# keeping male and females together?



## christiee (Dec 27, 2009)

hey all I'm new to the forum and was wondering if anyone had any experience or knowledge of thiss? i have a 75litre tank (converter said 19 gallons). is it suitable to keep a male in with 3 girls? theyve already been in with each other for less than a day but ive heard storys of girls tearing the males up??


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## BettaxFishxCrazy (Sep 5, 2009)

Males and females should never be in the same tank together unless it's divided or you're breeding them. Female sororities need to have at least 4 females because they can gang up and attack each other. And the tank needs to be heavily planted and lots of hiding places for them. If you have the male in with the females, separate them immediately until you can get a divider or another tank for him. Welcome to the forum.


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## lilyrazen (Oct 25, 2009)

Yeah, that's a recipe for disaster. They may seem fine at first but they will end up hurt.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I agree with BettaxFishxCrazy and lilyrazen. Keeping males and females together is not a good idea.


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## christiee (Dec 27, 2009)

oook it wasnt a good idea they like.. ate him  his in a little container hanging on the side now till i can find a divider for my other tank, i have a different tank i can house him in but if i put him in there he wouldnt have a filter or a heater so im not sure what to doo, would it be suitable to put a multi cure thing i have in their even if he doesnt look like he has any disease or fungus? it treats white spot, velvet and fungal diseases


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## Jupiter (Aug 30, 2009)

Males and females should NEVER be kept together, unless you're planning to breed.

You can get a small breeding trap and place him in the female's tank for now, until you can find him a suitable home. Treat him with clean water and aquarium salt.

Edit: You'll also need at least one more female, if you're planning on keeping them together.


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## damo2904 (Nov 16, 2009)

Your going to think im a maniac, but the other day I bought a male & may i add the most expensive male i've ever bought (£25!!!!!)....i think hes a half moon but he's quite small compared to my other males & most of the females for that matter. However, i have friends who keep both male & females together & theirs get on fine, i couldnt believe it!!! 
so i've put the new male in a 100litre tank with females & other compatible fish for betta's. It seems to be going fine, he's frollocking round, checking the females out & keeping himself to himself, the females aren't really that bothered by him, he looks like a girl anyway, i had the embarrassment at the aquarium shop, saw it & thought i have to get him, but I had to ask whether he was a boy or girl cause his fins are so short & i just couldn't tell!!! 
I'm watching it like a hawk mind you, but ive woken up this morning & neither him or the girls have any damage so i don't think there was any fights overnight. 

so far so good.......


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## BettaxFishxCrazy (Sep 5, 2009)

It really is a recipe for disaster. It might be fine one moment but they can all turn on each other. In the wild they aren't together all the time (just for mating purposes), so why would you put them together in a tank where they really can't escape if they turn on each other? In the wild the males rarely kill each other because once one has bullied the other, the defeded (sp?) one swims away. But in a tank, there's no where for them to swim away so they end up killing each other. Now, if you had a 190G or 200G, MAYBE they'd get along with each other because they would rarely see one another. Females can be more aggressive than males, so the females will more than likely attack the male. If I were you, I wouldn't wait for that to happen and I'd get him his own tank.


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## Jupiter (Aug 30, 2009)

Yep. One of my females jumped into the breeding net where my male was while I was away, completely shredded his fins. I wouldn't risk it.


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

I would never risk putting males and females together, no matter if it has "worked" with your friends. Eventually, something bad will happen. 

If you are going to keep the females together, make sure you have at least 4-5 in a 10 gallon tank. 
As far as the male, get him a 2-2.5 gallon tank for himself. I hope that helps!


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## damo2904 (Nov 16, 2009)

Well, he has been removed, no damage was done. But I'm going to get a new lil tank for him tomorrow.


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## BettaxFishxCrazy (Sep 5, 2009)

I'm glad you did. We weren't trying to be mean. I would hate for the females to turn on your gorgeous male and shred him or even kill him. I'm sure he'll be much happier by himself.


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