# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Anabantoids >  Squabbling Betta macrostoma

## hjuanie

Hi guys,

New here on the forum and need some advice

What can you do if paired male and female wild bettas start fighting?

Do we separate them, house them apart for a couple of weeks and then put them back together? 

Or do we let them fight it out and allow one to gain dominance?

Or should we pair them up again with other bettas

Really need help here, its driving me nuts to see them whack each other  :Exasperated:  :Exasperated: 

Thanks!

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## mictok

It will be better for you to mention the breed,tank size and the tank set up for us to give you advice.

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## hjuanie

Thanks

I am having problems with macrostomas.

The set up is a pair in a 2 ft tank with java ferns and blackwood.

Any advice?

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## mictok

I had tried in putting in endlers,shrimps and galaxy to distract the male,they end up become his food.

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## YiDaLi

Hi! Are they any other forms of hidding places in your set up for your pair of marcostoma?

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## hjuanie

Thanks for the replies  :Smile: 

The black wood gives several hiding places but as soon as they meet, its flaring and snapping again.

I have decided to separate them for a couple of weeks and rehouse them again in another new tank.. wish me luck  :Wink:

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## YiDaLi

looks like you have no other choice but to separate them for awhile.. Good luck to you hjuanie :Wink:  Keep us posted!

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## Quixotic

Perhaps using a clear divider to separate them may do the trick. While separated in the same tank, they can see and get to know each other, learning to share the tank with another fish. This is what most aquarists do with the more aggressive species, to varying degrees of success.

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## wllm33

think you need to let them lock jaws for a while, for macrostomas.
usually not much damage will be done, but caution to observe the state of the female especially, daily.
usually after a while they will be less aggressive towards each other and they may mate even if proper care is given.
putting a divider between them will not acclimatise them towards each other at all, since the moment the divider is lifted, they will claw at each other again.
that's why they are called fighting fish not for nothing.
but eventually the mating call will be more enticing and they will be lovey dovey when the conditions are right.
good luck.

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## YiDaLi

> think you need to let them lock jaws for a while, for macrostomas.
> usually not much damage will be done, but caution to observe the state of the female especially, daily.
> usually after a while they will be less aggressive towards each other and they may mate even if proper care is given.
> putting a divider between them will not acclimatise them towards each other at all, since the moment the divider is lifted, they will claw at each other again.
> that's why they are called fighting fish not for nothing.
> but eventually the mating call will be more enticing and they will be lovey dovey when the conditions are right.
> good luck.


In the other words, daily observations required for the pair I suppose? Looks like thread starter may need alittle bit of luck... :Wink:

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## hjuanie

Thanks for all the advice guys  :Smile: 

I think I will try the separation trick and see how it goes..

Tried the clear divider way by placing one of them in a mini-aquarium within the main tank.. they started fighting the moment they weren't separated.. :Opps: 

Letting them fight may be the way, but it is heart wrenching to watch.. :Crying: 

Wish me luck. Will update in a couple of weeks! Hopefully with some pics..

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## YiDaLi

They are a pair afterall. Do keep us posted and best of luck hjuanie :Wink: 
By the way, are the sizes about the same?

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## hjuanie

The male is slightly larger, but not by much...

Hopefully this works  :Smug: 

Thanks again!

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## YiDaLi

Sounds alright.. Anyway, do let us know the outcome.. :Wink:

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## wllm33

trust me, you cannot use the divider method, as the macs will lock jaws no matter when you mix them and how many times you try.
so you got to put them together and observe carefully their behaviour if you want to breed them.
If they are compatible , they will cool down after a while. Every pair is different in terms of time and manner before they become compatible.

That's why they are expensive, as it is not easy to breed them because of their nature of behaviour.

but if you want to breed macs you have to be brave. This betta is not for the faint heart.
good luck.

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## hjuanie

Thanks!

You are right, the first time I saw them fight...  :Surprised:  :Shocked: 

Will try to put them back together and observe again, if they persist in squabbling, then perhaps its time to get another pair to mix it up :Razz: 

Thanks again!

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## Savant

You can also try swopping with another bro who may have the same problem

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## Haji Badaruddin

Generally,the fight would be non lethal ........ 

But i have seen

# a smaller male's head go in 1/3 inside the other larger male's mouth during fights

# a male with a ripped mouth.

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## bosebani

Regarding the fighting of the Macro, it is heard to be very common, and most often, 1 party will die, either of stress or sucide jump. 

