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.

"TYNK 7" wrote in message
...
Subject: Unexpected betta behaviour
From: "IDzine01"
Date: 12/6/2004 3:01 PM Central Standard Time
Message-id: . com

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.



What are you not recommending, the housing a female/s with a male or being
that
it's a 2 1/2g and he has a pair in that?
I ask because it's not too clear.


He has them in a divided 10 gallon (originally), no?

Yes, it was a divided 10 (now undivided), not a 2.5. Bettas in small tanks
is a pet peeve of mine; I like 5 gallons minimum for these beauties. She has
a castle to hide in (as I mentioned in the original post) and there are
several plants and other decorative structures, and she's much faster than
he is, so if he gets snippy she can easily escape and hide.

--
John Goulden

bject: Unexpected betta behaviour
From: "luminos"
Date: 12/6/2004 11:41 PM Central Standard Time
Message-id:


"TYNK 7" wrote in message
...
Subject: Unexpected betta behaviour
From: "IDzine01"
Date: 12/6/2004 3:01 PM Central Standard Time
Message-id: . com

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.



What are you not recommending, the housing a female/s with a male or being
that
it's a 2 1/2g and he has a pair in that?
I ask because it's not too clear.


He has them in a divided 10 gallon (originally), no?


Originally, I do not know.
As of now, the original poster has them in a 2 1/2g that was separated, the
female jumped over the divider and they have been living peaceful with each
other in such a small space (a bit rare, but not unheard of). Also, no spawning
behavior (which is a good thing). However, I did recommend if they were going
to keep them living together as tank mates to uprage to a 10g at least.
Some Bettas just get along with certain individual Bettas better than others
do.
I've had many that would bicker constantly, and others that got along so
swimmingly, that when separated they became quite depressed.

From my original post, first few lines...

"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..."

--
John Goulden

Subject: Unexpected betta behaviour
From: "John D. Goulden"
Date: 12/7/2004 12:22 PM Central Standard Time
Message-id:

From my original post, first few lines...

"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..."


Oh wow. I don't know how I got that so mixed up.
Sorry!