I have a 65G Med planted tank. 1 male betta and random other community fish. Its not overstocked... Anyway Im thinking of adding a female betta and if it works i was planning on adding a small amount maybe 4 or 5 to the mix. he would of course be the only one however ive been reading several people stating they have more then one male in a large tank. I dont know im not trying that lol. Anyhow The betta in the tank Is the most harmless fish i own. Only time i see him flare is when i add a new fish. He seems to go in there face and in fish world i can almost assume he is telling them they rules then he never bothers another again LOL. I have guppies and guppie fry that have survived to adulthood with no issues. neon tetras nothing... he is fine... So what do you think about the Female issue. I assume they wont Mate but if they do then i have to set up another tank (ohhh Nooo lol) I have several in storage just need a reason LOL. anyway thanks for the help!

I'm not sure but I bet ya Bev will have an answer for you.

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

well.. I went ahead and Bought a female Betta. 99Cents at Petsmart.. I also set up a small 5G incase of emergency.. I added the Female to the tank half expecting a showdown so i was prepaird for the worst...However My Male betta is acting realllly strange now. The moment i placed the bag to adjust water accordingly. the male rushed the bag no flaring at all he rubbed up and down the bag. Instead of his Normal movement he began wagging his hole body almost as if he was like "This is the best present you've ever givin me" lol. Its odd he isn't aggressive with her at all.. Nor is she. but they havent really left each others side since entering.. they just seem to rub all over each other... Maybe i should of done this years ago? maybe this is a sign of bad things i have no idea.. But he does not like other fish around her tho... thats a new one for me... he seems to chase anything away from her kinda weird. i dont know i will see how it goes.. if nothing else i have a new betta and itll go in the other tank if its a bad match.

Be very careful you are playing with dynamite.He will be affectionate for awhile and then either in trying to woo her,or after they spawn you can have a very bloody battle before you.Or 100 fish that you are not prepared to feed or house.

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"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

well. I have another tank set up incase of a fight. If he makes a bubble nest ill figure something out. but at the moment they seem to just have fun swimming with the guppies. hopefully they will stay that way

Just as a heads up if they spawn.You will need individual containers for every male that comes from that spawn,and that can indeed be all of them.Fry foods need to be cultured,or they will starve to death.Fry tanks need waterchanges daily or you will have an outbreak of diseases,or small deformed fish.

Oh and the male will need to be pulled once the fry swim on their own,which is a few days after spawning takes place.

Are you sure you are prepared for this just in case?


Guppy and betta fry are two totally different ballgames.

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"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

I dont believe ill be letting them spawn. If i see the nest Or any other signs ill remove the fish. But wouldnt the other fish Just eat the eggs?

If the male is a good enough father,he will not let the others eat them.In the wild,the male takes sole responsibility of the fry until they are big enough to care for themselves.Meaning,he is willing to fight for them until he dies,or chases off the persuer.In this case,they dont have very far to go.Though it is indeed a large tank,bettas are used to very large territories.Therefore there is still the chance he will feel his young are threatened.If the ones trying to eat the eggs will not leave he will kill them.

All this is stressfull.

he will first try to spawn,which takes energy.Then once he does spawn he will not only protect the nest but also has to move the eggs about to prevent fungus.This takes a lot out of them.Then once hatched he has to keep them in the nest,as they will start to fall with the wiggling.So basically he will do this

Swim,flare,dance,flare,chase female off,build nest,find female dance,flare and repeat this.Once she spawns,he will be chasing fish away,picking up eggs,moving them about,pick them up move them about,chase fish of,move eggs,chase fish.Once they hatch,he will be moving fry,picking them up,chasing fish,picking fry up,chasing fish.

very little time to rest.This will wear him out and he could not recover.Breeders feed their fish well for two weeks prior to spawning becaus eof all the ebnergy they use up.Normal lifespan of a healthy male betta never bred is six years in captivity.A breeder male just over two,if hes a good breeder.Thats with him being fed the highest quality live and frozen foods.

See why its strongly advised against?

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"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

okay, Well ill make sure he doesnt breed then. ill remove the female once i see a single sign. I have another tank set up just waiting for her if this happens. I also have yet another tank for him if need be. he is around 2 years old now. so we will see.. Ive been keeping a close eye on them she stays on the left side of the tank n him on the right, after the first day it seems they have lost interest in eachother so who knows. thanks for the Help tho!

So how did this turn out? Still have both bettas in the same tank? I wanted to do the same thing but I know I wouldnt be able to get another tank setup right now if it didnt go well so I didnt do it.

Yea actually they are still fine together, No nests have been made. the first day or two was a bit of a chase but that has all but stoped. they seem to hang alot together but nothing else. Just seems all good n dandy Hope it works out for ya