Banggais pairing?

[IFbettas]

People rarely visit the breeding forum so I thought I'd post this here...

I've been trying to get a pair of banggai cardinals for quite a while. Back in March or April of this year, I got 2 banggais. One of them killed the other, so I guess they were both the same sex. I then got 2 more. One of them was dead the next morning, and then when I put the other one in with the original cardinal he was killed too. A few months ago I got a really small banggai about 1" long. I have been keeping him in a different tank from the original banggai who is about 3" long.

Tonight I decided to put the larger banggai in the same tank (55 gallons) as the smaller one to see if I might get a pair. The smaller one has now grown to maybe 2" and is probably sexually mature. The smaller one has been following the bigger one nonstop. He often puffs out his jaw and then goes on the side of the larger one. The larger one just slowly swims away from the little one, but the little one keeps following him. Is this a good sign, or bad? Thanks.

 

[cubsFAN]

i just got what i believe to be a pair recently. They came from a group of five at the store and seemed kind of paired up. they have been in my tank about 2 weeks and are showing the same swimming behavior as yours. havent noticed the puffed out jaw. Mine don't appear as though they would hurt one another. they appear to be best friends, but will seperate for short periods of time. my fish are 2 1/2 and 1 1/2 inches.

 

[IFbettas]

Thanks for your response!

I've been watching them for the past half hour, and I've noticed something else. After displaying for a little while the smaller one will sometimes go underneath the larger one and nip the anal fin. It's not a bite, but a light nip. The larger one then sometimes puffs out its jaw too, but not as much as the little one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is pairing behavior...