Betta fish

[Linhdan Nguyen]

So my roommate has a Betta fish, Jeffrey. Hes been blowing bubbles and she wanted to give him a female to mate with. She searched and the web said females with 1 male is fine. We end up buying 2. But the male keeps flaring his gills and almost nipping at the females. I thought it was strange so I googled and saw that mating can be violent and Betta should be kept separate regardless of sex since males can bully and bite females, but I've also seen the opposite recommendations.
Any ideas?
Could the bowl be small? Its probably 10" in diameter.
If they really should be separate, any ideas on ways to separate them (display wise)? We were thinking of getting a 20 gal tank or so and putting dividers in.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Betas will breed in a bowl.
Take the females out right after they've laid the eggs in the nest. The male will take care of the eggs.
He will kill the female. He'll also eat the babies when they hatch so be prepared to catch them and give them each their own bowl.
Multiple females can live together but males are solitary

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

How does a male take care of the eggs?
Is it possible to scoop the eggs out once they're laid?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I had one male and 7 females in a 360 gallon pond outside. Originally intended to take care of mosquitos.
There ended up being absolutely hundreds of bettas. The males can only be told apart when their fins get long.
My wife spent hours every day scooping out males lying in the dirt with a net in one hand.
We ended up with a house full of bowls and cups and divided aquariums and everyone we knew had a few.
I eventually sold them all to an aquarium fish store. 117 in one day. One dollar each.
I never want to see another one.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

How does a male take care of the eggs?
Is it possible to scoop the eggs out once they're laid?

He repairs and defends the bubble nest.
Leave the eggs alone. It may be easier to just remove the male when they start to hatch and leave the babies alone.
You'll need some baby fish food. It looks like dust.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

A lot of folks will whine about keeping bettas in small bowls.
Fact is that they like water with no movement and in the wild can live their lives in a hoof print filled with water.
I keep fish and I agree NO SMALL BOWLS for most fish...like Goldfish.
But Bettas are special.
I've had much less success in larger, filtered tanks with current flowing. Much less. It seems to stress them.
A quart to half gallon sized bowl with water changed once a week will do great for lone males.
Females can be kept in a 10 gallon tank together will a water diverter to stop any hard water flow.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Also, males kept close enough that they can see each other through the glass will spend all day flaring and flashing each other.
Use a sight barrier. It is very stressful.

 

[dmmj]

everything you want to know about betta fishes but was afraid to ask.

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

everything you want to know about betta fishes but was afraid to ask.

Yup! Thanks Zero ! This was really helpful. I was wondering why all Betta tanks were so small. And i also thought "why would you keep it in such a small tank?!"

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Some pet shops have them in truly tiny cups.
That's out of convenience I'm sure.

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

Some pet shops have them in truly tiny cups.
That's out of convenience I'm sure.

Yes ! Im sure also

 

[ZEROPILOT]

The last two males from that ordeal...

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

Is the find on the blue one suppose to be like that

 

[surfergirl]

I breed them twice first time had 1 female baby survive. the next time I had 234 bowls lol! something I would not do again. feeding them baby food in 234 bowls lol. it was a very demanding task. they are easy fish - live in rice patties so in a shallow bowl is where they are happy. mine lived long lives for bettys in 24 ounces of water. weekly water changes which were easy with just 24 ounces.

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

That sounds tragic. I dont think were going to breed ours anymore. After 1 day, the females look so raggedy

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Is the find on the blue one suppose to be like that

It's a random mutation. The original male was like that.
It's called a Crown tail.

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

It's a random mutation. The original male was like that.
It's called a Crown tail.

I saw a rose petal one at petsmart. It was beautiful!

 

[dmmj]

a question I've always wanted to ask do they bite?

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

Honestly, I've never seen teeth.
But i don't put my fingers in either. Their mouths aren't that big though.

 

[Pearly]

I love bettas!!!! I would totally have planted betta tanks all over my house if I could