Tank size for females?
- Thread starter Briggan
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A couple of female bettas won't live peacefully. You need at least 4 with more being better.
With two, one will bully the other. With three, two will gang up on one. With four, no one subordinate female will be picked on constantly. But more that four spreads any aggression round further.
All the females should be added to the tank at the same time so they can sort out a pecking order. Any added afterwards will cause problems. And the tank should have lots of decor and tall plants to break the line of site and give the individual fish somewhere to hide.
Some females are worse than a lot of males for being aggressive. These females cannot share a tank. If you find you have a very aggressive female there is no option but to relocate her into her own tank - alone.
For a sorority of 4 females, 20 gallons/75 litres is the smallest I would use. For a bigger group, a bigger tank.
With two, one will bully the other. With three, two will gang up on one. With four, no one subordinate female will be picked on constantly. But more that four spreads any aggression round further.
All the females should be added to the tank at the same time so they can sort out a pecking order. Any added afterwards will cause problems. And the tank should have lots of decor and tall plants to break the line of site and give the individual fish somewhere to hide.
Some females are worse than a lot of males for being aggressive. These females cannot share a tank. If you find you have a very aggressive female there is no option but to relocate her into her own tank - alone.
For a sorority of 4 females, 20 gallons/75 litres is the smallest I would use. For a bigger group, a bigger tank.
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Thank you!
Would a group like that (4) do ok in a tank like the one from my other post? (20 gal hex tall, 6 neons, 2 platys)
If not, I’m perfectly ok with it.
I will also add that the store I get fish from already houses all of their female bettas in a large community tank.
Thanks again!
Would a group like that (4) do ok in a tank like the one from my other post? (20 gal hex tall, 6 neons, 2 platys)
If not, I’m perfectly ok with it.
I will also add that the store I get fish from already houses all of their female bettas in a large community tank.
Thanks again!
Tall tanks have less swimming length, and it is this which enables them to get away from each other more easily. They would be better in a shallow wide tank rather than a tall thin tank.
Edit:
Re-reading your post, do you mean is it OK to keep 4 female bettas in your current 20 gallon hex? If so, no. The tank is the wrong shape and long term the bettas should be just them in the tank. Shops can get away with it because they are not there for long enough for problems to start. You would need a second tank for a sorority of female bettas.
Edit:
Re-reading your post, do you mean is it OK to keep 4 female bettas in your current 20 gallon hex? If so, no. The tank is the wrong shape and long term the bettas should be just them in the tank. Shops can get away with it because they are not there for long enough for problems to start. You would need a second tank for a sorority of female bettas.
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