Siamese Fighting fish

[Elisa A Ferrante]

Hi,
I am setting up a 5 Gal. tank for a male Betta. I have been planning to keep
both a female and a male but have run into advice about not keeping them
together because the male might become aggressive towards the female. Is
this true? If it is, what other kinds of fish can i keep with him. I have
another 10 gallon tank that has a gourami, a danio, some platys and a couple
of snails.
Thanks for any advice you send my way,
Elisa

[Flash Wilson]

On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 03:06:55 -0400, Elisa A Ferrante > wrote:
>I am setting up a 5 Gal. tank for a male Betta. I have been planning to keep
>both a female and a male but have run into advice about not keeping them
>together because the male might become aggressive towards the female. Is
>this true? If it is, what other kinds of fish can i keep with him. I have
>another 10 gallon tank that has a gourami, a danio, some platys and a couple
>of snails.

Completely true. Male and female will tear each other to shreds.
I wouldn't keep a male betta with any other fish. A female can
be kept with other females (depends on the temperament to some
extent, and you wont know until you get them home) and probably
some other fish - but I keep mine separate from other fish so
can't help with the second bit of your query.

But really, don't put male and female together!


--
Flash Wilson - http://www.gorge.org

Comments in my journal or guestbook are welcome!

[blove]

its true, a male might kill the female or the female can kill the male. not
worth the risk in my opinion. i have a 5 gallon tank with a male betta, 4
neon tetras, 3 white cloud minnows and 2 cory catfish. now each betta has
different personalities, the one that is in the tank now gets along fine
with the other fish. Before i had a white and blue male betta in the tank
with just a small pepper cory and i came home from work to find the cory
with half of his face missing and the betta picking at it. i wouldnt put
any gouramis in with the male betta since they are from the same family and
often fight with each other. some (usually) good tank mates for bettas are
dwarf frogs, white cloud minnows, and my neons are doing great with my male
betta. other people can probably suggest more fish species.


"Elisa A Ferrante" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
> I am setting up a 5 Gal. tank for a male Betta. I have been planning to
keep
> both a female and a male but have run into advice about not keeping them
> together because the male might become aggressive towards the female. Is
> this true? If it is, what other kinds of fish can i keep with him. I have
> another 10 gallon tank that has a gourami, a danio, some platys and a
couple
> of snails.
> Thanks for any advice you send my way,
> Elisa
>
>

[luminos]

Make sure the neons are large to jumbo. Many of the cheaper small neons
will be a tasty snack, and the Betta will woof them down.

[McEve]

"Flash Wilson" > wrote in message
...
>
> Completely true. Male and female will tear each other to shreds.

I have no knowledge of Bettas, but couldn't help thinking - how do they ever
get to mate if you can't keep them together..? Forgive me for asking an
unnecessary question, considering I don't keep them - I was just curious...
:)

[luminos]

http://www.petfish.net/bettabreeding.htm

Note that hostility among sexes is not that uncommon :) (see Black Widow
Spider).

"McEve" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Flash Wilson" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > Completely true. Male and female will tear each other to shreds.
>
> I have no knowledge of Bettas, but couldn't help thinking - how do they
ever
> get to mate if you can't keep them together..? Forgive me for asking an
> unnecessary question, considering I don't keep them - I was just
curious...
> :)
>
>

[McEve]

"luminos" > wrote in message
...
> http://www.petfish.net/bettabreeding.htm
>
> Note that hostility among sexes is not that uncommon :) (see Black Widow
> Spider).
>

Very interesting article! And of course you're right, not only bettas and
spiders are hostile towards eachother, praying mantis and others also have
the same trait... and come to think of it - some people too :D

Thanks for the answer :)

[TYNK 7]

