Getting a companion for kevin, advice needed

[daintree]

daintree said:

Alright you guys. I bought everything I need. The film fell and he got in so my sister saved her and put her back in the small tank. What brand of aquarium dividers do you guys recommend?

[roygun_1]

hey guys,

i just got a pink orchid male and put him in a 7g tank, he was loving it but then i thought he looked kinda lonely. i did some research and found out that males can usually live with females, especially if i had a divider, so i got a female and put her in a breeding tank. when i first put her in, he freaked out - flaring and swimming all over the place. i left for a bit and when i came back, he was chillin' but whenever he saw her through the plastic, he didn't flare. she seemed pretty into him too, swimming around him and stuff. so i was curious, what would happen if i let her out? (don't worry, i was ready to scoop her up if needed). at first, he didn't see her, but when he did, he took off after her, flaring and chasing her around. she got stuck in the corner and he was poking at her pretty hard, so i put her back in the breeder tank. she's doing okay now and he's back to normal, but he still kinda dances by her tank - no flaring though. what's going on here? should i have just let it play out?

You're still planning on putting them in the same tank with a divider? I mentioned earlier that you should silicone a divider down the middle, so they're not sharing water. The divider won't be enough, you'll still need a new filter and heater for each side.

[daintree]

Males and females, in my opinion, are best kept together only during breeding. After that, the female should be removed right away. Keeping them together long-term isn't a good idea, as the male's hormones can cause the female to become egg bound and stress her out big time. If I thought my male looked lonely, I'd try giving him a toy, like a fluorescent ping pong ball, to keep him company - not another fish to attack.

Yes they are still going to be in the same tank. I'll look into that whole silcone thing, but I don't know if I can afford all that extra stuff. I need another filter and heater for just 3.5 gallons of water - it seems kinda crazy. I'll keep her water clean and test it all the time, so I'm hoping that'll be okay. I've seen female betas share the same water before and they seemed fine. She doesn't seem stressed out or anything, and he's not flaring as much anymore. I know he still doesn't like her, but I don't get why they can't share the same water.

[happyone]

If you keep a male and female together, he's gonna keep harassing her, it's just what they do. I've seen it happen before, and it's not pretty - she could get stressed to the point of death. Females can live together just fine, but males are a different story altogether. Males and females are only kept together for a short time, and that's just for breeding, with someone watching them the whole time to make sure everything goes smoothly.

[daintree]

If you keep a male and female together, he's gonna keep harassing her, it's just what they do. I've seen it happen before, and it's not pretty - she could get stressed to the point of death. Females can live together just fine, but males are a different story altogether. Males and females are only kept together for a short time, and that's just for breeding, with someone watching them the whole time to make sure everything goes smoothly.

I'm planning on separating them with a divider, I just need to figure out how to do it without stressing them out.