Taming a betta to be compatible with other fish?

SlateSpider

SlateSpider

Large Fish
#1
Dec 5, 2011
268
0
0
Walla Walla, Washington
#1
Is it possible for me to get my betta to stop flaring up his gills and fins at me and other fish? Basically taming it to be nice? I really want to put him in with my other fish, but he won't stop being so territorial! I tried it once, but he just started dancing around the black mollies with his fins and gills flared up. If anyone has had experience with something like this, please let me know.
 

T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#2
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
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Yelm, WA
#2
The biggest single thing working against you is the size of your tank. You are already aware it is overstocked and so when you put the betta in there he is crowded. If you had a much bigger tank, I think your betta would pick a corner for a while and then gradually move in with the other fish. He just feels now that he has to defend the whole place. I am finding bettas aren't really aggressive unless they are cornered and in a 10g tank with that many fish, he would certainly feel that way. Also Mollies are pretty big fish and if they weren't in there, he might not act that way with the fry.
 

skjl47

skjl47

Large Fish
#3
Nov 13, 2010
712
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0
Northeastern Tennessee.
#3
Hello; I do not know of any way to tame a betta myself. I have kept them in community tanks but had to be careful on the tankmates. The thing I was concerned about was other fish nipping at the male betta's fins. Never tried one with black mollies.
 

Kiara1125

Kiara1125

Superstar Fish
#4
Jan 12, 2011
1,142
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Florida
#4
Your male betta is just aggressive by nature. It all depends on genetics. My male and female were peaceful, but my friend had one that would kill everything and even flared at people.
 

T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#5
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
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Yelm, WA
#5
I have done a lot of reading and in the wild they don't fight to kill - assuming they aren't in a water oxen's foot print or something equally as small. The one losing simply swims away. There just isn't that much room in many aquariums. They are called "fighters" for a reason - what I always thought was true is. The Asians that originally bred them used them for wagering and probably still do just like they do with cocks. There is big money in selling fighting cocks besides the wagering. Of course at some point they also found there was money in beauty also and started breeding for that, too. Without even getting into the genetics, the history of bettas is interesting.
 

T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#9
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
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Yelm, WA
#9
The bettas most of us have access to are not bred to be fighters, but I suspect a natural trait can still come through in some of them. All I have been trying to say is you can't put one in an already crowded 10g tank with fish at least as big as it is and not expect problems. They really aren't fighters in the sense that they are looking for a battle, for the most part they just want to defend their territory. My experience has been if you put one from a small container in with other fish, they are very shy. They are definitely not aggressive. On the other hand if you already had a betta in a 10g tank and suddenly put some other fish in, I suspect they would defend the whole tank. After all, they have no experience dealing with any other fish. Just take a look on line at how they are raised - in little separate jars or bags. It is kind of like any animal or even a child - if they have never been socialized, you can't expect to throw them in with a whole group - depending on a lot of things, they might be shy or they might feel defensive.
 

Kiara1125

Kiara1125

Superstar Fish
#10
Jan 12, 2011
1,142
0
0
Florida
#10
FlameTetra, the two bettas that you are thinking of are betta imbellis and betta picta. They actually prefer to live in pairs or groups and a pair can be housed in a min of 10g.
 

Fuzz16

Fuzz16

Superstar Fish
#12
Oct 20, 2006
1,918
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Wellsville, KS
#12
cant force a fish to change and be "nicer"...if you had a larger tank with it heavily planted (live/fake) to break line of sight and help establish territories it could bepossible, but i am sure he is happier alone meaning mollys can be kinda nasty fish sometimes too. its possible they made an advance and he was just defending himself
 

Kiara1125

Kiara1125

Superstar Fish
#13
Jan 12, 2011
1,142
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Florida
#13
Once again, I just bought a docile male betta. He only half flared at my fish for a while, then calmed down. Here he is, he has a fin deformity (that's why the manager said that no one would buy him) but his personality caught my eye. He never flared at the other bettas, I think I'll name him Derrick.

2012-02-04 12.50.59.jpg
2012-02-04 12.49.50.jpg
 

Last edited:
T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#15
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
0
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Yelm, WA
#15
When the bettas are kept in their little cups or jars close to each other the males habituate and stop displaying. Some retailers keep cards between the jars or cups so that when a customer wants to see a betta in all his glory, they just pull the card. Although I frequently spend considerable time looking at bettas in the LFS, I have yet to get one to flair, so obviously they are habituated to each other. I read that the breeders will move their jars around, breaking up the habituated neighbors which will cause them to start displaying again to their new neighbors.
 

Kiara1125

Kiara1125

Superstar Fish
#16
Jan 12, 2011
1,142
0
0
Florida
#16
Thanks, Allison!! He was the only red one, yay!!

Hmm. My lfs doesn't do that. There was a very flashy blue one (I've changed my mind about them being dull) and he was flaring at everything. He was beautiful, but his temperament was horrid. I kept changing my Betta's name, but I finally decided to name him Charlemagne (Char for short). He's extremely sweet and he's in my 10g with my Platies and Guppies. Surprisingly, considering some of my fish with my previous more aggressive Bettas, his fins aren't nipped. He just mingles with the others and my female Guppies are attracted to him more than my pink male. Lol
 

SlateSpider

SlateSpider

Large Fish
#17
Dec 5, 2011
268
0
0
Walla Walla, Washington
#17
New Arrivals

One of my black Mollies had babies! The other one looks pregnant too, so I don't know when she will give birth.

I have counted 9 and there are most likely going to be more hiding in the rocks and plants! :p

I came out of my room going to get lemon juice from the kitchen (for an experiment), and I saw one TINY baby swimming along the surface of the water. I quickly forgot about the lemon juice, and was running around the house getting the divider and breeder net, in an effort to save some babies, and to keep the mother from being stressed out from everyone trying to eat the babies.

First I put the divider in and put the 2 black mollies on the other side of the divider (until I was sure which one was having the babies), put all the babies in the breeder net, and put some stress coat stuff in the water. Everyone settled down, and the babies are fine!

I now have *counts in head* 24 fish and a snail! 15 of which (3 mollies, 9 fry, 1 catfish, 2 danios. Oh, and the snail) are in the 10g tank, and the 8 older fry are in the 5.5g (I have found homes for them for when they get a bit older). My betta is all alone in his bowl!

Well, that is my tank update! I hope it wasn't too long, but i'm so exited from the new babies! :p:p:p:p:p
 

Kiara1125

Kiara1125

Superstar Fish
#20
Jan 12, 2011
1,142
0
0
Florida
#20
Congrats. My 8+ guppy fry and my 4 molly fry are doing lovingly. My molly fry, who originally had concve bellies, are fat and pooping green constantly. They sure love my algae!! I think I will have 1-2 platinums, a black/marble, and a gold black marbled. I saw a female molly that I think had the babies and she was gorgeous!! Black and white marbled with gold flecks everywhere. God, she looked like (what's that type of rock??) Pyrite.
 

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