(more) betta questions :)

Rava

Rava

Betta Babe
Dec 26, 2002
223
0
16
CA
I'm interested in buying a female betta or two, 'cause I love our little male so much, so I need some info. First, can you house two females bettas together? Second, is a 2.5 gallon big enough for both of them? Is it okay not to have a filter too? My male betta has no filter (as I hate them), and he seems perfectly fine. I'm just wondering if I did have two females they would need a filter. What do you think? Thanks everybody! :)
 
Is the 2.5 for 2 females (I'd think that that was ok) or for a male/female pair?

I have a pair of pearl gourami that are spawning and he has gotten very aggressive. Gouramis are related to bettas and I'm assuming the spawning behavior is similar -- they are both bubblenesters. The pearls are supposed to be relatively calm and peaceful as anabantids go.

Before the spawning behavior started they strolled around the tank together. Now there are spawning incidents interspersed with wild full tank chases and some fairly vicious attacks. You'll want to be sure there is enough room for her to be able to evade and some cover where she can find refuge. I think a 2.5 may be too small if you're thinking about breeding. (I was not thinking about breeding -- this was their idea :rolleyes: ).
 
2 females are fine together, a 2.5 gallon may get a little tight without a filter. But if you use live plants and do frequent water changes(at least weekly) it may be okay.
As another poster pointed out do not put the male in with the females full time, only during breeding. And I would move the female to the male.
 
a 2.5 gal tank would be fine for two females, you'll love them, they've got so much character. they are fine to be kept together as well. if i was you i would at least get a small box air pump filter, as they're very cheap and do quite a good job.
 
Thank you, thank you! That was everything I needed, even some answers to questions I forgot to ask! :) I went and bought two baby bettas today. I assumed they were both females, as they were labelled such, but on the way home I began to wonder about my red one... :eek: So here's a dumb question... Do females flare? 'Cause if they don't, I'm really worried about my red one... lol See, if I'd watched them longer in the store I would've realized the red one was flaring at it's reflection in the bottom of the cup, but I only watched them long enough to be sure they were healthy... The red one has the stripes and everything though! Any other way to tell with a baby betta?! They're really tiny, so fin length won't count. I just set up the aquarium, so I won't put them in for a couple days anyway.
Oh! I hate filters because mine is noisy and keeps me up at night, and it also makes the tank more difficult and time consuming to clean. So I think I'm going to try this first time with no filter, as the "girls" are so tiny I don't think they'll make much mess anyway. :) Oh, and just in case, I was planning on housing two girls together, so no male/female pairs at all. So anyway, thanks again! Any help with sexing baby bettas would be much appreciated! :) Thanks!
 
I have seen aggresive females before. It could just be a more aggresive one or it could actually be a type of short tail male. I recently purchased two short tail versions and I love them. But if yours are real small then it could be hard to tell so maybe you could just try and put them together and see how it works out. Goodluck.
 
I think I'm just going to have to try putting them together, as there's no definite way to tell if one or both are actually males, without waiting until their big. If one or both of them are males I have to take them back, as I can't house two males obviously, and I really wanted two girls! So I'll let the aquarium sit another day or two then try putting them together. *wince* Wish me luck!
Thanks for all your help everyone, I really appreciate it! :)
 
Oh :D lol Thanks PinballQueen :)

Success!! Hurray! Put the (apparent) girls in their aquarium today, and nooo fighting! Whoo hoo! It's normal for one to be dominant though, right? 'Cause turns out my blue little girl (not my red one, who woulda thunk it?!), Elontra, is the dominant one. She sometimes chases Vitara away, but it's not anything that would stress either of them out. :) It's so cute though, 'cause both of them love staring at their reflections in the two little marbels I have on the bottom! lol Whenever I go over to check on them I chant "one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish...". lol Works perfectly! :)

Last night I was cleaning out my desk, and I looked up to find both girls staring at me... lol I love how interested they are whenever I come over to the tank. :) I just really love my fishies!
And they look sooo pretty in their aquarium! :) Thanks for all your help everyone, I'll let you know if anything changes. :)
 
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