# Did anybody ever put two Siamese Fighting males together?



## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

It is pretty obvious that they would fight if put together but do they always do it? What actually happens...do they kill eachother?

When visiting a petstore recently I noticed that they had two males in the same tank and they were not bothering eachother. The tank was probably close to 100 gallons.

Any info on this?

Thanks


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## raven_wilde (Nov 16, 2005)

I've never put two males in together as I really really can't stand to watch fish beat eachother up... eating feeder fish that are much smaller is one thing for me to have to watch, it's like chomp, and it's over, even kinda cool- but with two fish that are evenly matched it's a really horrible thing to watch....

But anyway, I have however watched three female bettas totally rip into eachother before I could seperate them... and it was vicious. This happened in a ten gallon so space probably had something to do with it... so I can attest to the cruelty of these liittle fish.

If you want to watch some siamese killing eachother rent _From Russia With Love_, there's some good footage of two male bettas ripping eachother to pieces... anyway, I'm pretty sure it was FRWL, you know, there's that scene with Blowfeld? Am I right?


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## acbaldwin (Nov 3, 2005)

From what I understand, you can keep a couple of males in the same tank, but it would have to be pretty big (prob 80+ gallons). Even then, there's obviously no guarantee. Females, on the other hand, are supposedly comfortable in groups.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Raven, I just came across an interesting bit of info. Apparently some of the fish being sold as females are actually the shorter finned round tale males. I guess it's very common for some of the chain stores to do that.

I had one that just ripped into a male in a larger tank and it always baffled me until I heard about that. I'm sure it was one of the short tailed males.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Jan...I've seen some of those short tale males at my LFS and they really are hard to tell from the females.

JerseyScape... I don't think I would chance it; however it may be possible in a very large tank with a lot of plants and cover.


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## Gumby (Aug 1, 2005)

Back at the place that I used to work, we'd get idiot teenagers that would mix the bettas (in bowls) when we weren't looking. Yeah, they do fight. They tear each other's fins to shreads. I've never seen a betta actually KILL another betta fish, if they die its usually because an infection will attack the wounds they sustained in the fight. 

As far as keeping them together goes, I wouldn't try keeping to males together in anything less than a 29 gal heavily planted tank. Like any other fish, if they can set up a territory to defend, they tend to work out just fine. Each male learns that if he goes into the other male's territory, he gets his fins ripped up so he avoids going there.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

IMO, it's better just not to go there and risk injuries/deaths to the fish. There are way too many other choices out there, and two males aren't the best of choices.


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

At one of my LFS, I seen two bettas in a heavy planted 60 gallon aquarium, and they seemed fine. I guess they will only fight if they are in a small space.


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## almond (Mar 5, 2006)

most of the time the males will usually beat the hell out of each other. Its their nature.IMO, dont try it. lol.


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## kimbm04r (Apr 22, 2005)

I have breed Bettas since 2000. Please DO NOT put two males in the same tank. They are sure to get into a fight and if you aren't there to seperate them you will have at the least a fish very badly damaged or worse dead. One male in a tank if fine as long as you don't have any other fish with the long flowing fins like a Betta.

As far as females go, they will fight also. They establish a pecking order. If your tank is heavily planted then I would say you can try it but keep a close eye on them.

If you are not sure if a particular fish is a female or a male "plakat" check for the oviposture "egg tube" on the female. You should be able to see it just in front of the ventral fins.

This is a female Betta










This is a male Plakat (short finned Betta)


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## ShortFin (Jan 13, 2006)

*Don't do it.*



JerseyScape said:


> It is pretty obvious that they would fight if put together but do they always do it? What actually happens...do they kill eachother?
> 
> When visiting a petstore recently I noticed that they had two males in the same tank and they were not bothering eachother. The tank was probably close to 100 gallons.
> 
> ...


Don't do it. They will fight until one gives up and run away. They won't kill each, but infections to the damage area might.

The best way to find out rather you have a short fin betta vs a female betta is to look at the head structure from above. The female will have a small mouth and pointed head.


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## raven_wilde (Nov 16, 2005)

I'm pretty sure that these were female bettas, however...

When I first bought them they were brownish, with short fins, and stripes. They were also shaped like females, with rounder bodies. I put them in the tank and they ripped eachother up. So, one died and I seperated the remaining two, and they lived out decent healthy lives in seperate ten gallons. The strange thing however, is that as they got older they grew their fins out a bit and developed brighter colors, while still maintaining the shape of the female.

At the time, I posted about this on another fish forum and got a reply stating that recently breeders have been cultivating females with higher colouration, to make them just as attractive to keep as the males, which brought out more agression in them as well.

I don't know how true this is, it's just what I heard

Maybe they were plakats, because they were beautiful once they matured.


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

Would it be cruel if I decided to buy two Males and stick them in a 5 gallon to see which one wins? :axe: 

I don't think I'd have the heart to do that though....I'd like to but I just can't.


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## raven_wilde (Nov 16, 2005)

i vote for 'cruel'


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## Gumby (Aug 1, 2005)

JerseyScape said:


> Would it be cruel if I decided to buy two Males and stick them in a 5 gallon to see which one wins? :axe:
> 
> I don't think I'd have the heart to do that though....I'd like to but I just can't.


Oh, I know plenty of drunken frat guys that do this. Depending on how much beer they've had their reactions range from "DUUUDDEEE! MY FISH IS BITING YOUR FISH!" to "That wasn't nearly as cool as everyone said it was."

Fighting bettas is actually pretty popular in some Asian countries. People actually breed bettas for their fighting qualities(and sell them for a lot of money!). I worked at a fish store where we got a lot of Asian customers. I talked to one guy who was from Cambodia and he said it was almost as popular as cock fighting or dog fighting over there. He also said that betta fighting was outlawed in a few countries in Asia, but it was easier to get away with than cock fighting or dog fighting because there's no mess left behind. Another customer I talked to said that fighting bettas is still somewhat popular in some ethnic parts of California.


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## raven_wilde (Nov 16, 2005)

Gumby said:


> Just did a quick google search and here's a place that breeds "fighting" bettas: http://www.fighterbetta.com/


Oh Wow... I new that people fought them (the guy who runs the neighborhood asian market sometimes has a few up at the counter he's purchased for fighting... they seem to really come and go, there must be a high mortality rate)... and I still think it's cruel...

However, that little fish treadmill they've got rigged up is quite ingenious!


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

I'm still tempted to come up with two bettas at my next frat party.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

This is really sick guys... Don't think we should be promoting this kind of thing :flame:


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## raven_wilde (Nov 16, 2005)

ugghh, frat boy, so that explains it! :crazy:


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

raven_wilde said:


> ugghh, frat boy, so that explains it! :crazy:


Just because someone is a "frat boy" doesn't mean that they are crazy. I am also a school senator and maintain a 3.87 GPA.


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## almond (Mar 5, 2006)

very nice clean white plakat you got there kimb.


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## acbaldwin (Nov 3, 2005)

JerseyScape said:


> Just because someone is a "frat boy" doesn't mean that they are crazy. I am also a school senator and maintain a 3.87 GPA.


Just think... If you weren't in a frat, you could probably even pull off a 4.0!

:biggrin1:


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## milalic (Aug 26, 2005)

JerseyScape said:


> I'm still tempted to come up with two bettas at my next frat party.


I do not agree with this even if it is meant to be a joke.
Just my 02 cents.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

milalic said:


> I do not agree with this even if it is meant to be a joke.
> Just my 02 cents.


I agree. Not cool.


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