About 3 months ago I purchased what was advertised as 4 female Betta's to add in a tank with a male along with Harlequins and Amanos. The male was in the tank for a month before with the other inhabitants and all was fine.
When I introduced the 4 "females" there was no aggressive behavior from the male nor females. So I thought all was well! But due to it is not advesed to put females with male Bettas I paid extra close attension for the first couple of weeks to asses them. I found out that 3 of the females were fine, they were submissive to the male and got fat (with what I belive to be eggs). The male was in his prime, flaring occassionally.
But the problem "female" started to show aggression during this stage. It started nipping at the Betta Splendens tail, causing in the end, quite serious damage. I had a 12g on standby for this and I had to seperate them. I put the male Betta Splendens in it to heal his fins with aquarium salt to prevent infection as well as a high protein diet.
Also with my suspect male Plakat I noticed he started to pay more attention to the females. He, or she didnt flare at all but did sort of round them up and stay close the largest female. But the thing I dont understand is that it looks very much like a small/juvenile female betta. So I cant really blame the LFS for selling it as one, especially as they have limited knowledge anyways!
As it stands now I have decided to put the definate male Betta back in the original tank with the females as his fins are healed fully. I put the suspect Plakat into the tank the injured male came from. But just to confirm with the picture and experience anyone has had on here, is it a male or female betta? Thanks in advance!
Swan
Bellow: Suspect Male Plakat, Sold As Female (sorry for bad quality)
Bellow: Fin Damage On Male After Confrontation
When I introduced the 4 "females" there was no aggressive behavior from the male nor females. So I thought all was well! But due to it is not advesed to put females with male Bettas I paid extra close attension for the first couple of weeks to asses them. I found out that 3 of the females were fine, they were submissive to the male and got fat (with what I belive to be eggs). The male was in his prime, flaring occassionally.
But the problem "female" started to show aggression during this stage. It started nipping at the Betta Splendens tail, causing in the end, quite serious damage. I had a 12g on standby for this and I had to seperate them. I put the male Betta Splendens in it to heal his fins with aquarium salt to prevent infection as well as a high protein diet.
Also with my suspect male Plakat I noticed he started to pay more attention to the females. He, or she didnt flare at all but did sort of round them up and stay close the largest female. But the thing I dont understand is that it looks very much like a small/juvenile female betta. So I cant really blame the LFS for selling it as one, especially as they have limited knowledge anyways!
As it stands now I have decided to put the definate male Betta back in the original tank with the females as his fins are healed fully. I put the suspect Plakat into the tank the injured male came from. But just to confirm with the picture and experience anyone has had on here, is it a male or female betta? Thanks in advance!
Swan
Bellow: Suspect Male Plakat, Sold As Female (sorry for bad quality)
Bellow: Fin Damage On Male After Confrontation