Do Females Make Bubblenests?

[s72450]

I bought a female betta from Wal-Mart, mostly because she was the only one alive in a sea of those little cups and I felt so bad for her. She's not very pretty in the least, but I can't resist them.

Anyway, she's fairly large so I'm thinking she's a bit older than the normal females I get from PetCo, but tonight I noticed how she'd made a bubblenest in her tank.

Is she a he?

[Mvjnz]

Females do occasionally make bubblenests, but sometimes short finned males are sold as females in pet stores. You could try putting her near a male and see how she reacts.

[zx42]

It might be a king betta. Is he or she aggressive? Maybe a picture might help :ssmile:

[s72450]

I was noticing how much she/he flared at me today. I mean I've seen females flare, but her "beard" or whatever was huge, like a male. She/He does look more like a short finned male.

You can decide I suppose.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f220/s72450/100_1768.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f220/s72450/100_1769.jpg
I'm sorry about the picture quality, I'm not that skilled.

[Mvjnz]

Could go either way. You can't sex a fish from a photo, only way to know for sure is if she lays eggs.

[invadertoast]

Looks alot like my plakat, which I also bought as a female and turned out to be male. Never seen a female with that coloring, but it's common in plakats. Can you see an egg tube? The body shape looks a little robust, now that my plakat is larger its very easy to see that he's a boy as his body shape is totally different from my females. Mine was also VERY fiesty and flared at everything in site. You'll know once (s)he grows a little larger.

I'm not saying (s)he's 100% male, but I've had a similar experience and that's my .02

Edit: Just wanted to say, if it is a plakat - congrats! Mine quickly became my favorite fish, and I've never seen another one for sale anywhere, they're hard to come by in pet stores... at least around here.

[Mvjnz]

I forgot to say I also think it looks like a plakat male, but there is no way to be 100% certain of gender. Even if you see an egg tube, these are so commonly seen in males that it's nothing to go by.

[s72450]

I'm not really familiar with plakats, do they need a certain type of care?

[invadertoast]

I'm not really familiar with plakats, do they need a certain type of care?

Nope, they're just a variation of betta splendens. Closest to the wild variety. I find their personalities to be a bit more scatterbrained than the crowntails and veiltals I've had over the years. I love my plakat, he's awesome!

[Mvjnz]

They also say plakats are more aggressive than VT's and CT's, but I haven't had any myself.

[s72450]

I would definatly say this little guy/girl is fairly aggressive. I was just sitting there and noticed him/her nearly knocking the side of the tank to get to me.