Betta Sorority failed

P

Plague

O.o
Aug 4, 2010
718
0
0
Miami, Fl
Sigh... my 10g betta sorority of 5 females failed. For the past 2 weeks the girls have ganged up on one lone female. From observing it seems that they all have territory except for one, the one being picked on. I was told that a 10g wouldn't work but I was sure of it that I could make it work. So now I have 4 fully healthy females and one nipped up. Since I don't have the space or tanks to separate I did the next best thing.

I moved my king betta male from my 55g and put him in the 10g while moving the sorority into my 55g. The sorority wasn't an issue of compatibility but an issue of space. The fact that all the females had space but one of them had to keep moving because she kept entering other turfs made it fail. I'm banking on the fact that my 55g is heavily planted and very spacious. I didn't want to do this because my 55g is already at maximum stock. Luckily it is only high on bioload. All my fish in the tank are small so there is plenty of room. Adding the girls really did nothing on removing space but now I need to be changing even more water.

Meanwhile my king betta is very pissed that he went from a big 55g to a little 10g. He is very docile and I can add other fish but for now I've decided to let things be. I've been so busy with school and errands that I haven't had time to react. But today I decided enough is enough and took action. Hopefully this will work out or I am forced to donate the females.
 
why not put the male in the big tank to court the LADEEZ :hearts::cheers::hearts:
 
You could try furnishing the tank with a lot of dense plants and hiding spots for the females. Ideally, the tank would be so dense that they wouldn't be able to see each other if they kept to their own territory. Think of an extremely thick forest of plants. Another suggestion would be to actually add more females. Much like what cichlid owners do, the idea is that there won't be enough space to establish their individual territories, actually dispersing aggression. However, whether or not you wish to put your females in that situation is up to you.

How big is the lone female? Is she the smallest? If you have the room, perhaps think of picking up a 2.5 gallon tank and keeping the king betta in there. Raise the lone female in the 10g tank and give her time to establish her own territory and grow healthier/larger. Once she's a little bigger, try adding back the other females in order of least aggressive to most aggressive over the course of a couple of days.
 
The females are actually all similar size. They are doing fine in the 55g while the king male is lonely in his 10g. It actually worked out pretty well so far.

Some odd behaviors I've noted: Females in the big tank are schooling? Where ever the alpha female goes, the group follows. They also didn't establish a new pecking order so I figure they keep the order they have until someone challenges. I've also noticed the girls dance more for my attention -_-. I just feel sorry for my king male who is lonely in his little ten gallon. He isn't even swimming around much.
 
Did you happen to try rearranging the plants on a regular basis? I do it once a week or so, and it seems to keep my females in line. The also do the schooling thing for a few days afterwards.
 
My sorority failed also, but not until they were in the tank together for months. I'm thinking age = aggressiveness. I could be wrong tho. I now have a female betta in every tank in this house (I'm only up to 7 planted tanks and a jar).
 
Perhaps their behavior is more natural because they've got enough space - so they can be social together because they are not "all up in each others' grille".

This is a rather nice solution, although you say you're over stocked. Upon first reading I would've suggested removing the single picked-on female to see how the rest of the tank fared... then I'd set up another tank for the loner (and perhaps get her other fishy friends). Yay for MTS! :D

It's adorable that your king betta is lonely being by himself - I love social bettas! *ahem* Did someone say MTS? :grinyes: 10g for the lonely female, and a 20L for the king betta & friends! Do eet! :laugh:
 
Well for now I don't have the financial ability to do anything. I just bought a $300 bass and some cheapo amp. Wanna learn to play. But when I do have the time I'll think about what to do with the king betta in his ten gallon. He typically likes to lay in the plants like hammocks and lay on my cories or pleco. Now that he is alone he just sits in a corner. Looks like he sighs all the time. Really has nothing to do in there :( I would so put him in the 55g with the females but I'm afraid something will happen. I've heard of people doing it but there so little stories out there it just seems more like a psuedo myth.

I can always make my 10g shrimp safe and do some shrimpy stuff. My king betta really doesn't care if there are stuff around him. He just likes to feel like he is a King of something.
 
Try adding some indian almond leaf into the tank - it works wonders. Also try using a mirror to play with him a couple minutes a day. Don't worry about the mirror stressing him as long as you only keep it to a couple minutes a day. If your filter creates a lot of current, slow it down enough so that he can build a bubble nest. Ideally, this would all stimulate some territorial/breeding behavior in the male. Hopefully, he'll build a bubble nest and patrol his territory - giving him some purpose and something to do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom