Females betta attacking

I got two blue female betta first then a couple weeks later I got two red ones. I’ve noticed lately that one of the red ones is chasing one of the blue ones. This particular red betta I have noticed on several occasions chases the same blue betta.

Today I went to look at my fish tank and noticed of of the blue ones hurt. What should I do? How do I treat this? Do I treat the whole tank or do I separate it? (I think I separate it but I only have big a jar and no extra heater).

Also in the long run do I take the red one out and put it in another tank (not that I have one free at the moment)?

Here are some photos of my hurt fish and a video. The video isn’t uploading sorry.

Here is another picture

Ideally you should get all the females together, then they can sort out the pecking order. If you get 2, they decide which one is dominant. Then you add 2 more and they have to re-sort out the dominance order. They do this by chasing and nipping. And the dominant female of the first pair sees the new ones as invaders; they don't like that so they challenge the dominant female. This is what is happening in your tank now.
Some females are more aggressive than males, and the red one could be one of these. Such females can never live in a sorority and must be kept alone. If things don't settle down, you will have to remove her.
But that will leave three females, a bad number. They should be kept in groups of at least four. If you do remove the red one and get another, you will need to be careful about the way you introduce the new fish


When new females are added to a tank that already has females, you should bag the ones already there (separately) then totally rearrange the tank. Once the tank is rearranged, you put all the bettas, old and new, into the tank at the same time. The theory is that because nothing looks the same, they all start off on a level playing field for sorting out the pecking order. It doesn't always work, though.

essjay said:

Ideally you should get all the females together, then they can sort out the pecking order. If you get 2, they decide which one is dominant. Then you add 2 more and they have to re-sort out the dominance order. They do this by chasing and nipping. And the dominant female of the first pair sees the new ones as invaders; they don't like that so they challenge the dominant female. This is what is happening in your tank now.
Some females are more aggressive than males, and the red one could be one of these. Such females can never live in a sorority and must be kept alone. If things don't settle down, you will have to remove her.
But that will leave three females, a bad number. They should be kept in groups of at least four. If you do remove the red one and get another, you will need to be careful about the way you introduce the new fish


When new females are added to a tank that already has females, you should bag the ones already there (separately) then totally rearrange the tank. Once the tank is rearranged, you put all the bettas, old and new, into the tank at the same time. The theory is that because nothing looks the same, they all start off on a level playing field for sorting out the pecking order. It doesn't always work, though.

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Thank you for that information. I’ll go and get some more fish tomorrow.

So I’ve taken out the blue hurt one for the moment and she is in a bowl (temporary of course). I think the bowl is less than a litre unfortunately but I’m looking at buying a 150L tank tomorrow. It’s got no filter, heater or light though as of yet.

Should I treat her with anything? I’ve read some other posts in these forum and some say treat with salt. How much? And how often should I do water changes? I found she is still eating, I fed her a few thawed out blood worms tonight.

You can use a little salt but be sure it is dissolved really well since she has an open wound. You can also swab the wound with a little methylene blue. Keep her water pristine. Lots of water changes. As essjay suggested, move everything around in the tank to make sure it looks like a new tank when adding fish. This cuts down aggression because they all feel like they are the new guy. I had one female that just couldn’t live in a community. I had to put her in a tank alone. Do you have lots of plants in the tank to break the view and give each fish a place to hide and rest? Lots of caves too. Good luck!

essjay said:

Ideally you should get all the females together, then they can sort out the pecking order. If you get 2, they decide which one is dominant. Then you add 2 more and they have to re-sort out the dominance order. They do this by chasing and nipping. And the dominant female of the first pair sees the new ones as invaders; they don't like that so they challenge the dominant female. This is what is happening in your tank now.
Some females are more aggressive than males, and the red one could be one of these. Such females can never live in a sorority and must be kept alone. If things don't settle down, you will have to remove her.
But that will leave three females, a bad number. They should be kept in groups of at least four. If you do remove the red one and get another, you will need to be careful about the way you introduce the new fish


When new females are added to a tank that already has females, you should bag the ones already there (separately) then totally rearrange the tank. Once the tank is rearranged, you put all the bettas, old and new, into the tank at the same time. The theory is that because nothing looks the same, they all start off on a level playing field for sorting out the pecking order. It doesn't always work, though.

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Reminds me of my chickens... #realhousewifesofthefishtank

This is my tank at the moment but these plants are coming out because they are dying and not sure why. I will get some new and different plants to help it look different

This morning the red troublemaker was playing up again in full force so I went out bought some different plants and got 6 more girls. I took the other girls out, separated them, then I changed up the tank. I put them in all at once, new and old, and they are all behaving so far, fingers crossed!! I got a few more red one and different colours but now I can’t tell which one was playing up. Hopefully that’s the end of the fighting!!

I hope I didn’t over do it with 6 extras because I think I had 9 fish already in there.
3 kuhli loaches
2 bumblebees and
4 female bettas
And now 10 female bettas altogether

Here is an update version of my revamped tank

If they keep fighting get more plants to break up the view. I know you just got more but in a sorority it has to be thick. Here’s a pic of my sorority to get an idea.

Deanasue said:

If they keep fighting get more plants to break up the view. I know you just got more but in a sorority it has to be thick. Here’s a pic of my sorority to get an idea.

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Thanks! I was going to get more but there weren’t many plants left. I’ll see how they go.

Deanasue said:

If they keep fighting get more plants to break up the view. I know you just got more but in a sorority it has to be thick. Here’s a pic of my sorority to get an idea.

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Your Betta tank looks amazing! I can tell it’s very well maintained.

Deanasue said:

If they keep fighting get more plants to break up the view. I know you just got more but in a sorority it has to be thick. Here’s a pic of my sorority to get an idea.

Click to expand...

I haven’t bought anymore plants yet. Just wondering what kind of plants are in your tank?? Looks really cool and a variety of plants. I wanted my tank to look like this but there’s not much of a choice at my pet shop. Are they hardy plants? -I’m good at killing them!!!

Lol! I’m not the best either at growing plants. I stick mostly to Amazon Swords and Anubias. If you look closely, I put a lot of silk plants in too. I squeezed them in between the live plants. If you don’t use fertilizer, then anacharis is good too but it melts with Flourish and Excel. Good luck!

Woody781 said:

Are they hardy plants? -I’m good at killing them!!!

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Do you have a light on the aquarium and if so, how many watts is it and how long is it on for?

Most aquarium plants like a bit of light and if you only have the light on for a couple of hours a day, they struggle. If the light doesn't have a high enough wattage they can struggle too. Try having the tank lights on for 12 hours a day.
If you get lots of green algae then reduce the light by an hour a day and monitor the algae over the next 2 weeks.
If you don't get any green algae on the glass then increase the lighting period by an hour and monitor it.
If you get a small amount of algae then the lighting time is about right.

Some good plants to try include Ambulia, Hygrophila polysperma, H. ruba/ rubra, Elodia (during summer but don't buy it in winter), Hydrilla, common Amazon sword plant, narrow Vallis, water sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta).

The water sprite normally floats on the surface but can also be planted in the substrate. The other plants should be planted in the gravel.

If you add an iron based aquarium plant fertiliser, it will help most aquarium plants do well. The liquid iron based fertilisers tend to be better than the tablet forms, although you can push the tablets under the roots of plants and that works well.

I use Sera Florena liquid plant fertiliser but there are other brands too.

Do not bother adding carbon fertiliser to the tank because they are not necessary.