siamese fighter fish

[webby27]

I have one of these now in my tank which iv had for about 14 months but i would like more i know they are very territorial tho. Iv read on a couple websites that its possibly to have two femles and a male in a tank together but my pet shop advised me against this. Anyone have any experience with these fish and what would you suggest. thanks in advance

[rsd2525]

follow the advice of the man, two males will usually fight to the death and if you put a female in and they blow a nest, well it depends what else is in the tank and how big it is

[Emma-J]

rsd2525 is partly right.

Yes, males will definately fight to the death, they are extremely territorial and will even pick fights with other fish if they get too close.

As for females you need to have at least three or four, males are known to attack them as well, if they are in a group this is less likely, but it is possible for him to single out one female and attack her. I know this first hand, I had a beautiful female and my male viciosuly mudered her, he died a couple of weeks later as well, the swine.

[andyjevs]

Siamease fighters live in shallow paddy fields in S.E. Asia where they are responsible for eating many thousands of mosquito larvea. The natural Betta Splendens is a far more drab than their flashy, gaudy cousins which we see in the aquarium trade today.

As mentioned, males are highly terratorial and will fight to the death....put a mirror up against the tank and watch your male flare up. Males are also very aggressive towards females especially if they spurn his sexual advances (although it can be the other way round if the female is ready to spawn but the male isn't !!!). The male is quite capable of killing the female so at least two, preferably 3 females should be kept with a single male.

I don't personally like them being kept in community tanks. They are slow swimmers and will get picked on by barbs and tetras. They can also do their fair share of bullying themselves to and i had one that tore a male guppy to pieces.

I'll lok out a website that deals with fish and have a look at some of the fighter pictures on there !!!

[andyjevs]

http://aquatic.uk-life.org.uk/