# Question about adding my female betta to the male's tank



## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

I got a beautiful young male Crowntail At IPU last week. His new home is in a 10 gallon tank. He's pretty happy in there except he seems to flare alot, even at his own reflection. Today I got a female to add to his tank and hope to have some breeding in the future. I brought her home and dropped the bag into the 10 gallon , and soon as he seen her he was all over that bag flaring and looked to be nipping at the bag like he really wanted in there. I don't know if this is a sign of aggression or ruff foreplay lol. I put her by the color changing one I have as well and he seemed like he was going to react the same way.I am afraid to let her loose with any of them until I know if it's safe. Any suggestions or comments would be much appreciated. I added a short video so you could see
I forgot how to add the video to my post but heres the link on you tube:


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## Blackbar (Apr 23, 2010)

You can keep several females with a male in a larger tank, but to add a female in with a male in a small tank like that is complicated. There needs to be lots of hiding places for her, and generally you would only keep them together for the breeding. This means that she needs to be ready to breed, otherwise he will just chase her around and possibly kill her. To tell if she's ready, she will generally have a big belly and her white gravid tube will be showing distinctly. Also, she will likely show vertical stripes on her body. 

If the male doesn't get busy building his bubble nest then I definitely wouldn't keep them together at all. Watch them very carefully, you'll likely have to rescue her!

Look up how to breed bettas on the web.

Good luck!


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks, I'm scratching that idea for now lol, did a little research and come up with that answer. Guess I misunderstood that you could keep them together like that. Even tho I'm sure any of my males are ready to go as they are always making bubble nest or trying to, she's way to small to to even think about it for now. I am researching the breeding thing for sure, before I even attempt it . Thanks for your input and advice.


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## pt1190 (Apr 21, 2010)

Well, i had a crowntail male in a 7g hexagonal tank, planted and a small piece of driftwood, he was constantly making bubble nests. So i added one small female. I got the same reaction out of the male as you are. He chased her constantly, but she had lots of places to hide. I added another female, which had been with the other female previously, he chased her around for a bit. None were injured and now they all get along fine. Even at feeding time. Although i have not noticed much breeding going on. I also have a 33g with 9 female bettas, one might be a male. This tank is harmony as well.


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## kelly528 (Apr 21, 2010)

Personally I wouldn't chance introducing a female to a male as a permanent living situation... theres a reason why spawning bettas is so dangerous even when they are being supervised. I know more than a few forums that are opposed to housing males and females together, citing 'safety reasons' as grounds to keep them separate. Bettas are pretty volatile creatures and things can turn sour on a moments notice.


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## pt1190 (Apr 21, 2010)

I wanted to add that i also had a 20g, planted with one male and 2 females.
Again no trouble  I personally believe these fish do not belong in tiny tanks and alone. Just my opinion


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## trowachess (Apr 24, 2010)

You will need to introduce the female under guarded conditions if you wanted to breed.

My own small scale experimentation involved using a screen divider until the male didn't look like it was going to kill the female. Have lots of hiding places and bigger tank if you can do so. Not too much agitation in the water though, it tends to break up nesting areas it seemed to me.


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