Female bettas?

[Ptrick125]

Have y'all ever put a few female bettas together in a community tank?

I have a 10 gallon with 2 Florida flagfish, 2 guppies, and 1 Corrydayas catfish. It is lightly planted with a plant I got from my mom's pond. (ID?)
(the blackskirt tetra in that picture has been moved to my 20 gallon, and it is with 5 other blackskirts in a school)


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[ssuchem13]

that looks like hornwort to me

 

[Ptrick125]

that looks like hornwort to me

Thanks! I looked it up and the pictures match


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[Jumko]

It may or may not work, depending on the bettas' personalities. You have a much better shot using females that have been raised together and never been separated. It's my theory that once separated, even female bettas learn to be aggressive and territorial. They're much more docile when kept together since birth. If you plan on using random females, it's much more of a toss up. Honestly, I wouldn't try it unless you have a back-up plan in case it doesn't work out.

 

[jpappy789]

IMHO adding more than a single female in a 10g is pushing it, especially since you already have flagfish (which are known to be temperamental) and guppies already...and with females you cannot have less than three if you do a group.

I personally think a 20 long is the smallest size for a sorority tank, but that is JMO. Definitely have a backup.

 

[BettaFishMommy]

three females in a 10 gallon with other fish would definitely not be a good idea - too small a space and aggression issues could arise. i'm in the same school of thought as jpappy, betta sororities (where more than one female betta are housed together) should never be less than 20 gallons, and with plenty of decor so the bettas can get out of each other's line of sight and have their own lil territories. there are times when a female can be even more aggressive than a male.

one female as a centrepiece would work well in your tank though.

 

[JamieMonster]

IMHO adding more than a single female in a 10g is pushing it, especially since you already have flagfish (which are known to be temperamental) and guppies already...and with females you cannot have less than three if you do a group. I personally think a 20 long is the smallest size for a sorority tank, but that is JMO. Definitely have a backup.

Agreed with the no less than 3- preferably 4 or more. I have a sorority tank up and running. It's a 10 gallon with 5 girls in there (20 would be fine, too), but there is a really specific way you have to do it... #1 is it really should be heavily planted/decorated so they aren't in each others' faces all the time. You need to have ALL other tank inhabitants established in the tank, or they may swarm, harass, and kill new additions after they are established in there. Then you have to purchase and add them at exactly the same time, so no one can claim territory over the tank. They then sort out a pecking order, like cichlids will do- after they sort out who is who, and all of that, they are pretty much completely peaceful together (unlike a lot of cichlids). I recommend having a breeder net for them, in case you need to give someone a time out, and stresscoat for the torn fins you will definitely see. You can still get the occasional little tiff here and there and a few torn fins, but, they usually settle down pretty quickly. I would say you'd be overstocked with a betta colony going on in there, too- and I would take j-pappy's advice about the flag fish and bettas (I've never had flag fish, but my girls are CRAZY, and can be really aggressive! Much more so than my male betta, who has his own tank.) That's just my opinion, and what I've seen over the past 6-7 mos of running this sorority tank. I agree, if you attempt it, have a back up plan.

 

[jpappy789]

Yep, when I added 6 to my 30 gallon it took about a week or so for them to work out their pecking order...and even then there were the occasional squabbles. They were the last ones added, but just by chance so I never noticed any bad behavior towards other fish.

 

[psyche]

I have kept female bettas together, but would be worried about their response to flagfish. The dynamics can be funny. My bettas were bullied by a gambusia. So even a very uppity guppy could cause complete chaos.