the beta fish mystery?

Question

why cant you put two beta fish together,my friend did and they are still alive

Answer 1

Betta fish are very territorial. In the wild, a male betta will defend his territory which is usually fairly small by human standards (maybe 40-80 square inches), and he will chase out ALL other betta fish, INCLUDING females. He will tolerate a female when he wants to spawn, but not afterwards.
It is ill advised to keep bettas together in a small area - anything smaller than 40 gallons.
If your friend is thick enough to put 2 bettas together, I am assuming he is probably not smart enough to properly care for them, and they are probably too sick to fight.

However, bettas don't fight to the death. They aren't stupid, they don't WANT to kill themselves or each other; in the wild, they spar, until the weaker one withdraws back to his territory. They rarely kill each other. It's all about display. The danger of keeping them in small areas together is that they cannot retreat.


Edit: the females are NOT ugly and brown. A person who says that obviously has not seen very many female bettas. The females are often just as colourful as males, but they do not poses the same long fins the male does. Maybe your friend has 2 females?
Also, you cannot keep a male with a female. He will attack her the same way he would attack a male. Females, however, can be kept together.

Answer 2

Honestly it's just a bad idea. A lot of it depends on the temperament of the bettas in question, how much space you have, and how much cover you have. In general males just can't be kept together. In a large tank you may be able to keep multiple males, but it depends on the males. 2 evenly matched males may just fight over and over again. Some males are just plain psycho. You'll need at least 25-30 gallon per male. Also you should let them see, but not fight each other for at least a couple of weeks before putting them in together.

Males, and females generally mate, and then the male tries to drive off the female to defend the nest. Of course some females are as aggressive males. (I had a female who beat up males.) In a large tank it might work out if there were at least a couple of females. Again your going to need 25-30 gallon per male, and 5-10 gallon per female.

Females will tend to fight a bit, but once they work things out things are often fine. Of course some females are antisocial, and some times you'll get a couple of evenly match females. You'll need 5-10 gallons per female.

Of course the problem in any betta tank is adding or removing betta. If the tank alpha dies, or a new betta enters the tank all hell breaks lose. My girls go into a full blown flaring cage match if they can see a male.

PS- Generally people who have successful mixed sex tanks raised them from birth together, and removed the ones who weren't getting along.

Answer 3

You can put them together but they will be exhausted. They are hard wired to posture whenever they see another male. They will puff up and their colors will darken. They will then begin to bite at each other and swim into each other. This process is very tiring. As soon as their energy comes back and they see each other it will start again. Some are not as aggressive as others but they will always posture when they see another male. That is why most Betas look sickly in pet stores when the small containers are placed next to each other. They are exhausted. It is best to put a male with females or put a section (not clear and not mirrored) between the males.

Answer 4

A betta might want to or might want to not get alongside with tank friends in accordance to his personality, so there is one cautionary note. yet another is that ghost shrimp, in larger temperatures (that you may want to desire to maintain for the betta's happiness) were favourite to attempt to attack fish if underfed or for no reason. secret snails do produce a good number of waste and could clutter your water plenty quicker each week that the ghost shrimp and betta. in case you extremely desire snails, bypass for something smaller. 2 nerite snails might want to be pleased with the betta and ghost shrimp. The betta will be extra in all likelihood to attempt to devour the shrimp than snails, so pay attention of that, too.

Answer 5

Everytime I see a posting by Zoe, I know that she is going to cut through everyone else's misinformation and lay the truth on the line. Way to go, Z.

Everybody do what Zoe says, she is 100% on target here, too.

Answer 6

FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, IT HAS TO BE A MALE AND A FEMALE!!! I TRIED WITH MY DAUGHTER , WE PUT 2 TOGETHER. UNKNOWINGLY, THEY WERE 2 MALES.... WE WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING AND APPARENTLY THE BIGGER MALE HAD BITTEN THE SMALLER MALE!!!! (DARN PET SUPERMARKET!!) LOL. SO, THEN WE GOT A FEMALE, AND EVERYTHING HAS BEEN JUST FINE!!! SO, IM GUESSING AS LONG AS IT'S A MALE AND A FEMALE... THEY WILL HAVE A HAPPY LIFE TOGETHER!!!

Answer 7

they are supposed to be a fighting fish? Your friends fish may just be rare? I wouldn't chance it unless you want to spend more money on buying another one?

Answer 8

ok, you can put a male and a female together, but not two males. they are simese fighting fish and will kill each other. it's really too amazing that your friend could have put two males together.

ps. the males are pretty and colorful and the females are small and ugly brown.

Answer 9

In many cases, they will kill each other.
Maybe your friend has a male & a female.
With 2 males, usually one is dead within hours.

Answer 10

well most of the time you can but sometime they will fight and try to kill each other but not allways