Can male and female bettas live together?

March 22, 2017
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Each female betta has its own personality and own behavior. Some are very gentle and submissive, while some are real dragons.
If females are from the same spawn, they are likely to get along fine in one community tank. That is because the pecking order has already been established and the fish "know each other". They are, after all, sisters.
The older a female the more nasty she may get (hehehehe). An older female is more likely to assert herself in the world ;).
Mature females which do not know each other (not raised together) will seek to establish dominance. One of them will assert herself as the Alpha female and all the others will have to yield to her.
Every time you add a new fish, the alpha dominance has to be reevaluated and reestablished.
If you add an old grumpy dragon of a female to your tank, she is likely to challenge the previous alpha female. In the process she might attack everyone else.
If you remove a female from your tank, and she happened to be the alpha female, you might end up again with torn fins as the remainder of the females will once again fight for alpha position.
Dominant female bettas do not like being ignored by males while in the spawning tank. If the male does not assert himself pronto and does not court them aggressively, they will SHRED him (aka give him a good old haircut)
Some female bettas are so dominant they will kick the male's you know what during spawning, even if he is courting them as best as he can. (girl power! LOL)
Dominant female bettas also flare and display to each other or to males
Dominance doe snot have anything to do with size, as small females can also be very aggressive. But a larger female will be able to throw more wait around hence might win alpha position with more ease. Hence beware of older larger females!
A female that came from a community tank is more likely to accept tank mates than one that was jarred. If jarred (living alone), all bettas become very territorial and then have a hard time "living with someone" again. (reminds you of any of you Xs?) LOL.
Source: www.bettatalk.com
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