# Mistaken Identity



## vintagetankgirl (Feb 25, 2009)

About 2 months ago I bought 3 Female Bettas from Petsmart and added them to my 28 Gallon tank with my other 4 girls. 

Four days ago I moved all of my girls to a 15 High and all seemed well. Yesterday I noticed a bubble nest covering nearly the entire left side about .25-.5 inch thick. I've notice a number of my girls blowing bubbles on different occasions, sometimes forming a small cluster but never a large nest. 

I watched as Beatrice worked on her nest and chased and flared at every other girl that came near her. She would actually chase them and ripped some of their fins pretty badly especially Shirley my oldest girl.

So all of this prompted me to study Beatrice for a while. I have always known her body shape was different from the other girls, more thick and blunt looking. Her fins are also shorter than my other girls. And then I remembered I have never been able to see her ovipositer. 

She is dark green, red and white the darkest on the bottom. This seems like you should be able to see the white bump much easier, but it is so hard to get a clear shot due to her fins and movement.

After checking out some pictures of King Bettas online, I believe she looks more like a King than a Female. I moved her back to the 28 gallon and now don't know what to do.

What I would like to know is, is there any other way to identify a female other than the presents of an ovipositer? 

I do not want to keep Beatrice in the 28 gallon for ever because both of my tanks are Biotopes. The 28 gallon is South American (tetras, corys, and eventually an Angel and a pair of Bolivian Rams), the 15 gallon is Asian with just Female Bettas.

I read that King Bettas are much less aggressive than the typical male Betta. And he/she was fine with the others when kept in the 28 gallon. I was wondering if there was anyway I could keep them all together in the smaller 15 high. I just added some plants and the tank will eventually be fully planted (once everything grows in).

I have heard of success in keeping a couple of females and a male together in larger tanks (50+ gallons). So I was wondering what others think about this...

...in other words, What would you do?


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## fishyfreek (May 13, 2009)

vintagetankgirl said:


> About 2 months ago I bought 3 Female Bettas from Petsmart and added them to my 28 Gallon tank with my other 4 girls.
> 
> Four days ago I moved all of my girls to a 15 High and all seemed well. Yesterday I noticed a bubble nest covering nearly the entire left side about .25-.5 inch thick. I've notice a number of my girls blowing bubbles on different occasions, sometimes forming a small cluster but never a large nest.
> 
> ...


Hi, you dont think it is a crowntail do you? After my female bred with my male I put her back in her home and she started building a beautiful bubble nest 3 days later, so you never know.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

yep you can keep a male and a couple of females no problem in a planted 50gal


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## vintagetankgirl (Feb 25, 2009)

FishyFreak, I know Females can build bubble nests, as I mentioned my other girls have made small ones before. Crowntails have spikey torn looking fins (which I dont like) so its not even a question that Beatrice could be one. He has smooth edged fins that are shorter than my girls. 

I know he is a either a male King Betta or a female with a bad attitude. I just wish he could hold still long enough for me to see for sure!


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