can i keep a male and female Betta?

BettaFishMommy said:
when fish feel good their bodies and tiny brains say "spawn!", lol, to put it as simply as possible. this does not mean that they 'have' to spawn, however.
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I get told this on a nightly basis! :(
 
Yeah! In separate tanks! Even when breeding them, they are kept separate until both are ready, and then they are only together for a limited and supervised amount of time.
 
Ok, unless you have a 75G heavily planted or bigger tank, the answer is NO!, but if you have a large planted tank, you are fine. I do suggest 3 females to one male in the big tank, so that the male does not have just one target, if he does come across the females.
You did not say what size tank you have. So, it does matter. :^)
 
Well I'm the only one to say this but I have 2 males and 1 female in a heavy planted 75. The males each stay on either end and the female just swims around. I must admit that this was not planned, one male jumped out of its 2.5 gal tank and filp flopped into the 75, with all of the plants, rocks and wood in the way I could not catch him. I have alot of fish with them and everybody gets along fine. Guess I'm lucky. Also note there are no torn fins on the bettas or the guppies. I have about 25 corys and I feed heavy, so far so good.
 
Well, of course there are exceptions. In very large tanks with a lot of decor, you could conveivably get away with it. You also have to consider the temperaments of the fish and what other species are in there. However, 99.9% of the time it is not possible to keep males and females together or males with other males, or males with other fish. And most of the time, females need plenty of their own space to live with each other or with a community.
 
In the wild multiple MALES will share the same water... difference is- the loser of a fight has room to retreat before he is killed- in captivity in a smaller tank there is no room for retreat so the winner thinks the loser is being a cheeky little so and so for not leaving his territory and kills him.

I'm sure the two males in your 75 gallon have had their fight regardless of whether you've witnessed it... they've determined who is top-fish and the winner has accepted that the loser is far enough away from his territory now. Surprised they don't still fight though from time to time- and that 75 gallon is big enough for the both of 'em.
 
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