female bettas

[Angelfish12]

I really have a good interest in betta fish. I am new fish betta fish and I would like some advice! I was thinking o f mabey setting up a 20g tank of female bettas. Would they be really agressive towards eachother or would they be peaceful? How many females could I add?

thanks,
Kelly

[Diana]

Most Betta females are pretty good in a community tank. There will always be one though, that wants to boss the others around. Watch for that one, perhaps remove her. Some females can get as aggressive as a male. A well planted tank will give them some room to get out of each others' site. Much better than a wide open upper area where they all swim around staring at each other all the time.

Look in the stores. When they are kept with other fish (Bettas or not) buy the ones that are in the middle range for behavior. You do not want the one hiding in the corner, and you do not want the one that has taken over the tank.

HOWEVER:

If it is your goal to breed Bettas, breed GOOD Bettas, not pet store quality fish. There are already too many of those low quality fish.
Buy your breeding stock from a reputable breeder, perhaps someone who shows their fish and is known for quality.
This means you will be paying more money for your breeding stock, and you may not want to risk them in a community tank.

[Angelfish12]

Oh, that you for the advice. Would a 10 gallon tank be ok for more than 3?

[ruthcatrin]

not really, and 3 is the minimum number of female bettas you want to keep together, the more fish the more the aggression is spread out, the less everyone gets picked on. A 20g would be better, you could do 6 or 7 bettas.

In either case add lots of plants and hideys to the tanks. Hidey holes can be store bought fish caves or decor, or plain clay pots, HOWEVER if there are holes in them (pots OR decor!) that look like they might be to small for an adult betta (the size of your 2yr old male!) to go through comfortablely they need to be blocked in some way, aquarium silicone works well, or you WILL loose a betta that got stuck trying to go through the hole. By doing this you give them hiding places, and "landmarks" with which to create territories for themselves.

If you buy store bought females they may be more aggressive, they've often been kept seperated long enough that they forgot how to interact and have to re-learn. If you're buying from a breeder, let the breeder know you plan to keep the females in a sorority (or group tank, same difference) and ask for females that haven't been (or only recently) seperated out from the rest. If possible try to get females that have been already living together at the breeder's as they will already know each other and have a pecking order sorted out.