If you have two male Betta fish in the tank, they are going to "flare" at each other – (this means they puff up, flaring out their fins and gill covers, to make themselves look bigger and much more harmful.) Normally one fish will acknowledge defeat and swim away, leaving the other male successful.
When we began caring for and fighting Betta fish, hostility was bred into them, but over the last few years, this trait has begun to get bred out of them.
Normally male Bettas will only attack other males. However it’s not totally unheard of for a male Betta fish to attack a new female or one that he feels insecure by, so it’s always a good idea to keep a watchful eye on your Betta fish when you first present another fish into your tank, or if you’re putting your Betta together with other fish.
Occasionally more aggressive Betta fish will nip or bite another fish.
So if you see this going on, take out the aggressive one immediately to avoid injuries.
How to Keep Your Betta Fish from Fighting:
There actually is only one way – don’t put two male Bettas within the same tank. If you should just have one tank and two male Bettas, you do have a few choices – the first is to use a "fish condo".
Fish Condos: They are clear plastic containers with air holes that allow the tank water flow through them. Based on the size of your tank, you may be able to easily fit in a two, three or four space condo. Each Betta fish has their own space, and you can put up visual barriers for instance plants or java moss to ensure that he can’t see the other Betta.
You can also put a single mesh divider in one area of your tank that should keep your male Betta fish segregated from each other

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This article is all about what fish can live with bettas happily and the issues bettas can have with other fish. First, you need to understand that bettas are a very independent kind of fish species. There are so many people who would love to add different kinds of fish to their aquarium but the thing that they need to know is that bettas are solitary and territorial fish that can be very aggressive when it comes to guarding their territory.

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If Your Fish Is Looking Sick
What to look for: if your fighting fish dies suddenly, or stops eating, is loosing its color and either spend abnormally long periods of time at the water surface or the bottom of the tank.
What this could mean: There could be 3 possible causes of these symptoms. Firstly the fish might be suffering from poisoning. This can occur when the water in the tank has not been treated for chlorine for example, or if the fish had contracted some form of bacterial or parasitic infection. Secondly the water might contain low oxygen levels which can adversely affect the fish and thirdly the symptoms could be the result of a bacterial disease.What can you do? If you suspect poison then you need to check the water in the tank for chlorine and other harmful chemicals. If you find traces of chlorine you will need to completely change all of the water in the tank, and replace it with aged water that you have previously prepared. Don’t forget to check the container you are storing the water in for contaminants as well.

If you suspect low oxygen levels in the water you may need to install an air pump. Although fighting fish do breathe air from the surface of the tank water, they still need a certain percentage of oxygen in the water as well. When testing oxygen levels do this in the morning when oxygen levels are at their lowest.

Keep a look out for Part Two of this post and we will be discussing what to look for an what you can do about it.

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What this could mean: If your fighting fish is loosing his colour it is likely that your fish is suffering from stress. This can be caused by changes in the water, a new addition to the tank that your fish does not like or problems with water temperature.

What the Fighting Fish owners failed to appreciate is though that firstly the puddles these fish were found in were quite large, and secondly there was a lot of clean, fresh water flowing through the puddles that kept the Fighting Fish water clean. A happy Fighting Fish needs at least a gallon of water to be happy in and a really happy Fighting Fish will love you if you give them more like 3 gallons a piece to live in.

Make sure your tank is wider than it is high

Fighting Fish come up to the surface of the water to breathe air so they need for the surface of their tank water to be wider than it is deep. Ideally you do not want to put Fighting Fish in tanks where the water is more than ten inches deep as then it will be too tiring for the fish to keep returning to the surface to breathe.

Make sure that the Fighting Fish tank water is clean

Fighting Fish do not need any fancy store bought or distilled water, but they do need to have water that is treated against chlorine and other additives. When you first set up your tank you will be told to get a small testing kit that will test for substances like ammonia and nitrites, and the pH balance of the water. The ammonia and nitrites are natural waste products from Fighting Fish and that needs to be kept in check. However you also need to contact your water company to find out what additives are put in your local tap water and get some conditioners from your local pet store or aquarium center to counteract these additives.

