# Two male bettas in same tank. Is it possible?



## mattdocs12345 (Oct 13, 2014)

I know it is a big no no. But in nature bettas dont have their own tank and they do fight for their own territory and then the other betta retreats. Also I read that some bettas in bigger community tanks sequester themselves to one corner and dont venture out while protecting their corner from other fish.
Question... did anyone manage to set up two bettas in one tank to claim their own portion of the tank? I assume it would have to be a large custom made tank perhaps 40-60 gallons. But it would be interesting to have someone post a video of natural behavior. In such bettas flare up then retreat and eastblis their territory I assume.


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## Ilovebettasbk11 (Nov 12, 2013)

No not possible at all


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## kjg1029 (Jun 14, 2014)

my guess is that it would work with a wild type of betta, but not bettas like at the pet store. Of course the tank would have to be HEAVILY planted with tons of hiding/get away spots. But I'm in no way saying it would definatly work at all.


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## Reccka (Jul 20, 2014)

I believe I've only ever heard of it "working" in a very heavily planted 75 gallon. How long that lasted, who knows? It might've even been a bigger tank than that.


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## Tolak (Nov 13, 2012)

Sure it's possible, but not economical, or pretty.


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## StrangeDejavu (May 1, 2014)

Betta splendens: No.
Betta imbellis: Yes.

As long as there's enough territory for each betta to stake out and retreat to if need be, multiple Betta imbellis (even multiple males) can be kept in the same aquarium.


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

mattdocs12345 said:


> I know it is a big no no. *But in nature* bettas dont have their own tank and they do fight for their own territory and then the other betta retreats. Also I read that some bettas in bigger community tanks sequester themselves to one corner and dont venture out while protecting their corner from other fish.
> Question... did anyone manage to set up two bettas in one tank to claim their own portion of the tank? I assume it would have to be a large custom made tank perhaps 40-60 gallons. But it would be interesting to have someone post a video of natural behavior. In such bettas flare up then retreat and eastblis their territory I assume.


Betta spledids (you double,delta,halfmoon,plakat,rose,buteterfly,crown etc etc etc tail types are NOT the wild bettas that share same water sources. They're bred for many hundreds of generations by man to be much more aggressive than their wild originals to be sued for betta fights. There si no way you can put to males together (except true wild type breeds, not the ones I listed above) in the same tank with no barrier, someone will be killed.


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## Tolak (Nov 13, 2012)

Yes you can, as stated, not pretty, or cheap.


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## kevinap2 (Apr 3, 2014)

If you have a large tank (probably more than 40-60 gallons), and it is planted heavily, yes it would probably work.

However, I would categorize this as one of those "Here, hold my beer and watch this!" moments. It'll probably work, but not a good idea.


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## Tolak (Nov 13, 2012)

Oh it'll work, but you could house a lot more than 2 bettas for the cost doing it in a more conventional method. Plus your friends would be laughing at you too much to hold your beer.


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## mattdocs12345 (Oct 13, 2014)

Aqua Aurora said:


> Betta spledids (you double,delta,halfmoon,plakat,rose,buteterfly,crown etc etc etc tail types are NOT the wild bettas that share same water sources. They're bred for many hundreds of generations by man to be much more aggressive than their wild originals to be sued for betta fights. There si no way you can put to males together (except true wild type breeds, not the ones I listed above) in the same tank with no barrier, someone will be killed.


Thank you for explaining this in a more logical way.


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## Tolak (Nov 13, 2012)

Name me a breeder of ornamental bettas who states that aggression is a trait they are breeding for.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Show breeders want a degree of aggression because fish need to deport properly during shows. A male lacking aggression is not going to flare and thus is going to show poorly. 

Also I feel a reasonable level of aggression is needed for spawning. My females like very much to test the strength and breeding fitness of their males. A weak or docile male is probably not going to defend his nest or fry as well as a more aggressive individual.


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## Tolak (Nov 13, 2012)

Sure you'd want the temperament that goes with the species, this should be the goal of any breeding program. Do you really try to choose the ones with the most aggression?


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Bettas simply are aggressive. It's their nature. My wilds aren't even from the splendens complex and they will still attack and kill on occasion. My most aggressive fish right now is a female who one day out of the blue killed her male partner, and is only kept in check by the aggressiveness of her two adult sons that she regularly spawns with. 

