# Siamese fighter fish.



## Utter Nutter (Feb 1, 2011)

My friend has one male and 3 female Siamese fighter fish in her 165ltr tank along with 3 Rosie Barbs,2 neons,2 gold neons, 2 Mollies & 2 Black finned sharks.

During the day the fighters constanely play dead, hide so they can not be found, if the plants are in moved, they just fall to the bottom of the tank. When the lights are off and its dark, they come out and swim around, looking for any food that may be hidding. When we turned the tank lights back on, we noticed that one of the barbs was, what looked like attacking the back fins of one of the female fighters.

Is the fighter behaviour because of the barbs or is this normal for fighters.

Would it be better to have the fighters in with guppys, as she has another tank 100ltrs that currently has 6 guppy in.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

The fighters,are commonly called bettas.There are several reasons they are hiding out.The barbs are one.The other,is the male being with three females.These fish are bred to be solitary,and theres a chance they are hiding to keep the others from attacking.The only time i ever recommend females together,is when you have five or more.Otherwise the pecking order will not work and someone will be constantly bullied.Add to the fact the male is in there,which has his hormones going nuts,trying to possibly spawn,or if hes too stressed he will see the females a threat.

Barbs are fairly aggressive and territorial as well, so yes they will go after the bettas.Neons will usually work fine.Guppies,no.The male will see them as another rival male and will attack them.

My suggestions are this:Set up another tank for the bettas.If the females are wanted to stay together,get at least two more,and heavily plant the tank.The male needs his own space,three gallon minimum,and plants are a welcome addition for him as well.I am a breeder of bettas,keeping some show quality stock as well as wild stock,and can tell you this from experience.Betta Splendens(or Siamese fighting fish)come from the vast rice paddies,or black water streams of Thailand.Though the water is shallow,its expansive.The flow is very little,but there is some movement.These fish have learned to hide under leaf litter in the blackwater streams,and the stalks of the rice in the fields.The females do not travel together,and the males once old enough to nest will travel away to claim his own territory,and guard it fiercly.If he is not ready to spawn he will chase male and females away,but once ready to mate will try to lure wandering females under the nest,where they will spawn.Afterwards the female is again chased off,and he must guard the nest and eggs from wandering fishes who will try to snatch a snack.Its this protective instinct that makes the males good fighting material.

This is why they are housed alone,or with other non colorful non aggressive fishes.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

^+1

I'd start by getting the male into his own 3-5 gallon tank.


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