female bettas

[windfire]

hey guys so i decided to get a few females for kratos, ok so i saw a loverly lady at petstop and couldnt help myself and got another one so i had at least 2, in retrospect shoulda got 3. anyway i put them in and all seemed hunky dory. got back from tour last friday and the blue had ripped kratos to bits his tails torn to shreds and the female that was the reason i bought in the first place had got herself tangled in some of the moss and drowned i think. so i took a page from azurekois book and used a plastic jar with holes in the sides to keep her in until i could get some more females to spread the aggression, found a loverly cambodian female today released both and true to form the blue was muscling the new girl around and having a go at kratos again so she's back in her jar, the cambodian leaves kratos alone, she potters around in one side of the tank and he potters around in the other. so now i'm wondering do females flare, i'm noticing some flaring in both 'females' though both have egg spots. so have i now got some young boyos though i think the blue is female, i got her from petstop so i trust them. oy vey so yeah questions for all you betta gurus do females flare and do males have something that could look like an egg spot. otherwise if the blue still bullies i may swop kratos into teh nano and put my big boy Apsolem in kratos's tank. let the blue lady see what happens when theres another fish bigger than her in the tank, i think thats the reason she bugged kratos, he's about the same size if not a smidge smaller than her.

i really seem to be geting myself in alota trouble lately huh lol

[Slojo]

Be carefull that you were not sold Plakat Males.
Have you got pics?
I have seen one of two females flare.

[Rooivlerkie]

Hey windfire
Female bettas do flare. Some are very aggresive and they can kill males.
But like Slojo says look out because they may be male plakats

[Wyvren]

windfire - post us a pic or 2 of the girls :)

Unfortunately the females flare as well, the main way to check if they are females or males is when they are flaring - is there a beard :P Im being serious tho, the girls dont grow the beards like the males. Also check on their bellies for eggspots. The other way is to check for breeding stripes but that I havent even seen with my girls yet. Currently I have 5 girls in my 10g and it took some time to get peace. I had to swop out 2 females (returned them to Altum and got 2 new girls) because they where very aggressive no matter what I did. Now the 5 girls I have are rather peaceful, ironically enough the smallest one is the bossy one she likes to play chase the big girls but they just duck behind a plant or into the terracotta pots I have.

How big is the tank? If you have space its better to keep 4 - 5 girls in a tank - it helps a lot with the aggression. I started with 4 and ended up getting another one to even the odds.

[windfire]

tank is 500mm x 420mm x 250mm if i remember correctly, i had it custom made slightly shallower than normal since i always intended for it to house bettas. i'll probably swing by petstop when im back in pta and get another 2 or 3 ladies as they have some real beauties. do you get doubletail plakats? as one of the females is a doubletail, the other is a beautiful example of a cambodian, uhm i'm not sure if males come in the cambodian colour form... i'll take some pics tonight. i've been keeping an eye out and the cambodian lady, i think i'll call her geisha has claimed the rock pile on the left, if kratos comes near it she simple chases him til he's out of the area she considers her space then leaves him be. i can see an egg spot on both of them but i''l take some pics tonight when i can just have the tank lights on and i'll feed so i can get some good close up shots of the free lady then i'll do one of the blue one since she's in a jar. kratos is much more relaxed today, no stress stripes.

[Wyvren]

Oh get some more girls, you will love it. Mine have started swimming together (well 2 or 3 of them ;P) The only one who has staked a claim is my smallest girl who has decided the fake stump is hers and hers alone :P The rest share the tank and is really found all over the show. I can promise once you have found the right combination (I had to swop out 2 girls to achieve harmony) they will bring flashes of colour and character to the tank.

[madfishbreeder]

My female who is mother to 2 lots of babies flares a LOT! And I know she's the girl as I saw the eggs pop out of her... She's pretty aggro, living happily with 3 moonlight gouramis.

[windfire]

i definately will, they got as much character as the males. poor old kratos is currently the smallest lol.i think you guys are gona love geisha, if she really is female, i put some duckweed in and its starting to look very junglified. i want something big and bushy at the back and then i'll leave it again til i get bored lol. i think she likes that rock pile because of the cave near the top that she can go in and out of, the other rock pile's caves arnt as easy to find what with all the moss. all the bettas pick at the moss so i think the white clouds are spawning in there.

