Bettas together and living Peacefully

[GekkeGekko]

I also have a one male/multiple females community tank (Betta's really love to be in a big tank with lots of space!) and that works out great, although there is a lot of struggle between the girls...

I never have tried two males together but I don't think I will try. Maybe it's possible that you can divide the tank in two with a divider of some kind? That will still leave them with lots of space...don't think flaring all the day of getting stressed because there's another betta will help with the life-span either...

[Argranade]

My friend has 2 male betta's living together,

They have been living together for like a year & a half now, they seem ok.

They are in a huge tank with a few golsfish, they do flare up but never fight.

I geuss you are taking a chance so maybe it is best to keep them apart.

[K9soul]

It has been known to happen that two male bettas will get along ok but it's always a risk. They may even get along for several weeks or months, and then one day one will challenge another over territory, food or whatever, and that will be the end of it. They may never fight, or you may find them one day torn up and one or both fatally injured. It is up to you if you feel the risk is worthwhile, but it is a gamble.

[KittyGurl]

Putting two bettas together is a really big risk. I know they might seem happy and peaceful, but one day one (or both) of your bettas are either going to be dead or hurt. Please seperate them...

[IRescue452]

Hope it works out. Ornamental bettas aren't bred to fight, so if you get two docile males in a big tank, it can be ok. If you get more community fish in the tank it will provide more distraction from each other as well.

[Kalei]

Hope it works out. Ornamental bettas aren't bred to fight, so if you get two docile males in a big tank, it can be ok. If you get more community fish in the tank it will provide more distraction from each other as well.

Thanks everyone for your comments and advice. And so far they are still in my tank and are doing great. It's not just them two alone in it of course, there are other goldfish which are friendly community fish in with them. The bettas swim past each other during the day and they don't even care about each other at all. So far it seems it will work out, the tank is just so big and they are so small that half the time they can't see each other anyway. But they have and they don't get mad at all. The goldfish probably help too.

Anyways I"ll keep watching them. IRescue by ornamental betta do you mean the pretty ones sold in the stores?

[binka_nugget]

Bettas were bred to fight to the death. Even in sorority tanks with females, it's still iffy getting the group to get along. Heck, even when male and female are in the same tank to breed, it's still very risky (I've had a lot of close calls with spawn attempts). Personally, I wouldn't risk it as it's instinct to fight. They may be a little bit more docile in the beginning but in the end, they are still fighters and have that bred into them (whether they were bred to look pretty for a couple generations or not).

I can't find the link but while I was researching bettas when I was still breeding, I came across an article noting that when two male bettas were placed in a large open area, they still found each other and fought, as opposed to going off on their own and finding their own territory.

I wouldn't risk it, but if you decide to stick with it, I wish you the best of luck.

[BC_MoM]

Hope it works out. Ornamental bettas aren't bred to fight, so if you get two docile males in a big tank, it can be ok. If you get more community fish in the tank it will provide more distraction from each other as well.

You are quite right.

Then again, Kay is right too. It is quite easy to buy a tank divider and if you post in your local paper looking for a cheap tank, someone is bound to have one!

[IRescue452]

Yes, ornamental bettas are the ones you find in American stores. One should never use them for fighting, though I suspect there a lot of ignorant people who buy two males to watch them fight. There are actually three species used in fighting. The fight methods are different for each. In a traditional fight, the fish are rarely injured severely. The fight lasts no more than one hour. Most of the fight is flaring and quick rushes at each other. Remember these fish are conditioned so they have very very hard scales. The winner is declared when one fish backs down. After an hour, if both fish are still sparing, the fight is declared a match game and the fish are removed. Yes, there are some people who want a big bad killer of a fish, but its not all that common.