They need to be in pretty roomy quarters if it's got a chance of working.Sometimes a group of one male and three or four females works out. Unless she is ready to breed tho most of the time a male just doesn't want the company. One interesting thing tho is if a spawn is never separated then you can have a group of males and females live together. The males fins may stay a little ragged, they will pick on each other some but rarely do any serious harm.

Lisa

Dobesrule -- I read stuff on the internet - but that doesn't comaper with personal advice. THANK YOU !

I have put a male betta in my 55 gallon fish tank before, the other fish just would not leave his fins alone, he never bothered anyone but they would come up and attack him, the most notorious being my Silver Dollar fish. I just figured they were jealous cause they weren't as pretty, LOL! so I never tried that again, someone I knew actually raised those fish, and I remember her saying you put the male in with the female, never the other way around. And then there was something else about one or the other (or was it both?) have to be removed so they wouldn't eat the young? been years since I chatted with her, so I may be way off base, she raised guppies too, so maybe I have them confused!

Micke-the female should be taken out when she has laid all the eggs and they are placed in the bubble nest.She will eat the babies if the male doesn't kill her before they hatch,which happens often,and will also eat the eggs before they reach the nest.The male cares for the nest until the babies hatch.He will even replace any eggs that should fall out of the nest.After the eggs hatch the babies should be transfered to another container.I don't know about putting the male in with the female vs the other way around.I do know the male builds the bubble nest before the female lays her eggs.My aunt use to raise Bettas also but it was many years ago and she has since passed away.
Male and female guppies can live in mixed groups but they will both eat their young.Also,baby Guppies are born not hatched from eggs.

Thank you lillie, now it is all coming back to me, and now I remember why I thought it was alot of work:) I will just stick with watching my males, they like to stare at me as well. think they are trying to make me feel guilty so I will feed them more:)

A few facts about male = female!

Females should ONLY be put in with males if you intend to breed, otherwise they do not get along.

Also a male beats up the female as a part of their mating, this can happen for sometime before breeding accurs & is quite natural. All you have to do is look out for the female. If there are any signs of her begining to wear down & become exhorsted or fins torn etc, then she needs to be removed. Other than that male aggression is very normal towards females when coming into mating.

Once mated they need to be seperated straight away.

THank you .......... I love learning new things about my fish. I'm sure I Have a LONG way to go !

A little late, but...

If you want to try breeding your bettas, there's a couple things you need to do. First is to set up a breeding tank. Doesn't have to be very big, but should be mostly empty (no gravel, bubble bars, or filter). What should be in there are some easily removable things that the female will (once added) will be able to hide in or behind...maybe a clump of dense plants, a tube of some sort, that sort of stuff. The male should be in there alone first. I think at least a day, maybe a couple...he needs to have it be his territory.

You'll also want to get yourself something that the male can make a nest in. I used a med sized styrofoam Dunkin Donuts cup, cut in half lengthwise, and taped it to the inside of the tank. The mouth of the cup should be against the glass (so you can see inside), the "body" of the cup making a tent of sorts on the top of the water, and the open/cut part should sit maybe a 1/2 inch below the water level, . This will give the nest, which is made of spit bubbles by the male, protection from agitation in the water and keep the enviroment humid as well.

Then when you want to add the female, you'll need to put her in basically a glass tube - a chimmney from an oil lamp (washed and rinsed *very* well) works nicely. You place the glass tube in the middle of the tank, and drop the female down into it. Have her be there for a day or 2. The male will circle the female, flaring out his fins (he's just stunning!) and gills, and generally working himself into a tizzy of lust *L*.

When you remove the glass, it begins. There will be a lot of chasing and hiding and that sort of thing...sometimes kinda brutal. But eventually they'll figure things out and start to mate, which is just amazing.

They wrap themselves together, some fluids will be exchanged, and the eggs will fall. The female will likely faint dead away, floating to the top and hanging there on her side for a few minutes. While she's recovering, the male will pick up all the egs in his mouth and spit them up into the cup, each egg in a spit bubble, where they will float on the surface.

Eventually they'll stop mating and you'll need to remove the female. The male will then attend the nest as needed until the fry start to hatch. Most eggs that fall will be picked up and replaced in the nest, and I think (but don't remember for sure) that he will also eat the bad/dead ones. Oh, and you shouldn't feed the fish during any of this either...they'll do fine for those few days.

Once the eggs start to hatch, the male will need to be removed too.

Ugh. I'm writing all this from memory from many years ago, and of course can't remember how to care for the fry. I think you'll still want some dense plant for them to hang out in, they don't appreciate moving water (they're not much for swimming right away), but you may be able to get away with a very weak air-powered sponge filter. Their food should be liquid, and the water will need frequent and very careful changing. I was never able to raise a batch - ended up having to move in the middle of it all and lost them - but it's definitely do-able. And again, very, very cool :)

Somewherre - I can't thank you enough for giving me a first hand play by play ! I bought a male & a female - just 'cuz I thought the male was lonely. Nope. They only love ME - cuz I feed them ! LOL I'm going to copy your reply .... I might try my hand at mating ( I doubt it tho!!) but it's so good to know . I'm learning more about these fish everyday. It's awesome. I didn't know I bought such a hardy fish. Thanks again !

It's funny...while I was writing all that up, I kept thinking to myself that I need to get another pair and try again. It really is an amazing thing to see, even if you have no interest in letting the eggs hatch. Fish porn! :)

I'm keeping my male and female betta in a 2 gallon tank and they are doing pretty well. They aren't fighting, except for occasional showoff by the male. So you can keep them together, it's a matter of luck i guess.