2 Male Bettas with divider....

[kalima117]

Hi-
I have a couple of questions and am hoping someone will be able to assist me. I have a small tank, 2 1/2 gallons, which has a divider. I originally had one male Betta, and today I set up the divider and added a second male Betta. It has only been a couple of hours, but all they have done is swim around one corner of it making threats at each other through the divider, puffing up etc. I know that males do not get along, and I sort of expected this behavior when they "happened" to be near the divider. I did not expect the obsessive behavior of staying near the divider without giving up.
So my questions are the following. Is it likely that this behavior will diminish and they will go about their lives, as they dont seem particularly happy now? And second, is this behavior for extended periods of time too stressful or harmful to them?
I like to be able to use this tank with the divider as I can see them both, however I do not want to harm my fish.
Looking forward to receiving some advice.

Anna

[William]

I don't think the constant flaring will hurt the Betta as long as you keep good water quality and your fish well (not over) fed.

[rollie]

they will flar, at each others most of the time!!

[kalima117]

Thank you for your advice!
I have found a "happy medium" by positioning plants along the partition, allowing some view but not constant view of each other. Now they flare up at each other when they swim by the same spot at the same time, or get a glimpse of each other through the plants, but at least by obstructing their view a little they do swim around and don't obsess about each other. They seem happy.

WILLIAM: Regarding feeding, or overfeeding, I have read on some foods that they should eat a few times a day, others say once a day, while yet others say once a week! I have been feeding them 3 times a day a few freeze dried or frozen bloodworms each. They do not like TetraMin Flakes or any type of pellets. Is this an acceptable diet and is this enough or too much food?
Thanks!

[NorthernBoy]

Kalima as far as the betta behavior I have read somewhere(i'm looking for the article for you) that said that most fish have a very short memory. So...swim for a second...see other betta..puff...swim..see other betta...etc. I wouldn't worry about the fish unless you notice them becomming 'physically' harmed. i.e. high stress leads to disease. As william said water quality is key. Maybe try taking out the divider and sanding it with some really fine material to artificially frost the glass or plasic possibly in your cas with such a small tank. This may help with plants to help "seperate" the tanks. As for feeding. Try feeding insect larve. Mosquito larve is great for bettas as the are engineered to eat mostly meat. Don't let someone talk you into buying a peace lily either as bettas will eat vegetables but it is neither healthy long term or part of their natural habitat. Remember the are from rice paddy's in places like vietnam. Another thing I found helpful with my betta was no added oxygen. They are used to minimal oxygen levels and their little mouths are upturned to gather oxygen(and food) from the surface. Hope this helps some and sorry so long winded.

[NorthernBoy]

I stand corrected about fish memory. Read this link to find out how wrong I am. Hope it is ok William to post this link here. If mot I am sorry.

Article is titled Machiavellian fish and credit goes to;
'Fish and Fisheries' journal, 2003, 4, 235-246 - Lucy Odling-Smee and Victoria A Braithwaite, University of Edinburgh


http://www.hero.ac.uk/uk/research/archives/2003/machiavellian_fish5361.cfm

[William]

Yes, it's okey to post the link here. I donät mind postinf informational links. Its promotional posts I object to.

kalima117: I think that feeding strategy is ok.

[jnmrcs]

I 'trained' my betta. So when I gave him some signal he goes up because it's feeding time. (or at least I though he is 'trained'). So far it's working.

Anyway I feed my betta twice a day. But I read that this is deppending on your betta; the age, the size and his actions (how active is his day). The important thing it's to observe his stomach so it isn't like to blow. (Sorry can't remember where I read it)

[rollie]

sure he don"t have you train.lol

[jnmrcs]

Who knows? :?

[kalima117]

Hi Guys!
Thank you for all the input and the great link! Upon observing the guys, I have to agree that it seems they do not have such short memories, or at least have some ability to learn.
As I updated above, I put some plants on the divider to prevent the "open view" of each other. It does not block their view of each other completely but they are not in each other's face. This reduced the "obsessive" behavior of staying in one spot and menacing each other. However, I have noticed the following: The original Betta has decided to ignore the other one for the most part. When the other comes up to the divider and threatens him, he simply turns his back and swims away. He is not timid about approaching the divider but seems not to find it too exciting to do the same thing all the time. The new Betta is still more interested in acting out, but the fact that he is ignored leaves him little choice but to find other things to do with his time (like making some sort of bubbles in bunches???). To me this seems to indicate that they not only have different personalities and temperaments, but that they have become accustomed to each other's presence, and I suppose that could not happen if their memories were so short they thought each time they met was the first time.

Quite interesting to observe. This is a great forum and I learned a lot not only from your great responses but also from reading other threads of discussion.
Thank you! I am feeling more confident about caring for them and how to monitor what is good for them and what is not.

:o)

[rollie]

the one blowing bubble is making a bubble nest. he want a female for to have babys!!

[kalima117]

Babies huh? Is it mandatory that he get a female to have babies or will he be fine without the procreation experience? Too difficult for me to handle breeding I think and what would I do with all those fish anyway?
They are interesting fish!

Does anyone here breed them? If so how complicated it is? How many do they have? What do you do with them all, especially if there are many males born?

[rollie]

you do not need to get him a female. he will be fine. i had spawn alot of them over the years. they are not that hard to spawn. there is some infor on this site somewhere about spawning them. i think it on the home page, not sure. can have a few or the alot of youngs.

[kalima117]

OK, so no female! Whew!

I have one new question for all you Betta experts. I noticed the new male Betta got two small holes on his tail and on his bottom fin. Upon looking at him later in the day I saw that his tail had "forked". But I do have a doubt that perhaps it was always so and I somehow had not noticed...though I am confident this happened today. Could this have happened from him brushing up against the plastic plants? Or is there something potentially wrong? Or could the flaring up have something to do with it? Or are there Bettas with such tails?

[rollie]

could be from birth. they spawn them by the millions for the pet trade. i get them with one eye, halp the tail. one came in one times he could not shut his mouth. but he live for almost 2 years.

[I_smell_fish]

Keeping bettas in spaces where they can see each other constantly or even very frequently is just plain cruel. They are constantly tense and expecting to fight for their life any second. How would you like to live like that? And it is a myth that fish have very short memories and do not remember just having seen another fish. Notice how fish always know what part of the tank to gather when it is feeding time? They remember where they always eat, and they can remember much longer than one day. I had a fish returned to me after a month and he still remembered to go to the right corner of the tank and stick his head out of the water and take the food from my fingers.

[Slaphppy7]

Thread is over a decade old, now closed.