I don't selectively breed for anything in my fish apart from removing fish from the gene pool that are poor parents (egg eating for example) or fish that have physical deformities so I can't answer your question there. 

But I would think most of the serious show breeders would be selecting for a healthy level of aggression. You don't want fish so aggressive that it makes spawning impossible (I think breeding fighting dogs is difficult because of their extreme aggression), but you don't want a male that is so docile that they become a pushover.


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## Tolak (Nov 13, 2012)

Now see, that makes sense. You'll never breed the aggressive tendencies completely out of species that naturally have them, and as always certain individuals will end up being aggressive to the point of being nearly impossible to work with. As stated, eventually they may well become impossible to work with, which may be a good thing. The problem sort of solves itself. 

Proper behavior is called deportment, and I'm sure they pull points for a lazy betta, I wonder if they do the same for one that is just insane? I deal mostly with breeding angels, so aggression is part of it. To much is no good, as mentioned, they will take out their partner, as well as anything else nearby. While the proper attitude is expected, murderous violence isn't. It might be different for fighting fish, which is a whole different thing from ornamental, one I have no experience with.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Yes. You ideally want balance. A fish that is overly aggressive is probably going to have as limited capacity to reproduce as a fish that is not aggressive enough.

I'm not even sure how they breed actual fighting males. Perhaps the females are aggressive enough themselves that they can handle a rough courtship process. 

So as to not go too far off topic, in answer to the question in the OP, it is possible to house male bettas in the same tank. I have seen it done before. However, I personally don't like to try and tempt fate with these fish as they can be notoriously unpredictable. This question pops up periodically on this forum and it's usually only a small minority who will condone keeping more than one male in a tank.


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## Tolak (Nov 13, 2012)

I've seen it done, but as always there's bound to be someone who wants to short cut it. Knowing how people can be I'm hesitant to go into details. Rube Goldberg comes to mind with the setup.


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

Its possible with younger males too. Or a young male (normally bought by someone as a female) in a tank with an older male, if the youngster will submit. Thats how there can be debate to whether one or two of my girls are males. Its not advisable though. Mine are kept in a 20long, moderately (verging on heavily) planted and I am sure they are girls. But it is possible they could be male I guess. Behaviour varies greatly from fish to fish. I woild not recommend purposely trying for two males in an undivided tank. As it is highly unlikely to work. From talking to a local breeder he has had a few males (siblings) who never needed seperating but theu were unusual.

As for deportment above, yes there is a mark down for never relaxing and always flaring and being over agressive, the male should actively defend his territory, but with no theat present should show interest in his surroundings but not continue flaring at all and sundry.


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## SiameseFightingArt (Jun 17, 2014)

Domesticated Betta Fish are more aggressive than a wild betta


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## Tolak (Nov 13, 2012)

SiameseFightingArt said:


> Domesticated Betta Fish are more aggressive than a wild betta


Is this in reference to B. splendens, or other betta species?


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## SiameseFightingArt (Jun 17, 2014)

Tolak said:


> Is this in reference to B. splendens, or other betta species?


Betta splendens


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## Tolak (Nov 13, 2012)

Let me know if you have a source of documented F0 or F1 splendens, I know folks who would be way interested. Looking into the original question, an excellent article by Matt Pederden; http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2014...-tell-us-about-minimum-tank-sizes-for-bettas/


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## SiameseFightingArt (Jun 17, 2014)

I remember reading an article on the subject a little back and it included a small video. It included the name of a scientist who tried to create domesticated bettas from wild bettas. I will look for the article.


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

Was it OldFishLady who spent many years breeding the aggression out of her male splendens, and kept several in a large, heavily-planted tank?


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I think you can't make blanket statements about the aggression of wild bettas versus domesticated bettas as I think it really depends on the individual. I have never kept wild splendens but I know some people who keep theirs in breeding pairs, while others wouldn't dare due to the aggression of their male. Same with related species such as smaragdina, imbellis, mahachai etc. 

My stiktos pair shared a 5 gallon tank and they were the gentlest pair I've ever seen. This is a species from the splendens complex and yet the male was less aggressive than most of the males I keep now from another complex. 

In _general_, splendens complex wilds are less aggressive than domestics, but aggression level do vary wildly between individuals. 

Hallyx that was OFL. I think though I remember reading about issues with spawning when males were too docile. I just can't remember what thread it was in.


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