Betta's Co-habiting Peacefully?

Ok, up-front I'm not planning to keep bettas together so please don't hate-mail me. I'm just really surprised - my neighbour has set up this really funky jury rigged eco-system with pvc pipe and plants and has five male bettas living in a really small space. I feel bad for them, they're living in what looks like less than 3 gallons and with guppies and goldfish! But there isn't anything I can do.. from what he tells me, they were in even worse conditions at the lfs he got them and I believe that because I've seen it at lfs vs lfs here in Singapore.

So how is it that they haven't killed each other yet? They actually look happy and content. Will post a pic and video soon.

 

It is very doable, just with 5-6 females in a 29 gallon long at least, definitely should not be done with males (Except maybe wild caught ones), or maybe one male per 5-6 females. Do you know how long he's had them like that? I'd be willing to bet that this setup won't last through the year, probably not even 6 months

 

About 1.5 months now, I'd reckon. And I agree with you - this guy seems to be about building , not maintaining. He'll likely get bored and the entire system will crash - I'll be watching and try to help. It hurts me to see them cooped up like that, but well...

 

The only outcomes I see are 1. they all kill each other 2. he ends up with just the most dominant male (assuming the ones killed aren't replaced) 3. they die of ammonia or something 4. they get sick
No truly good scenario really

 

I'm going to wait for the pictures and video.

The reason I think they haven't torn each other apart by now is because there's too many movements and distractions in the tank which makes it too chaotic to focus on anything. It was like when my lfs put 10 females in a 1 gallon tank, too chaotic to have any fighting in there. It's kind of like what people have to do when setting up an African cichlid tank, you have to overstock it to control aggression. I will not recommend it as it still creates a stressful environment which can cause negative health effects.

 

So here are photos. Will take me a while to upload video. But this should give the gist.

Interestingly. I no longer see any bettas in here. He had 5 of them in the horizontal pipe. Now there's only one in the vertical pipe, and what looks like badly decomposed betta carcass (didn't grab a pic of that). I suppose the inevitable happened.

He has a climbing perch in the lower pipe. I found it one day on the floor trying to escape, poor creature.

 

Oh, so is it like a small stream setup? I assumed it was a little tank, if they're in that pipe that looks to be at least 3 feet long that would make a huge difference in their aggression towards each other

 

They were. But they aren't anymore so not sure if they did go at one another in the end. I'm curious, how would the stream setup help, there was no separation and certainly not enough space for territories.

 

While they still don't have much water in total, it's spread across a few feet. So if it were a 3 gallon tank, they would never be able to get even one foot away from each other, in the stream setup, they can somewhat avoid each other by swimming ~3 feet apart

 

I agree with nikm. I assumed they were in a 3 gallon aquarium with little PVC pipes poking up all over the place like some sort of maze.

While these are not optimal conditions they are not near as bad as what sort of MC Escher aquarium setup that was going through my head.

 

Thanks folks. Wanted to update: as predicted, the system went to ****. The only fish that survived seem to be some plecos or catfish. Everything else is dead. He hasn't been clearing the bodies so the plecos are supper bloated from eating the dead. Its a macabre scene.

 

Results of lack of proper knowledge

 

But on this topic, I have always wondered, how large of a tank it would take to keep 2 male Bettas together. I mean if u put 2 male Bettas in a 800 gallon tank, they would be unlikely to find each other, much less fight, right?

 

But on this topic, I have always wondered, how large of a tank it would take to keep 2 male Bettas together. I mean if u put 2 male Bettas in a 800 gallon tank, they would be unlikely to find each other, much less fight, right?

I have 3 males with 16 girls in a standard 55 gallon. So 4 foot tank.

 

What's the AVG male to female ratio so the male does beat up on the female?

 

Sorry, but those are horrible conditions! It's not only ugly, how can the fish even enjoy it?

The swim movement across a tank followed by a gentle glide a Betta does and then a mild flare ( for fun, not aggression) is a thing of beauty to watch, It's like when dolphins jump for fun when swimming.

I have a male betta in a sorority tank that I will be moving soon. he's been in there nearly 2 months, but he's a juvenile, I got him labeled 'baby boy' back in May. No bubble nest yet ( in this tank, a lot when he was alone) and no sexual behavior yet that I have observed. I 'll move him in next 2 weeks. 4 females & him, they get on really nice other than random once in a while nudging each other. It's a really fun tank to have. 'fish puppies' is exactly how to describe their behavior.

feeding them and making sure 1 doesn't overeat is the real issue. I will gently push them away so other can eat.

If 'baby bettas' were labeled for actual parentage, I'd buy more n the future. he went from grey too a very deepish red-purple & turquoise on his fins. I have to take more pics tomorrow.

 

I agree.. note this is not my setup. This is a neighbour who fancies himself a DIY guy.

 

Bettas are native to the region I live in, so they are plentiful and cheap. A lot of them are wild caught. There is a lot of neglect and unhappy conditions. Including keeping them in tiny bags on lfs counters. The lfs I go to has a slightly better setup and don't keep as many, but it still not pretty.

 

I'm 100% pro DIY, but the aesthetics are lacking for viewer & fish, lol.

The person who designed it needs to understand architecture a bit better imo. I'm sure the design is doable in some manner, just not that way. Mechanics first, then aesthetics. if the tubes were all clear, so fish visible and if there was a nicer way to do a water return, he wouldn't have dead fish. In design, the best & most effective way to do anything is to mimic nature. Think stream to very gradual declining waterfall without any real force to it. the up portion, same gradual incline this time but that requires a lot more space.

And I'm jealous, Singapore must be wonderful to see!

 

My country is a nice place for a holiday, but there not so nice to live in permanently.... Too much first world issues, killer cost of living, a car cost as much as a house, red tape every where, highly competitive, and an avg daily temp of 32 degree Celsius with a searing Equatorial sun.