Betta Domestic Violence

[LostV]

First time post. I've been in the aquaria hobby for a long time. I usually keep freshwater community fish and exotic species. I've kept various types of fish ranging from mudskippers to South American Leaf fishes to regular neon tetras. However, I'm stumped about my bettas!

Well they are my girlfriends actually. She never was into fish until we started dating and I just recently bought her her first fish tank. It's a 10 gal tank and she wanted a betta. I have never kept them before. Pretty fish but they seem to novelty to me (no offense betta lovers).

We have had a male and female betta with a panda catfish for a month. She tried to put my tiny neon tetra in while I was gone but the male ate it; much to her surprise. But we noticed just this weekend that the male stopped making bubbles and the female seemed to be avoiding him. Much to my girlfriends dismay, we just found him viciously attacking her. Is betta vengeance for ignoring him? Giving him the cold shoulder? Not putting out?

She was spiraling to the bottom when we saw her. We quickly removed her and placed her my peaceful fish tank. Half if her scales was removed as was an eye. She's also missing a fin. She's still alive but resting in a net. I understand that usually female and males should not cohabit but she was hoping they would breed (I'm not a breeder btw).

My question is why did this fish attack her? Was it because she didn't respond to him? Was he threatened by her? Does this happen often between make bettas? I'm pretty sure the female isn't going to make it out of this but we are trying to ease her suffering.

 

[molliwopp]

Male betta do and will kill females. If she doesnt get better i would consider euthanasia.

 

[bobbyj206]

In a way you are correct. IME yes, the male will attack the female if she does not respond positively to him. That is why it is not recommended to place a single male with a single betta of any gender (absolutely never 2 males together). A male and female can be housed together if they accept one another. My gf currently has a male and a female in her 10 gal, but she did have about 3 more females in addition to that until she put them in my 29 community tank (which already housed a male king betta and 3 other females). If you, or your gf, would like to house a male and female together, I recommend looking into a betta sorority. They can be tricky, but ts amazing to see a bunch of bettas together in the same tank.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Males and females should never be housed together. The only exception is during the brief period during breeding. He beat her up because she was in his territory. Please don't attempt to keep another female with him. It will most likely end the same way.

If she wishes to breed them then she needs to do some research into how to go about it correctly.

 

[Guppygulp]

Betta domestic violance

My male betta is an ***. He is chasing my female betta off all the food. I'm moving her into my 10 gallon male guppie holding tank but I will have to make some adjustments for temp to keep her happy. He is a harasser and a bully. I'll be moving him into a self contained 5 gallon globe aquarium / fountain. She will be getting the company of some young female betas like herself and the cushy 10 gallon. I agree that housing any other fish with a male is bad. Very very bad. Not my brightest move.on the crayola color wheel of brightness I scored white. Lesson learned.

 

[DavidAl]

She tried to put my tiny neon tetra in while I was gone but the male ate it; much to her surprise.

I am not surprised...

David

 

[Coursair]

My male betta is an ***. He is chasing my female betta off all the food. I'm moving her into my 10 gallon male guppie holding tank but I will have to make some adjustments for temp to keep her happy. He is a harasser and a bully. I'll be moving him into a self contained 5 gallon globe aquarium / fountain. She will be getting the company of some young female betas like herself and the cushy 10 gallon. I agree that housing any other fish with a male is bad. Very very bad. Not my brightest move.on the crayola color wheel of brightness I scored white. Lesson learned.

Bettas don't live together in the wild. They get together to breed and then split.

Don't throw strange females together either. That can also end VERY badly. A Sorority Tank is a group of females raised together from babies, often actual sisters.

Research before putting any Bettas together.

Your Bettas are acting normal. House them correctly and your male will be a happy king of his tank.