Is mine a male or a female?

[lahlumdi]

I am a newbie to aquariums. I bought a Betta fish about 10 days ago and I assumed because it had nice colorful fins that it was a male. Now a guest came to my house tonight who has had 4 Bettas in her lifetime. She told me she thinks it is a female, because there are two long fins dangling in the front under her chin area (ok, so I don't know fish anatomy).

AND... on top of it, she told me my fish is UGLY.

Honestly, I like watching this fish swim around. But I am curious as to how I can tell if it is a male or a female??

You can see the photo of her.

[Futureboy]

Its Male

female bettas have short fins

[Spyder]

Wow, with friends like that who needs enemies.

It is a male and he is very nice looking.

[Nick_Pavlovski]

I thought it was a male, and I don't see why it's ugly.
Nice looking fins, good face, good colouration...

[Lady Hobbs]

Male. Females don't have the long flowing fins.

[lahlumdi]

Thanks for the responses! Sure helps. I thought he was kind of nice too. I called him Data because I'm a Star Trek fan and it was the first thing that came to my head. He seems to cock his head like Data does too.

So... you can see that I have 5 corys and 11 neons. What else might be nice to round out my aquarium? Should I try to find 2 female betas if I can? I don't intend to breed them. I'm not sure if they are even available.

I thought of two kissing gouramis, but the shop where I found them doesn't seem very clean and I'm reticent to buy fish there. Also not sure how compatible it will be with my beta.

I've thought about so many options... This WILL be my only tank for awhile. Maybe a couple of rasporas? I would like something bigger than the neons... certainly more lively. The betta and neons are pretty, but pretty subdued. And I'm pretty sure I still have room to add more "inches."

[Futureboy]

You might need a slightly larger tank because ive been told it needs to be pretty densly (excuse spelling) planted for the females to get away from the male

but im not sure i dont keep bettas so it was probably no help

its a nicely coloured fish btw

[Lady Hobbs]

Males and females can not be kept together. Nor males kept together but females can.

If you wish to breed them, they can only be together for a very short time or one will be killed.

[lahlumdi]

So funny... all the info out there. I was recently told that it is nice for a Betta to have 2 females to divide his attention between. I often find conflicting information about compatibility of fish. I just read in a book I got that a newbie should NEVER have a Betta. And don't do it to them to put them in a community tank. So sorry, Data, I thought. You're stuck with me now. On top of it all... I think he likes me. Hmmmm

[Futureboy]

Lol bettas seem to like anyone who feeds them

[lahlumdi]

"Il est gourmand, lui!" Ah, the French. They know how to say it when someone loves food. Never realized that Bettas were like that. Goes along with the other males in my house. My mother-in-law used to say she thought my husband would get frostbite when he was a kid - he always had his nose in the fridge. Our son is the same way. Now the Betta. Guess it's good I'm a nurturer.:l21:

[radiant sea snail]

I don't know much about community tanks, but bettas can have tank mates. It depends on the betta (if he's aggressive), but it has been done successfully.

And he is a pretty betta.

[radiant sea snail]

I tried to pm you but it says you've chosen not to receive them. Anyway, check out [Only Registered Users Can See Links.] for some more info.

[lahlumdi]

Hi Radiant Sea Snail! Thanks for loving my Betta and for the assurance. I bought mine in particular because he was kept in the same tank at the pet shop with the 11 neons that I bought. I figured it he was peaceable with them there, he would be at my house too. I had visited the shop over several weeks and he was in there with them for that whole time. So hey, it works. Thanks for the additional link, too!