[Rooivlerkie]

Some of my females flare also. I have a crowntail female and she would flare at males too.e a
When i place a mirror she flares at het reflection

[windfire]

ok folks so this is geisha, hopefully lol. i had a look at the blue and found the egg spot so she is definately a she, though i wasnt particularly worried about her as i'd seen her spot wen i got her. Geishas a lil more difficult cos of the colouring but i'll keep my fingers crossed. i think these are the best i'm gona get, what you guys think?

[Wyvren]

She is stunning :D And I think it is a she :P

[windfire]

you shoulda seen the one that drowned dude, she was a charcoal grey/black with a butterfly pattern in red, a few dalmation spots and a goldish sheen to her body. she was a real beaut, was going to breed her to kratos cos they were both metallics, aahh well theres still some lovely red orangey crowntails at petstop. and one day i'll find my hunter green lady lol

[Wyvren]

hahahaha good luck!

[Rooivlerkie]

I love her. And to me it look like a female.

[windfire]

wicked, geisha she is then hehe. i like her she's so chilled her and kratos pretty much ignore each other, the blue Delphi is still in solitary lol. hopefully i'll find someone that can put her in her place.

[Slojo]

Def female(You can see the lipstick:)).
I have a female with the same colouring.

[Reedfish]

Yup, definately a female.

[windfire]

uhm guys @ Slojo Reedfish Wyvren @ Rooivlerkie, my female is bubblenesting. i gota assume it means she is a he and geisha is actually a samurai lol. i think i may have my first plakat and now have 2 options find him a new home or get another tank for kratos, just a lil 1ft and i dunno let my bf keep him or ask some of my mates if any of them would like a plakat male. oh dear for now he'll stay in my tank in my room and kratos is in his 2L jar at the commune so i can keep an eye on his fin regrowth.

[Rooivlerkie]

Hi there windfire
I have read somewhere female bettas can make bubble nest. But look for the oviposter. Its the best way to tell if its a male or a female.

[Reedfish]

uhm guys @ Slojo @Reedfish (http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/member.php?u=2081) @Wyvren (http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/member.php?u=1535) @ Rooivlerkie, my female is bubblenesting. i gota assume it means she is a he and geisha is actually a samurai lol. i think i may have my first plakat and now have 2 options find him a new home or get another tank for kratos, just a lil 1ft and i dunno let my bf keep him or ask some of my mates if any of them would like a plakat male. oh dear for now he'll stay in my tank in my room and kratos is in his 2L jar at the commune so i can keep an eye on his fin regrowth.

Indeed! It seems asif she is a he!

[Wyvren]

There is still a good chance she is a female, try looking for the oviwhatchamacallit like Rooivlerkie said. (sorry my brother hijacked my pc this afternoon and only now got it back :P)

My girls have managed to make mini nests as well, the current just breaks it up again tho :P

[windfire]

hmmmmm ok this is so confusing, sometimes i see a ovipositor and sometimes i dont particularly when she's flaring and chasing everything around the tank. her colouring also makes it difficult to see an ovipositor. ahh well we live and learn i suppose.

[HennieRoux]

windfire it is highly unlikely that you have a plakaat male? I have personally never seen plakaats any where in SA, and if any if you have, then please let me know? Females can blow the nest as well, sometimes its just from all the coming up 4 air, that actually looks like a nest, but I have seen 1 of my females do this as well, but not as large or intense as my males. Rooivlerkie is correct the "eggspot" is a sign of a female, and if you can see it, then it is a female, you can also take her out the water as well and do a quick check, just be gentle and quick.

Then on the aggression part, I have some very aggressive females, so bad that the one night she bit my 1 crown male, and dragged him to the bottom of the rank, she refused to leave him and reminded me of a pit bull locking his jaw after biting, she new exactly what she was doing, and she was trying to drown him! Of course I had to jump in and rescue the male, or else it would of been by bye fishy! He has grown back his crown since then...ha ha

O and then where did you see the crowntails? What petshop?

[windfire]

wow ok HennieRoux thanks, i found them at petstop but they are sold out now. give them a call they usually get in around thurs.

[Slojo]

HennieRoux
I have two beautifull male plakats as well as a female.

[HennieRoux]

Slojo so you do have Plakats?
windfire where is petstop?

[windfire]

Petstops in pta in the rietfontein centre. you should be able to get directions from there website. they have some stunning males in right now.

[Skye01]

Slojo, Please could you post some pics on a new thread? I'm Betta Mad!!!! :stupid: