another compatibility question

[Kittycat]

I got myself some female bettas with the plan of putting them in community. I had 4 perfect for my 10 gal, unfortunately while I was still waiting for them to get to similar sizes, one of my favorite girls was able to jump (I had a glass cover over her container, but apparently she was small enough to fit through the gap I left for air ) and died. So now I have only 3.

I'm open to adding another one to make the number 4 again, but I was wondering if I could possibly keep these 3 together without much mishap. My choices are either to go with the 10 gal, put 3 females in there, OR I can put them in my main community tank, a 50 gal. Would the much bigger space help dispelling the aggression and make the small number ok to keep together? Or would you guys still recommend getting a 4th female?

Also, if I can keep them in my 50 gal, which of these fishes would they not get along with (for me to move somewhere else if needed):

Blue rams
dwarf neon rainbows
ottos

 

[sylvia]

They should get along with all those fish but I would suggest getting 3 more females for the 10 gallon instead. Adding just one would mean the initial aggression of re-settling the hierarchy would be centered mainly around the one new female. They would also benefit from having more fish in there to disperse the aggression further. Putting them in the larger tank may also work but I'd still suggest you add at least 2 more.

 

[Murdoc]

I find that the more of other non-betta fish there are, and around 2 or 3 female bettas in the tank, sometimes the non-betta fish become a bit more agressive. My one female was in with 5 mollies and some neons and they beat her up.

Now I have the females separated and the mollies all died... I can't explain that one. I cant even own other types of fish without them dying on me.


I know if you were to put male bettas in with the neons, the males might get a bit more agressive. I also dont know if the ottos are agressive fish.. what you could do is put the females into the community tank and then just keep an eye on the agression levels. If it gets out of hand, remove the females, and if its just a few nips here and there (which usually means they're figuring out what the hell the other fish is doing there) then leave them for a bit longer.

Did any of that make any sense

 

[Kittycat]

Thanks, sylvia and murdoc! I'll take the safe route, then, and add one more girl before putting them into the community at the same time. They're in individual containers right now, because one of the girls (who died) had been too small to put in with the others before.

 

[Synirr]

I've kept 3 females together before without any mishaps, but that's probably because the fourth member of the party jumped out of the tank and died during the short period of time I forgot to close the lid one day. They already had an established pecking order... Currently, I have 6 females together in a 10 gallon, and even when I added the last two females (one at a time,) I never saw any nipped or split fins. I guess I just got lucky with this set . My alpha female, Ellen, likes to keep a friendly tank