4 Female Bettas In A 6 Gallon Problem

[jollysue]

My suggestion would be to change the thread title to attract more notice of the new problems. I'm not great at IDing male/female. Ladies do often establish pecking order. There must be an Alpha, and she has to establish her dominance. It takes a few days. The ones being chased need very much to be able to get out of her way. Generally a 10 usg with five ladies and five territories for each lady is what is recommended. It seems like 4 in six usg should work, but if one lady is extra aggressive then she only has 3 ladies to peck at. 5 works because the aggression is spread out. Your lady may need more room and more girls to keep her pecking spread out. Make caves and hidy spots so they don't face each other. Was this lady in the tank for any time before the others? Betta are very territorial.

5 in 10usg is 2 gals per lady. 4 in 6usg is only 1.5 usg. This group of girls may just not be able to adjust to that density.

Over crowding is not just based on the fish per inch, waste, water quality issue. It is also what closeness the fish can tolerate without stressing.

 

[wendywc]

Well, I bought a couple of caves and put the more aggressive one back in. I guess they're all female; it's just that I had no idea female bettas were that aggressive. I can tell it's better with the caves. I'll just keep watching through out the week. Thanks Sue and everyone for your help.

 

[jollysue]

Finger crossed and breath held.

The sorority is really fun once the balance is right.

 

[wendywc]

Thanks!

Here's the tank redone. And of course the alpha/aggressive in front.

Here's her upclose. The pic makes her gills look weird. Does this look normal? I better look in person.

And here's the other 3. All of them have really vibrant colors compared to when I first got them.

If it doesn't work this week, I'm willing to go for a 10 gallon. Also I did see some females when I picked up the 2 caves so I can grab another female if I do go to the 10 gallon tank.

 

[jollysue]

Those are really colorful girls. And the tank looks great--a little subdivision.

How did the tree do when the Big Mama was out?

I just got called in to work so I might not be back for a few hours.

Are you close to any of the breeders here?

 

[wendywc]

She was only out for the afternoon. But it seemed like there was a #2 (see the third picture on page 1) who stepped in and bullied/flared on the last two while she was away. Although #2 didn't persue them down like Big Mama did.

I don't know any betta breeders near me. To let everyone know, I'm southeast of downtown Houston, a few blocks away from Webster, TX... contact me if you're a betta breeder in the Houston/Galveston/Beaumont area.

 

[jollysue]

Why don't you PM wuvmybetta and ask her if there are any forum breeders near you?

 

[jkrekord]

im not sure but i think a ten gallon should be able to hold five females possibly six although i doubt six

 

[wendywc]

Well, the alpha female is just too much. So I'm taking her out into a separate bowl for now. I'll get a small tank for her tomorrow. Why is it always the most beautiful ones that give you the most problems?

 

[_cRaCkEr_]

So nice....... the pictures are so good. What kind of camera are you using ?

 

[wendywc]

So nice....... the pictures are so good. What kind of camera are you using ?

Thanks, _cRaCkEr_! I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX8K. It's a 5 megapixel with image stabilization which I love. I usually shoot all close-up fish pictures with flash on, tank lights on, and room lights on. I tried to use my husband's Nikon Digital SLR D70, but for closeups on these small fishes, the flash it too bright and tends to white-wash the entire shot. I need to get a remote flash for it. For daily use though, outside/inside, of people and places, that D70 is superb.

 

[wendywc]

UPDATE: It'll just be 3 females in the 6 gallon; hope it works out for good with the remaining 3. A friend of mine is going to take the 2.5 gallon with big mama for her daughter. She thinks she's sooo pretty which she is. She's the most colorful one, that's for sure. I can tell she's going to be one spoiled female betta.

 

[wendywc]

Well dangit, it not working out with the reamaining 3. #2 has took over as leader and has gotten even more aggressive! This morning the other 2 had really torn up fins. I don't know if I could ever make this work out; I'm giving up for now. I hate to give them to a LFS, but it's not a chain store (and definately not Walmart). Plus together they are doing way too much harm to eachother.

 

[nino]

I think the problem may be that the tank is just to small for the four girlies. You usually don't want to go with less than four females because than there will be aggression like you are seeing. If you get a ten gallon, you could definatly put in 6 females with lots of hiding places.

 

[jollysue]

I agree. The standard is five females in a 10 usg. The ladies need the room for there individual little territories. They also need enough girls to spread the natural aggression of their nature around so one or two Betta don't get all the hits. They also need enough room to scoot out of the line of fire. The proven formula as I understand it is 5 in 10 gals. Often 6 will work.