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I read in an old book about fish breeding that wild bettas are much calmer compared to fancy bettas.
According to the book the fancy bettas of today are descendants of the bettas that were used in betting fights.
People who domesticated the betta for fighting, selectively bred the most aggressive specimens to increase their chances of winning bets.
Now it may sound like a far fetched fantasy, but if this info is true, then by selectively breeding specimens which show decreased violent\ territorial behavior, in some generations we can create a betta variety, without the 'fighter' tag! i.e males with decreased fighting instincts. Males which can co-inhabit a medium sized tank!!
I am not a fish genetics expert by the long shot but I think there might be some fact to this fantasy :p
So what do you think?

P.S: I know a rather ambitious thread name :p

I have observed one interesting thing. I had kept two male betta in a 2 feeter tank with other fish like molly, loach etc. They just didn't fight. They used to flare and all, but no nipped fins and no death.

Cheers,

Karthik

as a kid in the 8th standard, I kept two bettas in a 2-foot tank. I had a book that said they could be kept together in a larger tank, and for around 1.5 years, they stayed fine. I didn't realize a 2 foot tank was not large! one died of natural causes, fins showed no damage as u see after a fight, then the other carried on. .. lots of plants in that tank, valls and amazon sword plant. But now, I would hate to tell a beginner to try that. Now they don't stand a chance.

Romi wrote:as a kid in the 8th standard, I kept two bettas in a 2-foot tank. I had a book that said they could be kept together in a larger tank, and for around 1.5 years, they stayed fine. I didn't realize a 2 foot tank was not large! one died of natural causes, fins showed no damage as u see after a fight, then the other carried on. .. lots of plants in that tank, valls and amazon sword plant. But now, I would hate to tell a beginner to try that. Now they don't stand a chance.

Very true

Cheers,

Karthik




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What I surmise from the above posts is that male aggression can be reduced by heavy planting\providing territorial space and adding some dither fish that will divert their attention. Yet I assume things will take a different turn if a female is to be placed in a tank with 2 males.
My own experience with multiple males has been disastrous but then again, my tank was not planted at all.

We can only reduce the chances of the males running into each by having enough places to hide, but it has a lot to do with the individual males that you get there are males which i found were submissive and they just not respond to flaring by other males. some males are very aggressive and some are less, So there is no 1 solution, its hit and trial.