them with male guppies can be risky. i would take back one of the females, either the bully or the victim. female bettas can be kept together but only in big groups. they set up a strict heirarchy, so if they're in only a pair, the dominant will pick on other and cause injury and prevent it feeding.

 

[ibbledibble]

adding to what sailornight6 said, although female bettas can often be kept together, its recommended to keep a minimum of 4 together, or the stronger will pick on the weaker and kill that too, with larger amounts, the aggression is still there, but more spread out, and so less of a problem. in some cases, you get females who are just too feisty and have to be removed completely and kept alone, just like males.

also, its not recommended to keep tetras with male bettas, as they tend to be nippy and can harrass the poor boy. and be careful with guppies, with male OR female bettas, as sometimes the betta, looks at the guppies big colourful tail, and thinks its a male betta, and attacks.

 

[GaryS]

Just as an update, the dominant female has now taken out the other betta, leaving her as the only betta in the tank. Thanks for the advice so far. I'm hoping she'll leave the non-betta fish alone, though I'll have to keep an eye on them all. I think I might need to have a word with the guy at the pet shop! I may take the female back, as I've seen that she can be so agressive. I'm sure all bettas are capable of that, but the male did seem much more placid.

 

[Deefus]

Don't you wish some pet shop people would learn about what they're talking about, before spouting bad advice?! That kind of thing really irks me
I studied animal care at college, and worked in an animal rescue centre, and I've ALWAYS researched any animals I might need to give advice on.. it's just the right thing to do, in my opinion. Go back and slap the pet store guy!
Really sorry to hear about the two you've lost, Gary

I'm so glad I found this forum, before I got Alfie. Loads of really good info about on here.. It's certainly better than advice I recieved at a local aquatics centre.
I got Alfie from Pets at Home (I know, I know), and to be fair to the bloke who sold him to me, he asked me how I'd be keeping him.. making sure I wouldn't be putting him with anything incompatible, etc

Dee

 

[GaryS]

Not only that, he told me I could keep them easily with guppies, tetras, etc, which obviously isn't the case!

 

[bronzecat]

Hi Garys
Sorry to hear bout all the problems Was it an independant lfs or part of a chain? Just curious

 

[dusky]

The guppies would have a field day with all that lovely finnage to nibble on.

 

[azulfire24]

sorry to hear about ur losses but as every body else said guy and girls just cant stay togather. even when breeding they will somtimes kill each other. to keep girls it is best to have at least 4 preferble 8 to 10 . i keep 7 female in a 10 gallon with no other fish and they get along ok, and somtimes betta can get along with other fish but dint count on it its like people some are nice and some arent. if u do decide to keep betta an extra tank just for female might be just the thing,, and females the same age and size get along better then others, sisters out of the same fry < term for a set of baby fish> usually get along the best,, good luck