Play Nice?

[metromyers]

Due to situations here at work, I had to make Fred's bachalors pad into a betta condo. Poor Fred is not very happy about the whole thing. I have a thick piece of tinted plastic between them so they can't get at each other, but they sure like to flare at each other. My questions are..... 1. Will they ever calm down? 2. Is this living arrangement to stressful to them? Fred seems to be the more agressive one. I am hoping this will be a tempory situation. When I get to my new shop I will try to set up a new home for Charlie, untill then I want to make this as stress free for them as possible. I know this show of agression is normal, right now I have no choice.

 

[azulfire24]

1 yes
2 a little, but i have males in a divided tank that are perpament buddies, as they get on alright
they will eventually quiet down except fot the occasional flare, hopefully, as long as they cant get to each other by accident it should be ok for now

 

[ReMz]

I divided a 5 gallon tank after 1 betta had been living in it for 7 months. I had the same concerns.

So, like you I took the same approach. Instead, I sanded the plastic divider so it was opaque.

The betta that had been in the tank for a while was aggressive (charging whenever he saw the other guy). They flared alot and I was concerned for their well being. A couple days later they had huge bubble nests and pretty much ignored each other with the occasional flare (which is fun to watch when you're not worried about them being stressed out).

From my experience, you should be fine.

 

[metromyers]

I was hoping the tint on the lexan was dark enough that they would not see each other, no such luck. I drilled a bunch of 1/4 inch holes so the water could get through, Fred likes to stick his "nose" in the holes. Also Charlie waits untill Fred is on the other side of the tank and flares at him. Fred gets upset and rushes over to flare and let Charlie know who is the boss. Then Charlie swims away. Silly boys.

 

[ReMz]

sounds just like my setup as far as the behavior. just make sure they cannot press their nose too far into the holes and get stuck. 1/4" is small... just make sure that their gills can't get far enough through to get stuck (i dont know the size of your fish.... 1/4" would have been too big for one of my guys when i got him).

 

[metromyers]

Fred couldn't fit any part of himself in a 1/4 inch anything. Charlie is small but not that small, only the tip of his nose fits Charlie is a little brat, he seems to like to taunt Fred. They are kind of fun to watch. I hope they calm down soon.