New Female betta

[Betta Lover]

Yesterday at my lfs, they had a beautiful albino female betta for sale.The only problem, is that my current four female bettas don't take very well to new fish especially female bettas. I'm afraid that my current female bettas will attack her, and damage her fins . Does anybody know how I can prevent this from happening ?
Betta Lover

 

[amez]

There isnt a way to prevent this, the only options u have is to try puttin the new betta in there, or just keeping her in her own tank. btw, how do u tell if it is a girl? jw. Good Luck!

 

[jaywings19]

btw, how do u tell if it is a girl?

The female bettas don't have long flowing fins like the males do. The females are sometimes in regular tanks at the stores... while the males are isolated in the "pee-sample cups."

Can't seem to find any pictures of females on aquarium websites this minute. They usually show the males because of the finnage.

 

[Betta Lover]

Well she has short fins, and she is in a tank with other female bettas, but she stands out from all of the rest . I'm going to bring her home tomorrow so that she can meet her new tankmates .

Betta Lover

 

[Alia]

I have read that before putting a male in with a female (or females), he has to "see" the other fish for about a week, by having their "homes" side by side or using a divider. I am going to try this with my bettas before I put them together. It might also work with females. I'd hate to see you bring home a treasured fish and have the others gang up on her. You might want to just try it.

 

[LiquidLife]

It depends on your fish, of course. First, make sure your girl tank is large enough for additional fish; if your resident girls feel they are overcrowded with an additional inmate, they will not take kindly to her no matter what you do. If the tank is big enough, what we do is put the new girl in a clear tank/container and "float" it inside the big tank so everyone can look at each other, get used to seeing each other--for a week or two (no shortcuts). What we mean by "float" is, we have these large "Specimen containers" made of clear plastic that hold about 1/3 gallon of water, they have this plastic hook-like affair at the top edge that goes over the side of the tank so there's no chance of it submerging. Only fill the container no higher than 1/2" from the top (less of a chance the new girl will jump out). Clean the smaller container daily because the waste will build up fast and you don't want her getting sick. Usually, the resident girls will get all excited and try to get at her but after a day or two, they get used to the sight of her and come to ignor her. By the end of a week (2 weeks of one fish seems to continue to try to attack new girl), usually everyone is so used to seeing each other that you can release the new fish in with the other girls. There'll still be a bit of pecking order being established once she's among the rest but it should settle down fast. This isolation will also give you a chance to make sure the new girl hasn't brought any fungus/bacteria/parasites with her and gives her a chance to get used to new surroundings.

 

[Betta Lover]

Well I put my new albino female betta in my 20 gallon community aquarium today, and she did GREAT .There was a little flaring at first, and a few nips , but everything turned out okay .I was a little nervous at first but once I saw that there wasen't going to be a fight, I felt better.Even my peacock gudgeons did okay, and they usually nip at new fish.

Betta Lover

P.S. my new female betta is fitting in just fine , and she looks just gorgeous in my community Aquarium !!!

 

[Alia]

Liquid Life, would you do the same thing when adding a male to a tank with females? The tank is 10 gallons, and I intend for it to be well-planted so that the females will have cover. I had two females but one unfortunately had an accident with trying to fit through a too small hole and died The offending decoration has been removed. I was planning to add the male next, with the tank divider, but now I will have to get another female first and give them some time to adjust. You gave Betta Lover such a thorough answer, I thought perhaps you could also help me.

 

[Crusty Barnacle]

Female Betta