Keeping males together..

Hey,
am completely new at this and got a male siamese fighter. I did a lot of research on the net and all the sites told me that I cannot put a male in with females except for a brief period during breeding, my LFS said I could put them in together so I bought two females. So I have platies, black widows and my male betta housed with the two females now.They are all very happy together with no signs of aggression whatsoever. I got a new male yesterday and I want to know if it is okay to keep him there too.I know males fight.

I put him in a clear box in the aquarium with the other fish and Baldon (the original male) was more interested in his own reflection than the other male. I have now released him in and still Baldon doesnt care. They swim right next to each other without minding.. Both of them are currently swimming up and down looking at their own reflections next to each other- I have been watching them for a while now.

The females have displayed quite a lot of interest in the new male, but no aggression.
Do you reckon they will be okay together. The one male is coloured and the other is white- could this have something to do with the fact that they don't seem to care about one another or could the fact that the new one is probably a bit younger?

My tank is a 30 litre and has two seperate densely planted areas at each end of the tank, so there is plenty of room to hide.

I would prefer that the new male could stay in the community tank rather than having to be by himself..
What are your thoughts?

 

hey kat,

I'm surprised they not fighting, but maybe they still juvinile, or still settling in. I've heard of people successfully keeping males together, but these males were all born together and grew up together.

Sadly my news is not going to be good news... The males will eventually start fighting, and to the death. Even in a heavily planted tank they will fight. The moment they reach sexual maturity, and start noticing the females, then that's it... One of em will have to go. Also bear in mind that a 30litre is rather small... So they will definately eventuallly fight.

 

Hi Kat,
I'm very surprised at the advice given by your LFS - As Zoom has stated, the males will start fighting when they become interested in the females.

No reason for the new male to be alone... Just put him in a new tank with some new lady-friends.

 

Thanks, I seperated the new younger male into a divided area and I see the little rascal has jumped back in with the other fish again, he's okay and the two males still arent showing any agression towards each other so I reckon I'll keep an eye on them and if they start getting agro make a plan. Put him in my 100 litre but the fish started nipping at his fins..so I'm in a predicament lol

 

house 1 male with 3 or 4 females and that will give the females a chance to survive...speak to dale a.k.a. solex69...he breeds them and know all about this fish...

 

Kewl thanks, I have one male with two females, but my male is not aggresive at all? Will contact solex69 then

 

cool...havent seen him on here for a while though...although i dont look for him...GL

about the aggro part...just wait..

 

Thanks, will do

 

Update on my male fighters

Well my males have been together two days now with no worries. Last night they were flaring at the females, so they both are definately interested in the females, but don't seem to mind each other. I will continue to keep an eye on them. Here are some pics I took last night...

 

They all look very health, can't believe they are not fighting, I added a female to my tank with a male in a while ago and the male almost killed the female, so i can't believe you have four peaceful fish in your tank.

The male may start making a bubble nest and the top of the tank.

 

I've been keeping an eye out to see if either of the males will start making a nest, but neither have yet. But was thinking that if they start nesting, then th fighting might start??
Still, hoping that they stay peaceful, the four of them look pretty awsome swimming together. The males seem to take turns flaring at the females.

 

For beginner betta keepers, I don't think it be advisabel to only put one female in. I know many people recomend to put 3 or more with 1 male.

There is a certain technique to introducing a single female to a male if you wanting them to breed.