# How to "introduce" a male beta to a female?



## OVT

I'm relatively new to betas: I have one male living happily for ~ 6 months in a nano tank with black neons, cories, ottos, and fiddler crabs. In another tank I have a young female that have been there for about 2 weeks with black mollies, cories, and ottos. The smart me, I get a gorgeous bright red half-moon male 2 days ago and add it to the tank. I watch both betas for ~20 mins and everything seems to be fine.

Today, I find the male beta, his fins pretty messed up, sitting on the gravel in a corner, with the female beta sort of circling above (I did put the poor guy into a "beta tank" I inherited with a small flower pot and a water wisteria and some pond salt).

How does one keep a male and female(s) beta in the same tank? Is there some special protocol of introducing one to the other? If I were a female beta I would be swooning over that guy 

Thanks.


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## cbwmn

The only time you can keep a male and female betta together is when they are spawning 
Charles


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## HeyPK

The female should be introduced to the male in a fairly large tank with plant cover where the female can hide if the male gets overly aggressive. The female should be gravid, the male, healthy, and the temperature should be 80 degrees F. Things may seem to be going badly at first with the male being aggressive, but wait at least for a full day to see if they are going to breed. The male should start to build the bubble nest, if he didn't have one when the female was introduced.


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## OVT

Got it. I obviously did it the other way around . Sounded like a good idea at the time. Live and learn.
Thanks for the info


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## Franco

You can also do a harem of females with like 4 females and 1 male in a large tank so that if he does pester them, it is divided up among the 4 instead of on 1. Female bettas can still be mean though and kick the crap out of a male if not properly introduced.
Back when I used to breed bettas like crazy in my dorm room I used a method similar to this one 1/3 of the way down this page.
http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Betta, Betta Breeding 2010.htm
The hurricane lamp chimney is an old trick used by Asian betta breeders.


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## OVT

Thank you, Franco, that's a useful reference. I was talking to a sales person at an LFS and she was lamenting about lack of "community" female betas. I understood them to be betas raised together. Some years ago I saw a mini tank at another LFS that had 4-5 females betas in it together. So much for my idea of keeping a harem with one male. I need to do some research first.
Thanks a lot again.


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## Franco

breeding bettas can be a PITA but some people get lucky and will have them live together and reproduce just fine in community tanks. It is definitely the exception and not the rule.


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## Diana K

Female Bettas often will live together in a community tank with other species. Once in a while you will find a female that is as aggressive as most males and attacks the other Bettas, or even the other fish. 

Males are usually the ones that are territorial, and will defend the area of their nest (all of a small tank) against any other Bettas, male or female, and against other surface dwelling fish such as Gouramis. Often they are OK with fish that swim lower in the tank. 

The only time most males will accept a female is when they are both ready to breed. Otherwise she is just another intruder to be driven off. This may work the other way if the female is one of the more aggressive ones. If she is not ready to breed, or does not like the male she might attack and even kill him. 

Much safer to house the 2 separately and introduce them when both are ready to breed. The hurricane lamp chimney method is safe for both fish, and you can assess if they seem to be interested in each other, or if they are acting aggressive through the glass you know not to lift the glass!

In nature Betta males and females live apart unless they are ready to breed. It would take a large, well planted tank to provide territory and hiding places to house a mixed group.


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