Male and Female Beta

Michael49

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Nov 25, 2017
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I have a male beta in a 55 gallon tank, i was wondering if i can add a female beta to the same tank? In addition, what other fish do good with betas in the tank?
 

TwoHedWlf

Potamotrygon
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Mar 2, 2017
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I have a male beta in a 55 gallon tank, i was wondering if i can add a female beta to the same tank? In addition, what other fish do good with betas in the tank?
Sure, you can add a female if you've conditioned her up to breed and remove her afterwards. If not, then the male will just kill her.
 

J. H.

Potamotrygon
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Oct 14, 2016
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Icedcoldmine Icedcoldmine has 3 males in a 75 with no problems. If there are a few females and plants to hide in, I think it should be for sure fine.
Good tankmates for bettas could be just about any rainbow/blue eyed honey, a lot of the smaller tetras, many small plecos, some other gentle fish that won't look like other bettas, but in a 55, you might even be able to get away with dwarf gouramiis and guppies, as there may be enough room for everyone to have their own space. If you have a big enough tank, you can keep just about any two fish together, and when the fish are small, the tanks are magically bigger.
 
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skjl47

Goliath Tigerfish
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May 16, 2011
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Hello; For me the issue is not the aggression of the betta. It is that the male bettas are slow swimmers and have such attractive fins. I eventually began to keep them pretty much alone because of other fish nipping at their fins.
 

Icedcoldmine

Jack Dempsey
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Oct 12, 2017
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Not to mention I also have my breeding pair of angels in the tank, and my ramshorn snail colony. I'll get a pic later today. If you want 0 aggression issues get the wild bettas. If not then female bettas would probably be a safer option but I had ones that were very, very, nippy so I had to separate then. Luckily I have extra tanks. The males aren't causing much trouble but I got lucky. I had males whom chases females flaring like crazy before.
 
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pbass2005

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Mar 27, 2019
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You can put more females in their I have a 29great with 5 betas in their 4 girls 1 boy they chase each other but that's normal at first their was some bad behavior at first but it's a hole lot better.
 

Ulu

Potamotrygon
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Dec 13, 2018
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The Sunny San Joaquin
Sure, you can add a female if you've conditioned her up to breed and remove her afterwards. If not, then the male will just kill her.
This is very common but not always true. I think it depends on the fish and the environment.

Betta Boy and Heidi have been living together in a 10 gal with bottles and plants and things to hide in.

AFAICT they aren't going to breed & I don't know why. They don't seem to fight, and actually appear to like each other.

They blow bubbles and play around and often appear to be mating, but no eggs at all in many, many weeks.

These fish lived in adjacent tanks and have been able to see each other every day for many months. I was sure they'd breed in three days when I first introduced them, but no joy.
 

Ulu

Potamotrygon
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The Sunny San Joaquin
Heidi is pink and Betta Boy is navy blue
20190325_203525.jpg20190301_110149.jpg20190325_203446.jpg20190318_213054.jpg

They seem to enjoy swimming in and out of the bottles. It elevates them so that they can see into other aquariums from there 360 degree view. This is my third breeding experiment with this pair of fish and the third environment in which I've conducted it. I am starting to believe that they are always going to be platonic friends.
 
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Kittiee Katt

Potamotrygon
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Aug 1, 2015
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The best tank mates I had with my bettas were glass bloodfin tetras (although people have said they can be nippy but I never experienced this), white cloud mountain minnows, corydoras catfish, synodontis nigriventris (sp?) and glowlight tetras (NOT glofish, I'm talking about a pretty tetra from SA).

I found most tetras and live bearers to be far too nippy with long finned bettas. But have had good luck with the fish mentioned above.


Disclaimer: this is my opinion based off of my experience. There is no "one size fits all" solution in this hobby. Your experience may differ. :)
 
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