Wondering is it that not every "pair" the lfs sellls is a pair, or we need luck to mix and match? Or buy many pieces for them to pair off like discus?

I also read that they need big tank of about 3ft to breed?

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## wllm33

you are right, some males only know how to fight.
procreation is not in their dictionary.
those "pairs" sold in lfs are only 1 male and 1 female.
even so called proven pairs are also difficult when it comes to spawning.
you just got to try your luck.

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## hjuanie

Hi 

Just an update

Decided to mix it up a little, and put a new female with the quarrelsome male... they spawned the very next day  :Grin: 

Guess its true, some fish just don't get along with each other..  :Razz: 

I think I will separate the females from the males until they are ready to mate, then I will put them in a breeding tank

What do you guys think?

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## bosebani

> you are right, some males only know how to fight.
> procreation is not in their dictionary.
> those "pairs" sold in lfs are only 1 male and 1 female.
> even so called proven pairs are also difficult when it comes to spawning.
> you just got to try your luck.


Thanks for your reply  :Well done: 




> Hi 
> 
> Just an update
> 
> Decided to mix it up a little, and put a new female with the quarrelsome male... they spawned the very next day 
> 
> Guess its true, some fish just don't get along with each other.. 
> 
> I think I will separate the females from the males until they are ready to mate, then I will put them in a breeding tank
> ...


bro, you mean your pair bred after you put in a new female?? Congrats!  :Jump for joy:

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## cavallino

> Hi 
> 
> Just an update
> 
> Decided to mix it up a little, and put a new female with the quarrelsome male... they spawned the very next day 
> 
> Guess its true, some fish just don't get along with each other.. 
> 
> I think I will separate the females from the males until they are ready to mate, then I will put them in a breeding tank
> ...


wow! good for you.

i have two pairs (not proven, just sold as a pair) in which the female is bigger than the male.

both pairs got on fine for 2 weeks, then one pair started squabbling, so i seperated them.

the second pair looks like it's gonna start squabbling soon too..




> Regarding the fighting of the Macro, it is heard to be very common, and most often, 1 party will die, either of stress or sucide jump. 
> 
> Wondering is it that not every "pair" the lfs sellls is a pair, or we need luck to mix and match? Or buy many pieces for them to pair off like discus?
> 
> I also read that they need big tank of about 3ft to breed?


i have seen someone keep 3 actively breeding pairs in 1 3ft! 

you need to be on top of your water, though.

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## bosebani

Wow! can keep so many pairs together? Will not fight or jump out?

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## cavallino

partitioned... so each pair was in a 2x1x1.5 effectively....

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## bosebani

btw, do we need to cover the betta macro? Will they jump out like others betta?

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## cavallino

yes, you definitely need to cover it, you can't even leave a crack open. They will find their way out.  :Opps:

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## johannes

wild bettas, especially mouthbrooders are known to be good jumpers..

please cover your tank well.. :Smile: 

they can jump out from a hole that you least expect :Opps:

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## bosebani

Can check with bros here what is use to cover and where to get? Many Thanks

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## johannes

you can use nettings that lfses sell, either green, white or black. these nets were intended to tie moss, according to the auntie, but i use it to cover my tanks. use clips to secure the nets to your aquariums, thats what i do.

some use glass or acrylic sheet or even the white "egg crate" for cover.

there is no hard and fast rules on what cover to use... as long as your bettas don't land on the floor... it's good cover.. :Razz:

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## bosebani

Mine just jumped out this noon! :Exasperated:  Through the small hole next to the overhead filter, lucky my mum saw it "swimming" on the floor, and catches it back before 2 of my cats have the male for lunch  :Shocked:

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## hjuanie

I have to agree with the accuracy of their jumping, it is incredible  :Shocked:  A cover is a must!

Having experienced a few near misses, I found that their accuracy is inversely proportionate to the distance of the water level to the gap ( I use a overhanging filter too).. So I lower the water level to at least 10cm below the cover and make sure the gap is as narrow as possible (about 0.5 cm max)

These guys must have had a module on jumping in macrostoma school  :Grin:

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## wllm33

for a 2ft tank you can use those spare dividers with the holes drilled to cover all areas , but you cannot put a hanging filter with this though.

for macs, spawning them is one thing, getting fries is another.
good luck.

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## cavallino

> Can check with bros here what is use to cover and where to get? Many Thanks


I went through a bit of a hassle. I felt the "egg crates" light diffuser still had too large openings. So I added a layer of mesh below and cable tied the edges. It's working fine for me.




