Surprise male in my betta sorority?

[MoonstruckMuse]

So, I'm spending a lot of my summer away from home, and needed a tank that I could take down and move with ease. I hadn't played with a tank under 40 gallons anytime recently (aka, past 2 years), but I broke out my 7 gallon hex and figured that it could be fun anyhow.

Long story short, I decided to set up that tank as a small betta sorority - I've never done one before, but they're pretty and I'm a sucker for fish with personality (I usually spawn cichlids). The Petco in the neighborhood turned me out with 4 nice looking females - a steel blue, cambodian, turquoise, and a red. It's also planted, something that I miss with cichlids, it seems.

They've all settled in nicely (it's been 3 weeks now), and the dominance hierarchy's pretty well set. Red > Turq > Cambodian > Steel, it seems. They're all eating well, the tails and missing scales have mostly grown back, and minus the occasional flare at each other, they seem to get along.

However, the red's definitely can be a meanie... and recently started building a very thick bubblenest. Seems to guard it, and work on it constantly... and I've beena bit confused. She doesn't seem to have an oviposter, and her fins seem a tad bit long for a VT female... Could I just have a very young male?

I didn't take pictures of her/him specifically, but here they are when I was introducing them all.

Red at bottom, right (in cup), left (in cup), and then at top cup in the order of the photos. Does she look a little too much like a he?

I'm a little lost at what I should do IF she is indeed a he. They're getting along great right now, and though I have places I can put him (or the three hers), I'm hesitant to take action if there's no need. Besides, a sorority with just three is bad, right?
Give me your feedback, pretty please <3

 

[H2Ogal]

First, congrats on the betta love. I do warn you, they are addictive!

Now for some info ...

Females can build bubble nests, and fin length isn't the most accurate indicator of gender. If fishie #4 is definitely mature and does not have an ovipositor, however, it sounds like a male and should be separated from the females. Actually, odd numbers are good, so three females is actually than better than four — but five is much safer than three, as it helps spread out the aggression. Trios can go wrong very fast if one of them is injured, falls ill or dies and two are left to battle things out.

Your 7g hex, unfortunately, is not a good tank for a sorority. It's too small, and the tall narrow footprint is wrong for bettas, which need unfettered access to the surface. A long footprint will make it much easier for them to establish territories and co-exist peacefully.

Bottom line, I'd leave the male in the 7g hex and move the three females into a traditional 10g.

 

[Piranha86]

I agree with H2O. The fish does look a little male-ish, but if it's a female, that would be great stock to breed. The 7g is a bit small, leave the he-she in there and put the rest in a 10g. 10's are pretty cheap, try Wal-Mart.

 

[fishycat]

You've been given great advice already, ditto on setting up the sorority in a bigger (10g+) tank (and more girls, 4 at least). I've never seen a male veiltail with such short fins... but oviposter is the telltale. Perhaps more pics?

 

[MoonstruckMuse]

Actually, I'm wondering if the "male" is a very young crowntail? I've taken some more photos, attached at the end. His tail seems very evenly balanced.

I do realize that a tall tank is the wrong footprint for these guys - they were going to get moved to my 46g planted tank once the summer was over. I just need some fish in my room, and all the other ones were far worse to put in a tank like this. I figured that if it wasn't turning out well after a few hours or a day, I'd bring them back. However, they seem to have established territories nicely and don't seem to chase the others when they do go up to breathe. Aggression and such is well spread out, no one's missing too much finnage, and it all seems good. Trust me when I say that if I thought they were being overly aggressive, I would figured out something to do (aka, move them to separate tanks).

I guess my question is more like... they're all getting along right now. Should I go ahead and add another female or two to try and get the "correct" balance of females, when the current set up seems to be working for now? I'm not talking about the future - they WILL be separated into the red in the hex and the other females in the big tank like I mentioned.

Pretty colors!

Confirmation on finnage?