Understand the Nitrogen Cycle in your tank

The Nitrogen Cycle in a Fighting Fish tank is the process whereby good bacteria consumes ammonia and nitrites from thewaste products of the fish and keeps the tank water clean and livable for the fish. Three days after you have introduced your Fighting Fish to the tank you need to check the water for ammonia, nitrite and pH levels. Ideally you want your ammonia and nitrite levels as close to zero as possible and your pH levels between 6.8 and 7.0. When the second phase of the Nitrogen Cycle is in play your tank is breeding the positive bacteria it needs to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels low (or non-existent). In the third and final stage of the cycle is where the bacteria in the tank turn the nitrite into nitrates, which is a product your Fighting Fish is better able to handle in their water.

Do not over feed your fighting fish

Fighting Fish take a long time to grow and they don’t eat very much as they only have small digestive systems. Ideally you should feed your fish a small amount once per day (preferably in the evening) and you should only give your fish enough food that he can eat in two to three minutes. You should not leave food in the tank for them to consume later as all that happens in that case is that the bottom of the tank gets very dirty, very quickly and your Fighting Fish will probably get sick from it.

Keeping their tank clean, their water healthy for them and their food to a minimum will result in you having happy, healthy Fighting Fish for quite a while to come. All Fighting Fish need is a bit of care and attention: just like any other pet.

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Once you have got your tank and found a good place for it you need to clean the tank. This means scraping any algae from an old tank, and washing any residue and dust from a new tank. Don’t use any chemicals or soaps in the tank if you can help it because the residue from them can contaminate the water and make your fish quite ill. Use paper towels instead of cloths as well, unless you have cloths that are used specifically for the tank and do not have any chemical.

The first thing you need to decide is what size tank you are going to have. Fighting fish prefer bigger spaces to smaller ones, although some people did go through a phase of thinking that it was acceptable to keep fighting

fish in a vase or something similar. If you care about the health of your fish ideally you should have a minimum of 1 gallon of water per fish and an even better rule of thumb would be 3 gallons of water per fish. You also want your tank to be wider than it is deep. Fighting fish are surface breathers – they breathe air and it is a lot easier for them to get to the surface of the water if the tank size is not too deep. Do not have the water any deeper than ten inches at the very maximum.

The second thing you need to work out is where you are going to keep your tank. You do not want it in direct sunlight, nor should it be in a place that is constantly dark or shady. As much as possible it is a good idea to put the tank somewhere where the fish can experience natural light cycles: i.e. periods of daylight and night time dark. You also want to keep the tank somewhere sturdy because the water and tank combination is quite heavy and it is also a good idea to keep the tank away from electrical sound systems or televisions that can be turned up quite loud – the vibrations through the water is not good for your fish and can agitate them.

The key ingredient to fighting fit Fighting Fish is firstly the size of the tank you are keeping them in. Although Fighting Fish enjoyed a rush of popularity during the 1990s as "boutique" pets that could be kept in small vases, or bottles, in fact they need a minimum of one gallon of water in their tank (per fish). If you are hoping to breed Fighting Fish you would be better off investing in a ten gallon tank as there have never been any recorded problems with Fighting Fish who are in too large a container.

The second thing you need to remember is that Fighting Fish are a tropical fish, so if you live in a cold region then you will need to invest in a water heater for your tank. In fact you should probably have one regardless of where you live because the third key ingredient in keeping your Fighting Fish fighting fit is regular constant water temperature – ideally at 75 – 80 degrees Fahrenheit. One of the biggest mistakes people make with their Fighting Fish is when they are replacing some of the water in the tank (which should be done weekly) with water that is too cold or too hot for the Fighting Fish. If you notice your fish getting lethargic, and just staying down the bottom of the tank then it is likely your water temperature is not right.

It is also really important that you give your Fighting Fish the right type of food. Fighting Fish are carnivores and eat meat as a rule. They really love live food such as Brine Shrimp or Blood Worms, but if these are not available at your local pet store or breeder, you can feed them the freeze dried variety which is just as good. Another tip here is don’t over feed your Fighting Fish. They should be fed once a day, preferably in the evening, and they should get enough food that they can eat in about 2 – 3 minutes. Any food left on the surface of the tank water after 5 minutes should be removed.

Keeping your Fighting Fish fighting fit is not difficult if you follow a few standard routines in fish care, and keep any eye on the behavior of your fish. Because Fighting Fish are so responsive to their environment it is easy to see when there is something wrong with them, and with the right information you can put them right again, easily and quickly.