Unexpected betta behaviour

About six weeks ago I acquired two bettas (a blue male and a really pretty
blue female, both cheapies from LFSs) and housed them in a divided 10-gallon
tank (cycled with zero ammonia, planted, gravel bottom, mini biowheel,
heated to 78F, vacuumed and 25% water changed weekly). At first their
behavior was typical - lots of flaring and flirting and building of bubble
nests - but when I put them together they wouldn't breed. I finally gave up
on having lots of blue baby bettas and just let them co-habit on either side
of their aquarium. After a while he quit building bubble nests for her but
they spent all of their time together at the divider (plastic mesh, not
glass). They also became very personable and tame, always happy to see me
and eager to take food from my fingertips. I suppose that's why we all love
bettas.

Last week the divider was getting a little too green so I removed it for
cleaning. I watched the bettas carefully and was ready to intervene if they
went at each other, but all they did was explore each others side of the
tank for an hour or so (he was quite taken with the heater and the waterfall
from the biowheel, both of which were on her side). After that they mainly
just swam around together - no flaring, no nipping, and just a little
half-hearted chasing.

After a while I separated them and put the now-clean divider back in but the
next morning she was over on HIS side (having somehow worked her way under
or perhaps over the divider - she is quite a jumper). Both were as calm as
could be, greeted me with their usual "betta dance" and took their morning
feeding with no problem. With some trepidation I removed the divider and
left them together. Ever since they've acted like an old married couple.
They are almost always close together, and if they are apart for a few
moments she comes back to him and rubs on him. He seems to like it I've
spied on them at night and they sleep in their original territories (she has
a castle and sleeps inside; he has his favorite plant and sleeps on a leaf)
but during the day they stay pretty tight. There's no flaring or flirting or
mating rituals; they just slowly swim about together and genuinely seem to
enjoy each another's company.

Anyone else have this kind of experience with m/f bettas in one tank? It
certainly isn't what I expected. Or, we can just start a thread of favorite
betta stories...

--
John Goulden

WOW. Well I certainly wouldn't recommend it, but it sure sounds
romantic. :-P

Keep a close eye out for signs of nipping or stress. If they DO mate,
your male could get nasty and aggressive toward the female and
potentially hurt her if he feels the eggs are threatened.

I would label this one as: "Kids, don't try this at home. John D.
Goulden is a professional working in a closed course...yadda yadda"
Post a photo if you can. I'd love to see it.