cutetravis

hey there, i have a female betta (phoebe) and she lives in a 20 litre tank by herself, and she is very healthy and happy from what i can tell
i am going up to my LFS next weekend and was thinking about gettin a male betta, can i put him straight in with her, or do they have to be separated?

any help wud be greatly appreciated

thanks

nicole

I'm not a betta expert..but I think you should put a divider between them for a while.I think the male will make a bubble nest when he is happy/content or when he is ready to mate..the female will also show characteristics when she is ready to mate as well..The best advice I can give you is not to put them together straight away as the male may stress the female..Like I said though I am not all that familiar with bettas..
Hey all betta owners please let me know if this is not right.
Nicole.

Phloxface

Males and females should NEVER be kept together. The male is aggressive even towards females and will eventually kill her. Even spawning is a violent affair that results in a lot of fin damage to the female and sometimes death. They need to be watched constantly until the spawning is done and the female removed right after to prevent the male killing her. Breeding Bettas is not as easy as breeding guppies and should not be done by anyone who hasn't done a LOT of research and has a plan for finding homes for many babies. It is also expensive and time consuming as the males all need to be kept in separate jars which need to be cleaned every day to prevent fins from growing out deformed.
IMO I wouldn't advise keeping a male and female even in a divided tank. Seeing each other keeps them in a constant state of being in "spawning mode". The male will be preoccupied with constantly building bubbles nests and the female may produce a lot of eggs and possibly become eggbound and die if she cannot release them herself.
I had a male and female in separate tanks but next to each other and even after the female died (of dropsy) the male was stressed for many weeks building huge nests and looking for her. He wasn't his usual playful self and was becoming obsessed. He's "almost" back to normal now. I know some here do keep males and females in divided tanks but IMO, if you can avoid it, it will be better. I keep my males and females on opposite sides of the room now. This way they continue to interact and play with me rather than being stressed and obsessed with spawning (which I will NEVER do.)
If you can get another tank for the new male, possibly a 5 gallon or larger, and just enjoy his antics and personality with his mind focused on YOU.

capekate

I totally agree with everything that Phloxface has said. For two days I had to put my male and female together in the divided tank and they were flaring at each other constantly. 8cents tank is now cleaned out and up and running again and he is a happy camper back in his own tank. I would never put them together in the same tank, and if you love your bettas, you would be devestated if one killed or injured the other. I also agree, leave the breeding of Bettas to the professionals its a tricky business.
~ kate

nicole

Sorry Guys..Like I said I'm no expert on bettas..I'm staying away from here ..that is all interesting though and something new for me to learn.
Nicole.

cutetravis

hahaha ok,
roger all that guys, thanks, i have another tank that i can keep the male in, so that should be no problem at all, and its roomier than the one the female betta is in, thanks again for all your help

cherryrose

Good for you for asking this question before putting the two together. It is so much easier to prevent problems than it is to correct the damage done. I'm sure both of your bettas will be very happy with such a responsible betta parent.

CherryRose

Tom

And isn't a 20L(5 gallon) too small for both a male and female betta, even if divided?
Tom

COBettaCouple

technically they'd be within the 1" per gallon rule, but they're really not have much room to move at all in a 5g divided.

what fish are in the tank the male betta would go in?