Help, I bought two Female Bettas from pet store, But i think one of them is a male!!

[JasonMccartney]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum, been keeping fish for about 3 months now. I have a 60 litre tank. This tank contains 3 corys and five tetras. I also have a 12 litre tank where I have one male betta. I went to the pet shop to buy some female bettas for the big tank, I bought three. One was peach, one was red, and the other was what I thought was a female half moon betta, pinky peach, purple and blue. I thought she was very colourful for a female. When I got home and put them into the 60 litre tank i noticed the female half moon is nearly twice the size of the other two, and is very agressive. It flared at the females every time it came near them. I put the "female" into a breeding box now and "she" still flares every time a female comes over. I think perhaps I have mistakenly bought a male plakat? I cannot make out any ovipostor on the betta. I was hoping somebody would be able to help me identify. I'll try and put on some pictures.

Hope somebody can help!

Jason

 

[eduguy]

How to Determine the Gender of a Betta Fish: 5 steps

 

[Samzter]

That looks like a female to me. She might just be aggressive because she's getting used to new tank mates.

 

[Bettacrazy]

That looks like a female to me. She might just be aggressive because she's getting used to new tank mates.

yup i agree, I've had a female betta with even longer fins than that before.

 

[JasonMccartney]

Thanks!

It's just I can't find her egg spot at all, and when she flares her gills get really really big like the male one I have in the 12 litre. I didn't think females could flare like that!

 

[Russelmartin55]

How to Determine the Gender of a Betta Fish: 5 steps

Thanks for that eduguy!!!! I think it will be very helpful for me and for others!!!

 

[Kepo]

I have had some females you'd swear were hm plakat males when they flair out as well. Just a little advice, when you keep female bettas together, you have to remember, same rules apply in a chicken coop. There is a distinct pecking order where the most aggressive female will be the alpha, then down the line from there. When you keep betta females in small groups (2,3,4) they oftentimes they will be aggressive towards one another, however, if you bump the number of females up to 6 or more, you will see a lot less aggression.

Your fish looks like a female. It looks to me like a hm plakat female.
There are always those weird cases though. Just the other day I had a one year old female from my spawn transform into a full finned out male, trying to spawn with her sorority sisters now. Blew my mind.

 

[Tippytrampoline]

Thanks!

It's just I can't find her egg spot at all, and when she flares her gills get really really big like the male one I have in the 12 litre. I didn't think females could flare like that!

When I first got my female her ovipositor wasn't visible either, most likely due to the stress at the store coupled with the move to a new home. After a week or so, when she was more comfortable, her ovipositor became visible. Maybe she just needs some time to adjust?

 

[JasonMccartney]

Thanks everyone for the feedback! She is settling in well now, although she definitely the alpha female of the pack!