Can you keep a male and a female siamese fighting fish together?

Answer 1

For the short time they are mating yes you can but they have to be separated right after or the male will kill the female. Even during that time they still may kill each other if one isn't ready or they don't like each other that way. If you are not trying to breed them then no they can't be together but females can be kept in the same tank if it is big enough for them to have their own space.

Answer 2

No, the actually breed by asexual reproduction and it is an evolutionary mistake have two sexes.

Of course you can keep them together! However, only one female to a male as females fight viciously for mating rights. If you don't want to, don't have the knowledge or the time to breed them, keep the water a degree or two below normal. (Normal for a betta is 24oC BTW).

Try to pair a male and female of the same colour, as males generally only want to mate with females of like colour. The females can change their colour anyway.

Not every male and female will get along, introduce them slowly. Leave the newbie in a betta barrack for a day or two.

All my pairs live together when they are not breeding, in general. Unless they don't get along in off season. But you're tank should be shallow and 10-15 gallons. Lots of plants, planted and floating and subdued lighting. This is how they should be kept anyway, as its more natural to them.

They don't interact a whole lot when they are not breeding. A male building a bubble nest is also not a clear indication he is ready to mate either. Don't listen to silly people. Males build nests in bowls, they can not and will not be interested in mating in a bowl.

Also, it is EXTREMELY rare for bettas that are NOT trained for fighting to kill each other. Even two males. They fight until one backs down, they might die of injuries after, but they don't fight to kill. I've never seen a male kill a female, even ones they don't like. And the female can be just as aggressive.

They need to be separated after the fry hatch as the female normally eats them and this can cause the male to attack her quite badly.

I currently have more than 20 breeding pairs and have been at this for years.

Answer 3

Normally people only keep 2 betas together if they are breeding, in which case, you have to have a decent sized tank(about 10 gallon) and float the female in a cup for a while until the male has built his bubble nest. When the female is let out it will probably hide for a while before spawning, so give it plenty of hiding places. As far as i know most people take the females out after the spawn

Answer 4

No, it is not advisable to keep anything except females together with other females. The only time a male will tolerate a female is when she has eggs to give him. After mating, you must remove her or he will damage her greatly.

I have spawned bettas on many occasions and some of the stuff nootah oolah has said is way off base. I am going to address one thing in particular, here is her quote:

"Males build nests in bowls, they can not and will not be interested in mating in a bowl."

This is absolutely not true. I, personally, had 4 bettas in a betta barracks (small plastic enclosure that has slots to divide it into 4 different areas) that was in a 55 gallon tank. Each betta had an area about 3x4x6 inches. One male started displaying to the single female in the next cubicle. He built himself a nest and she apparently jumped over the plastic separator into his cubicle. When I discovered her in with him I immediately put her back into her own cubicle. Well, they had spawned in the 3x4x6 cubicle and the eggs were fertile. There was no way to remove them from the tank and the fry were lost when they started free swimming and got into the area where the other fish were.

So, they will spawn wherever the water is right and the fish are in condition and compatible for the duration of the spawning, I have proved it!

Here is a spawning procedure that I have used on many occasions and it works almost every time. Sometimes you need a different male or female if they are too young or too old.

Keep the male and female separate and feed them good high protein food for about 2-3 weeks before you put them together to spawn. The female's belly will swell with eggs and she will develop a small white spot under her stomach by her anal opening. This will indicate she is ready for the male.

Float her in a jar in the male's tank (no gravel on the bottom) so he can see her and become excited. He will then build a bubble nest. When the nest is large (2-3 inches in diameter and about a half inch thick) slowly release the female so you don't disturb the nest.

Now you must watch them very carefully for the next 2-3 hours. If she is not ready to spawn with the male, he will kill her. If she is ready and he is inexperienced, he may damage her. You may need to put her back into the jar for a while longer. If all goes well, they will wrap around each other and as she expells the eggs, he will fertilize them. He then picks them up and puts them in the nest. This can go on for up to an hour. When she is out of eggs, she will start running away from him and you need to remove her so he doesn't kill her.

The male then cares for the nest and the eggs until they hatch. Once they hatch, he will tend the babies (fry) until they are free swimming. After that, he may eat them because they will not stay in the nest any longer and may appear to be strangers.

A very fine powdered food is required because the fry are so small. Feed at least 3 times a day and keep a light on so they can find the food. Once they grow a little, you can feed them newly hatched brine shrimp, again, at least 3 times a day. The most important thing for fry is clean water and plenty of high protein food. Siphon the uneaten food and debris off the bottom every day. Bacteria is the fry's worst enemy.

Bettas are tropical fish from southeast Asia (Thailand, formerly Siam). The proper name is betta (pronounced bet-tah, not bay-tah) splendens. They come from water temps in the area of 78-82 degrees and should therefore have a heater in their tank. Never keep one in a small bowl, the temp fluctuations between night and day in your home will cause a lot of stress and eventually compromise their immune systems. Opportunistic bacteria and parasites will then attack them and cause sickness and eventually death. Fading color and listlessness is a sign of stress and impending illness.

Bettas are solitary fish who must not be kept with others of their species. Males will kill males and males will kill females unless the female is ready to spawn. He will kill her after spawning if she cannot get away from him. The male guards the nest and takes care of the eggs and then the babies (fry) until they become free swimming. A group of females can be kept together, they are not agressive to their own species like the males. In the wild, bettas live as long as 5-7 years.... in our "care, they are lucky to last for 2-3 years.

BTW, nootah, males do not fight for "mating rights", they fight to protect a territory at the surface that is, in their opinion, a suitable place to raise a family.

Answer 5

The male will most likely stress the female until she dies. But sometimes you'll get lucky and find a pair that can tolerate eachother

Answer 6

I had heard for a long time that you couldn't, but a friend of mine tried it and it worked out well. Also, if you don't want to risk losing them, but want to keep them entertained, some tanks have a slot where you can put a see through piece in the middle. That way they can see each other and you can find out if they will be likely to fight or not.

Answer 7

You can keep them together but the only thing is that the male has to find a female that he likes. So that means you have to keep putting females in there (and he'll keep killing them) until he finds the one he likes.

Answer 8

you can put a male with several females, but just putting one in with him would basically be her death wish. Look up breeding though, very interesting techniques!!

Answer 9

I don't' have an answer for you, but I want the answer to this one.

It has to be a love'um and leave 'um attitude or something.

I know that females fish lay their eggs and the male comes along later to fertilize them. They don't actually have fish-sex that I am aware of.

However, I would think the male would HAVE know where the eggs are to fertilize them. I don't' think she puts up a neon sign that says "Fertilize this!"

Answer 10

No you can't because the male will kill the female.