Betta experiment over

[dralarms]

after 3 days with 3 male Betta's in a 55 gal tank with lots of females the experiment is a complete failure. Betta 1, pearl Betta. Just kinda hung around 1 corner and did nothing. Betta 2, Green with red highlights attacked everything in his path, Betta 3, attacked the pearl Betta. I did not let them fight, At the first sign of "arrgession" I scooped them up and put them back in their 1 gal containers.

 

[TankGirl]

Oh well, I am glad you watched closely and kept anything horrible from happening. I have heard of people doing this in large tanks, but I guess it depends on the fish. That would have been something if it had worked out!

 

[ferret]

You might have moved too quickly. Cichlids behave in the same manner. For several days after a new fish is added (or removed) they have aggression and fights while establishing territory. Bettas might be different tho. ;P

 

[freshwatergal]

I doubt that betta's are different.

 

[William]

Betta's need to have their own territories.


This is why its reccomended to have a plethora of hiding places for them, should they get a little over beaten, they will be a ble to retreat.

 

[dralarms]

I guess I'll just keep them in the 1 gal containers for now, 2 of them looked like they could handle the extra room but wanted to fight and the pearl acted like it was stressing (hiding in one corner).

 

[Christmasfish]

betta community

It IS possible, but maybe only among "littermates".
My grandfather had several male bettas in a heavily planted tanks. They were long and shallow and who knows how many gallons. Coffee table sized. He also had a good dozen females in a tank with some similar shaped tropicals. That was a fancier tank with more decorations and clear areas as well as plants. Fights and posturing would break out now and again. Rarely was there any severe injuries. Once in a while a newly introduced fish was either too belligerent or became a target. They got to live alone or go to a pond in the back yard.
Singles seemed unpredictable when introduced to natural settings. They flared quicker and brought up hostility levels. Some seemed to hate certain colors.
Even at present, our two blue females would prolly fight to the death. The one even displays at the blue male across from her all day til he showed a stress bar and we turned the tanks back to back. She ignored the red male on the other side.
I am going to try to duplicate some of his freshwater setups this summer, now that the fish bug has bit me hard.

 

[bettacove]

If they were raised together it would be differnent, they would most likely tolerate eachother.
I've done the same expirement, tho not on purpous! Last year I had a divided tank (forget what size) with 2 males. The one male kept jumping over the diveder and getting beat up, so I kept putting him back on the other side. Till finally I was like "FINE stay over there!" and I took the divider out. They lived together fine. They did not have there own 'territories' just went where ever. The one male did chase the other one away at feeding time tho.
Now and again one of my males will jump into another container. Usually by the time I see it they've already stoped fighting and are just sitting waiting for me to feed them

ashley

 

[tabitha]

and why would you not surprised? bettas are fighting fish.. they fight...

 

[dralarms]

Well duh. I figured I'd make a fool of everyone else and make mine get along. Actually it was just an experiment to see if they would still seek each other out and fight even in a tank as big as a 55 gal. BTW these fish we keep don't always act in the way they are supposed to.