What could be the problem?

[romeoharvey]

I have a cute purple/blue/red fantail male betta. when I put in a blue female betta, he started flaring at her and trying to chase her away! I thouhgt females could be mixed in with males. I was afraid he's hurt her (she's half his size), so I seperated her into another tank (40 gallon) full of semi-aggressive tropical fish and community fish. Think I can add her in when she's a little more larger? i also have another (2nd) female betta that I didn't attepmt to mix in, I put her in with an opline gourami and a neon (10 gal).

Another thing, the opline gourami, I had to remove her becasue she kept on chasing around a gold gourami I have in the 40 gallon. I'm pretty sure the gold gourami (2 inches) is a male, and he is much samller than the olpine (4 1/2 inches). Is this normal behavior? The opline gourami has never harrased any other fish in the tank, and she ignores the ,1 inch neon and female betta.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

A lot of people seem to think that males can be kept with females... they just can't. Even for breeding, they're only together for a few days at most, and it takes a few days to a week for them to get used to each other before you put them in together. Even when she's larger, it's not a good idea. Even if the male is smaller, it's not a good idea... a larger female can hurt a male.

Gouramis are pretty aggressive amongst themselves, so chasing and tormenting is common. I also have an opaline with a female betta, and they ignore each other... I think they're just different enough or different sized enough that they don't care about each other. I'd keep the gouramis separated, and the male betta alone.

 

[romeoharvey]

Thank you for answering. I was under the impression that males and females could at least be kept together, but judging from what I witnessed, I don't believe I will try to mix them ever again.
This specific opline I have must be more aggressive than normal, I've kept a lot and they've never demonstrated this behavior, aw well, at least it's healthy and can stay with other fish.
Good luck with you gourami and female betta, hope they continue to ignore each other.
Thanks again.

 

[Pure]

Believe it or not the aggressive behavior you saw is common place during spawning. So much so that it is believed to be one of the needed *triggers* to get the lady in the mood. Altho this is not always the case, but more times than not it is.

 

[romeoharvey]

You know, I have noticed that the male is making a bubble nest.....

 

[CAPSLOCK]

That means he's a happy boy! You could try breeding them if you wanted, but you'll want to read up on it first because it's not as easy as just throwing a female in with him and hoping.

 

[romeoharvey]

Have done some searching, don't like that I could end up with 500 bettas, and no place to put them. I guess it's no harm if he keeps on anticipating a female will magically appear in his tank again....