Two Male Bettas In A Tank

[HYJ]

I saw something unusual yesterday at LFS..and I would like to share me experience.

I went to LFS yesterday to get some fish..at that LFS they put bettas in a 5 gallon tank with other fishes.

There's usually only one male betta per tank..because as everyone knows males are known to fight each other.

But then in this one tank, I actually saw TWO male bettas along with some small mollies and guppies.

Yes, they were BOTH MALES.

Surprisingly, they didn't fight each other at all.. they weren't even flaring at each other.

There were no signs of ripped fins..and they both looked healthy.

Yet, they completely ignored each other and coexisted in the tank peacefully.

They also didn't show any sign of aggression towards guppies and mollies.

I was very surprised to see that tank..and I saw no agression within the 10 min or so of observation

Is this something very unusual?

How can two male bettas coexist in a same tank without any aggression?

 

[aly_starh]

I just bought another male betta today. Guess what, he was housed with Guppies

Edit: his fins are badly damaged to the point that i cant work out what tail type he is

 

[OldMan47]

I would not try to house 2 male bettas in the same 120 gallon 6 foot long tank, much less a 5 gallon. There are several species of wild bettas that would work OK in groups but not the old standby Betta splendens.
The idea of keeping a betta with small fish like guppies is not at all strange to me. Mine lives with endlers and looks like this.

I really don't see any problem housing them together although I keep reading horror stories from people who have never tried it.

 

[Essjay]

I was in a shop a few months ago which had a male betta in a tank with male guppies. The betta was herding the guppies into a corner one by one. It was like watching a sheepdog separating one sheep from the herd. He then lunged at the cornered guppy. All the guppies had bits missing. When I told the owner, she moved him pretty quickly - presumably guppies with bits missing are harder to sell. I know all bettas are different, but I wouldn't have liked to have put this one in a tank of guppies at home!

 

[OldMan47]

My guess is that her experience with bettas was a lot like mine and when you found an unusually aggressive betta, she took action. There are exceptions to every rule. I have had mollies that could not be kept in community tanks and they have a reputation for being quite peaceful.