>Subject: Re: Siamese Fighting fish
>From: (Flash Wilson)
>Date: 7/26/2004 3:46 PM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: >
>
>On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 03:06:55 -0400, Elisa A Ferrante >
>wrote:
>>I am setting up a 5 Gal. tank for a male Betta. I have been planning to keep
>>both a female and a male but have run into advice about not keeping them
>>together because the male might become aggressive towards the female. Is
>>this true? If it is, what other kinds of fish can i keep with him. I have
>>another 10 gallon tank that has a gourami, a danio, some platys and a couple
>>of snails.
>
>Completely true. Male and female will tear each other to shreds.
>I wouldn't keep a male betta with any other fish. A female can
>be kept with other females (depends on the temperament to some
>extent, and you wont know until you get them home) and probably
>some other fish - but I keep mine separate from other fish so
>can't help with the second bit of your query.
>
>But really, don't put male and female together!

Having kept Bettas for 26 years and bred them for 19, I can assure you that you
absolutely CAN keep a male and females together...as long as the conditions are
correct and their individual personalities mesh.
A male and female Betta will only "tear each other to shreds" is kept in a tank
that is much too small, doesn't have enough hidning places or plants, or
they're both overly aggressive and have no business being with any other Betta
(of opposite sex).
And why you wouldn't keep a male Betta with any other fish is beyond me.
Bettas are community fish. You just have to know what fish not to keep with
them..as they are targets for fin nippers, and know the personality of your
Betta.
Each Betta is different.Some males can be kept without any trouble, with male
Fancy Guppies, some see them as another male Betta (large tail fin), some I've
had have even had problems with fish of a certain color. Yes, I have had racial
fish. One had a dark blue thing..another a black thing.
If the other fish were the said color....they were attacked. It was very odd.
But, in 26 years only having 2 that went after a certain color fish, it is
rare, but it's very possible.
I also had a male that would only go after Mollies..any color Molly too.
Bettas have brains and they know how to use them. They have likes and dislikes
too.
This needs to be taken into consideration too, as well and tank size.
If you were to house a male with females, it shouldn't even be tried unless
it's a 10g tank or larger (I prefer larger). It must be well planted with
plenty of hiding places.
They should be put together at the same time (after quarantine), because then
the tank is no one's territory.
There will usually be some flashing, posturing, a little nip and some chasing
at first, but nothing major.
Usually within a few days they've all settled down and basically ignore each
other.
The things to watch out for (in case you need to separate them) is if chunks
are being taken out, contant chasing with nipping, or the fish is in distress.
This may be either a male or female, as either can be overly aggressive or
timid.
Within the female group, there will be posturing and flashing of fins to figure
out their hierarchy. The male also has to find his place in their group...and
it's not always at the top of the chain either.
Another thing to remember is it's better to have a number of females per male.
His attention can them be divided between them.

[TYNK 7]

>Subject: Re: Siamese Fighting fish
>From: "McEve"
>Date: 7/26/2004 11:37 PM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: >
>
>
>"Flash Wilson" > wrote in message
...
>>
>> Completely true. Male and female will tear each other to shreds.
>
>I have no knowledge of Bettas, but couldn't help thinking - how do they ever
>get to mate if you can't keep them together..? Forgive me for asking an
>unnecessary question, considering I don't keep them - I was just curious...
>:)
>

No forgiveness needed. The statement was incorrect.

[Flash Wilson]

On 27 Jul 2004 15:41:58 GMT, TYNK 7 > wrote:
>Having kept Bettas for 26 years and bred them for 19, I can assure you that you
>absolutely CAN keep a male and females together...as long as the conditions are
>correct and their individual personalities mesh.
>A male and female Betta will only "tear each other to shreds" is kept in a tank
>that is much too small, doesn't have enough hidning places or plants, or

But the OP said it was a 5g tank...

>If you were to house a male with females, it shouldn't even be tried unless
>it's a 10g tank or larger (I prefer larger). It must be well planted with
>plenty of hiding places.

You see? :)

Sorry, just to correct my earlier post, I wouldnt consider keeping
male and female together *in a small tank*.

--
Flash Wilson
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bother. Must not drink tequila before midnight on a weeknight.