Will my Bettas be ok?

Ok so today i went against everything i know and bought a beautiful female Betta, my problem however is that I already have a male. i put them both in the tank together at the same time ( it just finished cycling so nothing was in there yet) along with some rosy reds just to test there aggression. They seem to be fine the male went after the rosys but couldnt catch them lol. and the female is staying to herself. it is a ten gallon tank and they have not even tried to attack or go after each other since i put her in. Ryu( my male) was already making bubble nests in his bowl so i thought she may be welcome.

do i need to divide the tank? they have been together hours now and seem to be fine. ryu is in the log and my new girl is just doing her thing. i am planning on buying anacharis to plant for more cover. as of now though they seem great.

if this works out what else could i put in with them? more female bettas? cory cats? what pretty but hardy fish would be ok in this tank?

how about a community of females with a couple corys and my male? would that work?

any help would be great thanks so much for taking the time to read this

Also both the male and female are docile and are not even really going after the rosys or my poor little guppy after the initial just seeing what they were.

I want the best for my pets [/font]

you need to divide the tank. they may do ok for a day or a month but eventually they will have a go!

how many girls can i keep in a 5 gallon area? i would like to house multiple

and what can i keep on the other side with the male?

You need to divide the tank asap. Things might be okay for a while but they will fight to death!!!! You only have to see some of the trouble Netty and Andy have breeding to see the damage that can be done!!!

5 gallon in my personal opinion is too small for multiple females. Females will fight also so the bigger the tank area the better with plenty of plants and caves for them all to have their own territry.

Corys are a perfect for keeping in with your male depending on the surface area you have. But many other fish like neons will attack the fins on your male.

Hi & welcome

Although some people have managed to keep a male and female betta together in the same tank, its usually in a heavily planted very large tank. There are no guarantee's even in a large set-up though. As said, they may be all ok for a while, but things can change very quickly. Either the male or female could inflict a lot of damage to each other in a few short minutes. In a 10 gallon tank it really isn't worth the risk.

A 5 gallon section would only be big enough to have 1 female. Females can be just as aggressive as males and they need space. When keeping females together it is best to have a minimum of 5, which will need a tank of at very least 16 gallons.

Yeah, please separate them... not worth risking their lives over having them together. Even if you don't see them fighting, one or both could die of stress.

would it be best to just take her back to the pet store? my back up plan was to divide the tank into 2/3 with her on the larger side with two other females but since that wont work ... i dont want to take her back though.

i have her in a bowl away from him right now but she cant stay there.

what should i do?

I'd divide the 10gal in half, have the girl next to Ryu and you can add some small tank mates like shrimp, a snail or pygmy corys

OK that sounds great i was gonna buy a very beautiful male but they told me that even in a divided tank they would stress each other out ... is this true? And her name is Nanami which means seven seas Ryu means dragon lol

Very prettyful names

It depends on the personality of the bettas, but I have divided tanks where the males can see each other, and for the first couple of days they flared a fair bit at each other, but then they get bored and just ignored their neighbours So I think divided tanks are fine. Stops them being so bored if they have someone to defend their territory from. Some males get a bit stressed from it, but i've found that to be quite rare.. only one of my boys has hated seeing a neighbour.

so do you think i should keep my female? or find someone that wants her? right now i'm getting ready for college and dont have the extra money for a divider.

also my male keeps hiding is this normal? and he seems to be having trouble swimming or at least at any real speed lol. is this just from it being a bigger tank or should i be worried?

It depends on what you want to do - if you would prefer in the future to have another male alongside Ryu then you can try and rehome/return the female. If the big problem atm is expense of a divider (I know how expensive they can be) then you can make one very cheaply. Are you in the UK or US?

Basically all you need to make a divider is some craft mesh/ canvas from a craft store like Hobbycraft. It looks like this:

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.. and is about £1.80 or something for a large sheet.

To hold the mesh upright and in place, you need some slide binders, from a stationers, like these:

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You just bury the bottom in your substrate, which will add stability, and you can use a blob of aquarium sealant to attach the top part of the divider to the glass, or even a stretched out paperclip put down the centra of the binders and then hooked over the edge of the tank.

The water level needs to be about 2 inches below the top of the divider, as bettas are good jumpers!

As for him hiding etc... what is the filter current like? boys with large finnage find it hard to swim about in water with a fast current and so might lurk about in plants and stuff. If the current is quite strong, try and direct the out flow on the filter to the wall of the tank behind the filter, or you can tie a bit of sponge over the outflow to muffle the flow a bit

thats a great tip i can get those from the local craft store.

i am in the us.

its just a little power filter, he seems fine but like hes afraid of such a big area. he was blowing bubble nests in his bowl but now he seems so miserable i'm trying to do my best for him.

Hmm, sometimes they don't like big open spaces. How many plants are in the tank? 10gal is quite a big area so if the tank is very open looking it might be a bit daunting for him as he'll be thinking that he has to patrol and protect the whole area which is a lot of work for a little fish. When it's broken up with tall and bushy plants and jungle areas of lots of plants, they seem to chill out a bit more

i'm still working on getting it planted ... i'm almost wondering if his bowl was better for him

The tank is most definitely better for him. Small bowls aren't good for bettas really, and it's impractical to fit a heater into one, which a betta needs.

He will be fine once it's planted. Maybe get some terracotta plant pots and turn them on their sides for caves, or coconut caves. Even silk plants are good. If you can get that divider sorted, he'll be absolutely fine as 5 gals is a great size for a betta and he won't get lost in the space

ok that shouldnt be a problem ... other than my heater seems to be broken i set it for 80 and it doesnt shut off it got up to 90 one day while i was cycling ... i decided on another heater though i just need to get the money for it.

i will look at plants for him ... i love him ... but i feel bad cuz i dont have any money really

things can be done on a budget

for the time being, you could pop some Elodea (pond weed) in the tank for some cover. it tends to be cheap to buy, but won't last very long in a warm tank, but should do for a few weeks so you can buy the proper plants gradually

One of my heaters is a bit dodgy, thought my boys were gonna fry!

thanks so much i'll make sure to come to you if i need more help

no problem. this site is full of great info, and if you need anything there's always people to answer questions

I hope your boy settles in soon

yeah poor guy and now the water is all cloudy grr one thing after another