Intro'ing new female

[CraZ4fiSHieS]

Just wondering, how can you tell what is normal dominance behavior and what is threatening or attacking that is dangerous? How long should I supervise? I dont know cause my first 2 bettas did really well together when they were thrown into the tank by emergancy rescue from a blue lobster! Amazing the bonding "sisters" will do when their lives are at risk! Just curious cause my new female is in a bag adjusting to the tank temp right now (the other 2 girls are thoroughly checking her out and showing her its their territory!) Any advicce would be helpful.

 

[Kryten]

Females are not really too territorial. It is best that you have plenty of foliage in the tank for the newly acquired fish, so that she can hide if she feels threatened. Make sure that you turn the tank lights off during and for up to two hours after the fish is put in the tank. This will help disract the current inhabitants

You might also try dropping the favourite food in to distract the current fishies, again taking the attention off the new addition.

All of this is particularly important if the two current females are nudging the bag with the new fish in. They may circle the bag and the fish once out of the bag. If they are aggressive, the hidey hole or shelter mentioned above will give somewhere to retreat to until the females recognise that their new roomie is harmless