i recently asked this question ( quick summary); i have a female and male bettas and when i put them together they were ok for the first day then the female (which was a lot smaller then my male) started eating my males tail. could it be the filter running and stressing them out? the female acted like she was stressed, should i put them together when i stop the filter and watch them??
2007-02-13 11:09:45 · 6 answers · asked by erica 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
In a sense, your filter may have "caused" this. Let me answer the question with some of my own experiences breeding bettas.
1) A male shouldn't be kept with females UNLESS you are trying to breed them - for all we know that's what you're trying to do!
2) To keep them together, you will need a tank 5-10 gallons with plenty of plants - usually the male will harass the female until she is ready to lay eggs, so she needs plenty of places where she can get away from him.
3) If you are trying to breed them, expect torn fins - on both of them - this is normal!
4) If the male is too old to breed, not interested, or, in the case you got a short-finned male that looks like a female, "she" will attack him!
5) So getting back to your original question, any filter will prevent the male from building a proper bubblenest - so if the female IS a girl, she will likely attack him because he has not provided her with a place to lay her eggs! (If it's a short-finned male, he's going to attack, regardless of the reason, but the "male" will "flare" and/or attack back)
6) If your purpose of putting them together is to try to spawn them, your best bet is to remove the filter and use the smallest air pump you have with an airstone - you may even need to put a valve on the line if the air stream is too strong - you barely want the surface of the water moving. You also need to have a bare-bottom tank with plants along the back/sides only - you can weight them in place with the bendable plant anchors - so the male can find and pick up the eggs from the bottom and place them in the bubblenest. Once the female's done laying eggs, you will need to take her out of the tank.
Here are some websites with more info on bettas (breeding & otherwise): http://majesticbettas.com/breeding.htm, http://www.bettatalk.com/
Good luck with the bettas!
2007-02-13 11:57:13 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Even though you have the female and male together things like this will happen . One thing you need to understand is that if she is to small it's not a great idea to put them together at this time . They may be stressed a little if the male wants to mate and the female isn't ready they will start to act stressed and fight . Don't think the female can't kill the male because she can . My dads female Betta killed the male cause he wanted to mate and she wasn't ready and they started to fight and she killed him , so be careful this doesn't happen . The filter may not bother them it's just the way Betta's are . GOOD LUCK !!!!
2007-02-13 12:23:41 · answer #2 · answered by Me777 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can't have more than one betta together. As you may notice, in the store, they keep them in an individual container. The female isn't really eating the male tail. It's her way of attacking the male. Your filter isn't the problem. As long as your filter is clean. Bettas can live without filter for a long time.
2007-02-13 11:27:48 · answer #3 · answered by Tim V 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The filter has nothing to do with this...
Males and females CAN NOT live together. They fight, which is why your male has lost some of his tail. If you do not separate them you will have at least one dead fish on your hands.
Yes, they live "with" each other in the wild... but we are talking about a rice paddy... thats murky and bigger than a football field. They are territorial. Once they fight, one wins and the other retreats. There is no retreating in your tank only fighting to the death.
Males must always live alone (without other bettas), while females can live together in groups of 3 or more.
2007-02-13 11:21:05 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
the filter could discourage the male from building a nest. she is probably stressed because she isn't ready to mate. it would be like throwing you in a wedding dress and pushing you down the aisle to meet some stranger.
they like a chance to get acclimated and then they might mate. they shouldn't be kept together unless you are mating them though.
here is a page on breeding bettas --
http://www.flippersandfins.net/bettabreedingarticle.htm
2007-02-13 12:12:00 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, the filter had nothing to do with this, the Betta's are fighting fish, it's not common to have them get along no matter what combinations you use. Turn on the filter before you kill them both.
2007-02-13 11:22:33 · answer #6 · answered by bigfishtanks 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