> Mine just jumped out this noon! Through the small hole next to the overhead filter, lucky my mum saw it "swimming" on the floor, and catches it back before 2 of my cats have the male for lunch


that was a very close call!  :Angel:  glad your mum found him when she did.




> for macs, spawning them is one thing, getting fries is another.
> good luck.


i hear that a lot. Yes, it's not easy.

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## bosebani

> for a 2ft tank you can use those spare dividers with the holes drilled to cover all areas , but you cannot put a hanging filter with this though.
> 
> for macs, spawning them is one thing, getting fries is another.
> good luck.


Any tips to share?

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## wllm33

> Any tips to share?


a lot depends on how good a male you have to take care of the fries.
sometimes you need to try a few times for the experience to kick in.

some people says you try not to disturb the pair to much by " peeping" at them too many times.

if you want some advice, i suggest you take out the female when you observe that the male is not happy. Most of the time the female after spawning is not really necessary and only cause more problems for the brooding male.

hope this helps.

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## bosebani

> a lot depends on how good a male you have to take care of the fries.
> sometimes you need to try a few times for the experience to kick in.
> 
> some people says you try not to disturb the pair to much by " peeping" at them too many times.
> 
> if you want some advice, i suggest you take out the female when you observe that the male is not happy. Most of the time the female after spawning is not really necessary and only cause more problems for the brooding male.
> 
> hope this helps.


 
Thanks for sharing, bro.

Any signs to watch out when the macro are ready to spawn? Physical or behavour sign? Should the male be bigger or female? My male is flaring at the female whenever he sees here. But my female ignoring him :Embarassed: 

Just to share what I read somewhere, they need very low PH of 5, low water temperature, no disturbance to spawn.

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## cavallino

i have two pairs, where the females are bigger.. both the males have been getting it bad...  :Crying:  so i've had to seperate them..

lately i've paired the larger of the two males with the smaller of the two females.. so this pair looks ok for now..

but now i've got the larger of the two females (4") and the smaller of the two males (c.3") and i definitely cannot pair them...  :Embarassed:

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## bosebani

> i have two pairs, where the females are bigger.. both the males have been getting it bad...  so i've had to seperate them..
> 
> lately i've paired the larger of the two males with the smaller of the two females.. so this pair looks ok for now..
> 
> but now i've got the larger of the two females (4") and the smaller of the two males (c.3") and i definitely cannot pair them...


 
bro, what you mean by getting it bad? bbigger female will wack the male? Mine female just ignore the male, so is it ok?

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## cavallino

Yes, the females were shredding up the males....  :Crying:

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## bosebani

> Yes, the females were shredding up the males....


 

It will be nice if we, macrostoma keepers can exchangge fishes with each other, for the squabbing pairs. So that we can have more chances of success.

btw, anyone has successfully breed macro in singapore yet?

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## cavallino

I know of one very successful breeder, but he stopped for a long while already.

Yes, as a matter of fact, I am looking to trade my macs around to improve the compatability.

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## bosebani

Let me check out mine and keep you updated. I replied to your post in aro. :Grin:

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## cavallino

ok thanks. how many pairs are you keeping now?

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## bosebani

I just got 1 pair. The longer i keep them, the more i find them beautiful, especially the male. Now the male is starting to flang at the female, hope they can breed soon.

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## exotic_idiot

So any breeding events yet?

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## bosebani

Mine just bred once but the male swallow the eggs  :Embarassed:

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## exotic_idiot

> Mine just bred once but the male swallow the eggs


In singapore? Are you using any chiller or fan to bring down the temperature?
I'm going to get a fan soon... But the problem now which i'm facing is not whether they bred a not? 
Just want to keep them healthy and alive most importantly.. :Smile: 
Bosebani try again don't give up... It shows that your pair is already pair up just give them more time...!

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## bosebani

Yes, bro. I using a fan to bring down the temperature of my 1.5ft tank.

As you mentioned, guess the important thing is to keep them alive together, is pretty challenging to get a matching pair. Now I am crossing my fingers to hope they can breed soon again.

Nice to know another bro keeping macro. Good luck to you too  :Smile:

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## exotic_idiot

I also just got a fan for them.. So far my pair now seems very matching as they can swim together and don't see any fights going on.

But do macro like snake, will their skin or scales peel? Mine seems like got a bit of white short of skin on their body which don't looks like white spot.
Any bros knows the reason for this?
Yeah thanks :Grin:  It's great to know another person keeping marco maybe next time we could join hands... :Wink:

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