Are You Able To Keep Female Bettas Together?

[Amberleaf]

I'm just curious about other peoples' experiences. :3 I happen to keep bettas myself, and up until a little while ago I DID have some female bettas together in a tank in my room -- everything went HAYWIRE. I'll tell you why:

I set up my filtered 10-gallon on my birthday. My Mom said that maybe we should wait for it to cycle, but I was too excited; I figured that wouldn't take more than a few hours and dragged her out the door promptly about 12 hours after setting up the tank.

....BIG mistake?! I should THINK so....

I got three female bettas and put them in there. Later, I put my first-ever betta, Tropica (who was living alone; I had tried to house her with 2 other fish but we had to move them), in the tank.

Things went down-hill from there. I had four fish: Royal, Queenie, Metamorphic Rock (now just called Metamorphix ), and Tropica. About two weeks later, Royal got sick.... She sat in the corner of the tank, by the surface, and had a red line going down her body. I found out a little while later that she had ammonia poisoning, because I hadn't let the tank cycle properly; I had isolated her but let the ammonia build up in the jar she was staying in (my net was too wide to get all the stuff out; the jar's opening was too narrow D:, so she died. ;-;

After Royal's death, everything was fine for a little while.... Until, of course, Tropica just HAD to be really bloated, and she got sick, I guess, and Metamorphix nearly KILLED her. D I put her in a little container, but she died anyway. I was, literally, DEVASTATED. My first-ever betta fish, DEAD!!!! *le cries*

Now, my Mom has a tank downstairs, and she had two female betta fish in it at the time -- Aqua and Taffy. She ALSO had some sort of silver danio, and a white cloud minnow (who I thought was a tetra at the time....).

Metamorphic began bossing Queenie around. She scared her and nearly killed her. My Mom and I decided to move her into the tank downstairs and she's been fine and happy ever since. :3 Those three get along JUST FINE....

After that, we left Metamorphic alone in the 10-gal for a few days, until we FINALLY moved her into a 5-gallon on my shelf.

Later, when I was asking on Y! Canada Answers if maybe I should start over the tank (since so much had already gone wrong by then) and how to do it (My Mom had been suggesting it!), and some idiot told me I didn't know anything and that I sucked and that I shouldn't listen to my Mom, like, at ALL; well, I screwed THAT idea.

Now, since I have stocked up my 10-gallon with OTHER fish, I moved Metamorphic back in there and renamed her Metamorphix; I just kind of like that name BETTER.

WELL.... Sorry that I wrote so much; I just tend to write a lot when I get agitated. XD I will *never EVER* not let a tank cycle its filter properly AGAIN; no matter if it is my birthday and I want to quickly rush out to Big Al's and buy some fish or not.... I have learned my lesson; I will be more careful next time. :3 (If my Mom ever lets me, to breed my platies I will have to get yet ANOTHER 10-gallon or 5-gallon tank! XD)

 

[Chinito]

Sorry to hear about your feeshies dying. But to answer your topic, i would say it all depends on the temper of your female bettas. i have 8 females now that i have in my tank, and they all get along fine. just make sure theres enough plants and hiding spots for them for when they have to retreat from being bullied from. Also when you put your females together, try to put them all in at the same time, for territorial purposes. or if you cant, try to rearrange the ornaments around in the tank, so it resets their territorries. Also, the first couple of days, they will be chasing and nipping at each other, to set up a pecking order etc, which is noraml, as long as you see them not being really aggressive. i have mine 8 females with a school of 9 tetras and 1 pearlscale.

 

[Assaye]

Whether or not you can keep girls together depends on the girls. Some will work fine in a group, some won't. You need at least 4-6 to start off with - even if a smaller group seems fine there is bound to be some bullying go on, and it can turn nasty at any time. That's true of all female groups, but more likely of the group is small.

Also, things are more likely to get nasty if there is a problem in the tank. Small, weak or sick fish are more likely to be picked on, and general unrest in the tank from disease/stress can make tempers fray more easily.

You've learned your lesson - always cycle the tank and always keep on top of ammonia/nitrite tests and water changes.

 

[Assaye]

** double post **

 

[Aequora]

I have four female Betta (the fifth-and oldest-just passed away) in a tank with one unusually placid male Betta and two female guppy + assorted aged fry. You will find with Bettas that they really are their own human-sized personality in a small fish package. I have seven males all together. Two are new, so I have yet to identify their personality. My red dragon male is a champion bubble blower and tries to foam the entire surface of his tank with a huge nest. My platinum and red double-tail male loves to sleep on his side. My iridescent marble butterfly male attacks the gravel in his own tank to make sure it stays in line. My black milano male likes to shuffle premature live plant pods across the bottom of his tank and rearrange them .. and strangest of all? My white opaque male is the ultimate father figure. He's the one that gets the luxury of living in the tank with the guppy fry because he'll keep the female Betta away from them. Strange? Very! He's far more tempted to build a nest and herd the youngest and smallest guppy fry under it then he is to entertain the idea of chasing them or eating them. He'll chase the other fish in the tank away during feeding time and allow the fry to eat first and he gets very huffy if the other fish are chasing HIS babies. Go figure! He won't make a nest for a female and have his own fry, but he'll play father to my 16+ guppy fry. XD

Now, it's all about the fish's attitude and that can only be determined by trial and error. My current four female Betta all live in a tank with guppies, mollies, bamboo shrimp, ghost shrimp and plecs; everything and anything I have in there until my show tank and Betta tanks are finished. With aggressive fish, you will always have at least ONE tank bully. You have to be the judge of the damage caused by the bully. Are they constantly nipping fins on fish you would like to use in a show tank-or keep from getting fin rot and infection? If so, remove them! Or are they just assertive? There's a difference between the dominate tank personality and the tank bully. Make sure you always have a back up tank plan for whatever fish you add. If you buy a new fish or aquatic creature (Shrimp, frog, etc) you need to make sure you have a suitable home for them just in case they don't 'fit' in with the established community you have.

Always do your homework before you impulse buy. I would recommend looking at those 'compatibility charts', but don't trust in them 100% because I have two smooth-running tanks that contradict the facts on those charts. It's all about trial and error. You've had your trial and made your first error, now it's time for a change of plans! As a side note, sit and watch your fish interact. The more you do it, the more you'll notice their habits and quirks and the more addicted you will become to watching them. Then, once you know your fish on a personal level, you'll be able to make more informed decisions about their tank suitability.

 

[jasminekiddell]

I have 10 female bettas in a 20G and it works great, all fish get along fine. But when i first tryed out 3 bettas there was so much agressive fighting so i seperated them, then when i got 7 more bettas and bulked up my tank and added them they all get along fine, and i only see the odd fighting every now and then. So really i would say it depends on the fish.
Even if you think things will work out always research and ask around first. Also as soon as you set up a female tank there is fighting for the first day or so as the fish are working out whos boss etc, i had this ism yt ank between my biggest females and now them 2 females seem to get along fine.
Also as said above they have personalities, i have one fish that continuously plays in the bubbles from the air stone, another fish just loves flaring at everyone and lurking around etc. Its good to notice the different personalities so you notice a change if their is one.