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Anonymous
I'm not new to fish, but I am new to bettas. I just bought one a few weeks ago and he's been doing fine, I think. this morning he started twitching kind of violently, like a spasm of sorts. I clean his water once a week and he is blowing bubbles left and right (I've been told this is normal mating habits though). Should I be worried about his twitching?
>> Anonymous
former breeder here.
in short, hes either horny or territorial. don't keep things near his bowl that reflect.
>> Anonymous
>>170642
I Think the only reflective thing near him is a plastic jar, but it's just shiny, not metallic. He's still blowing bubbles. Thanks though
>> Anonymous
>>170642

I lol'd. Just out of curiosity, would you recommend a non-breeder to keep a female and male in the same tank for extended periods of time? If they fight, will they fight to the death?
>> Anonymous
>>170646

Yes, they will kill eachother. Generally, you don't keep more than one betta in a tank, ever.

>>170643

The blowing bubbles part means he's happy. I would be worried if he WASN'T blowing bubbles.
>> Anonymous
>>170650

So... how does one breed these things? Quickly separate them as soon as the mating's over like pandas?
>> Anonymous
doesn't look like he has much room. might want to fill the bowl up a bit more!
>> Anonymous
>>170657
Oh, yeah, it's a lot more full now, I was worried about him getting oxygen
>> Anonymous
In short, densely planted tank with plenty of room, multiple females to each male, and a healthy dose of micromanagement.
>> tigerfeather !CrwtTbFNxQ
>>170650
You can keep females in a community tank, but never males + females or just males together.
>> Anonymous
>>170642
how old do betas live?
>> Anonymous
>>170842
on average how old do betas live to be
>> Anonymous
>>170758
Yes, because females and males never live together in the wild and mate or anything.
>> anon
I've heard 4-8 years. Mine have lived up to 5.
Putting a male and female in together in a small area is bad. Male kill female. Larger tank with lots of hiding places is better.
Harem and male, deadly. Females will literally rip him apart.
Though this all depends on the personality of the fish to. Had a tank separated, a faulty separator apparently. Looked in, had two males side by side looking at me for food. They were fine.
My females (I have 3 in a community tank with guppies, platies, and an algae eater) occasionally quarrel. Other than that they're peachy.
>> anon
On the otherhand, I had a walmart fish (pity buy) I had nursed to health in a betta tank.
A couple pet stores and sites said you could put females and males together. I put him in with my females and watched them.
In the next ten minutes (I wanted to see if they would settle) he was back in the betta tank and I went to get him a tank. Poor guy was torn up.
The book I have says you can tell a female is in estrus by a 'grain of salt' protrusion between her stomach fins. And she has breeding stripes. That's when you put them together.
>> Zanthia
It all depends on the fish's personalities, the size of the tank and the amount of vegetation for hiding places. Killing rampage goes the same for both female and male if they happen to be aggressive types. I have a male and a female in my 200 litre tank and they never quarrell (neither have they mated yet) When intentionally breeding these, it is recommended to remove the female after the mating since the male gets pretty violent and fussy over the eggs.

Bettas usually live up to 2-3 years, but there are always exceptions as in every other animal species.
>> Anonymous
He is building a bubble nest (for babies, I think?). This means he is comfy and content.