Why Do Betta Fish Fight and How to Stop Them?

Bettas are popular aquarium fish known for their territorial aggression nature. If you have fed them long enough, it’s not easy to witness a dramatic fight off a male and a female betta, between male bettas, between female bettas, or between them and other fish.

There are lots of reasons that force bettas to fight.

In this article, we are going to answer the two most common questions: “why do betta fish fight?” and “how to stop them?”. Read on!

Why Do Betta Fish Fight?

If Bettas Fight Other Fish

You have just added a few more fish species into your betta tank, and a couple of minutes later, they start fighting with each other.

Well, the reason might be:

• These newcomers are aggressive, too
• They have long fins
• They’re brightly colored
• Their appearance is same-same as your bettas
• Your aquarium tank is too small for all of them

If Male And Female Bettas Fight With Each Other

This situation usually happens after mating.

The female betta lays eggs and the male one takes responsibility for placing them in the nest that they made beforehand, protecting, and looking after them until hatching.

But the female betta usually eats these eggs, which forces the male one to start a fight with her to defend against this behavior.

Regardless, territorial fights also happen between male and female bettas.

If Female Bettas Fight With Each Other

Although they are less aggressive than the male ones, female bettas can scramble for territory.

When one starts establishing herself as the alpha, which means the others will have to submit to her and create their own ecosystem, these fights will stop and live peacefully.

The chances for territorial fights to happen will be higher if you keep them in a too-small tank.

Or, when you add one new female betta to a sorority of females, fights will start because the existing ecosystem is disrupted.

If Male Bettas Fight With Each Other

This almost always happens when you keep two male bettas in one tank.

They fight with each other because of their high territorial nature, or for food. Sometimes, male bettas start a fight to protect their nest. When you see your male betta start to blow a bunch of bubbles on the water surface, it’s a sign of an upcoming mating season of bettas.

Any danger or threat to their opportunities at reproduction will make them become more aggressive.

Male bettas also fight to protect their eggs.

As stated above, male bettas take the role of protecting and caring for eggs after mating, and they will readily fight till their last breath.

How To Stop Bettas From Fighting

Consider Changing Your Tank Size

Bettas fight because of their territory characteristics.

If you keep numerous bettas in a too-small tank, there’s obviously not enough space for each, which forces them to fight. Before buying a new tank, consider how many fish you want to keep and how many fish species.

Note that each one requires specific territory nature. Make sure that the size of your tank meets all of those requirements.

Add More Hiding Places

Fights between bettas will last until one of them retreats. The more rooms to retreat in a tank, the fewer risks of fights.

From that point, it is important to add more hiding places around your tank, such as live plants, artificial plants, and ornaments that are big enough for bettas to hide inside.

Use A Partition

If you want to keep two bettas together in one tank, use a partition to block their visibilities to each other.

Do not use an apparent piece of glass or plastic to separate them. As long as they still see each other, bettas keep fighting – they might bump their head to the glass or plastic piece, which leads to injuries.

Separate Them Into Different Tanks

Keep each of your bettas in one separate tank, they won’t fight anymore. Arrange the vegetation to keep them from seeing each other.

Consider When Choosing New Mates For Bettas

After preparing the right tank size with appropriate vegetation arrangements, it’s time to consider which animal species suit to live with your bettas.

If you want to add some more fish species, make sure they don’t have long fins or bright colors. They must be friendly to live peacefully with bettas, too.

Here are some shining candidates for you to choose from:

• Kuhli loaches

• Guppies

• African dwarf frogs

· Ghost shrimp· Neon and ember tetras

• Harlequin Rasboras

• Malaysian Trumpet Snails

• 

  Cory catfish

Conclusion

Is our post helpful to you?

We hope that through it, you’ll understand more about the reason why betta fish fight and how to stop them to minimize injuries.

That’s all for our guide today, and thanks for reading!