corvettekid
Mostly New Member
How easy or difficult is it to have a 55 gallon betta sorority with 10 bettas? I plan to heavily plant it around some cool manzanita roots i dug up a few summers ago at my big bear house.
55 Gallon Betta Sorority
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Well keeping a sorority is hard in the first place. You have to have a lot of experience with bettas to have much of a chance. Even then, it is a balancing act. I had one for a while, really enjoyed it. It was kind of stressful though.
Two things you need to keep in mind:
1. Sourcing--you can't just buy any females you see in the cups at your LFS. You should buy them from a breeder who has kept the females together. This will help your chances with aggression issues.
2. The number of females in the tank. It is recommended to overstock, sort of like you would with cichlids. There is a hierarchy that is formed within the sororities, and if you have too few fish, you'll end up with scuffles and eventually injuries or death. In a fifty-five, you should have around fifty fish.
Heavily plant the tank with tall plants and floating plants, provide plenty of caves (floating caves can be beneficial too and you can make them out of PVC pipe), and make sure that the food is varied, and you should have a decent set up. However, those two points I mentioned are critical. As soon as you start introducing new fish, you can have issues. The minute you have too few fish, you can have a serious problem on your hands.
Two things you need to keep in mind:
1. Sourcing--you can't just buy any females you see in the cups at your LFS. You should buy them from a breeder who has kept the females together. This will help your chances with aggression issues.
2. The number of females in the tank. It is recommended to overstock, sort of like you would with cichlids. There is a hierarchy that is formed within the sororities, and if you have too few fish, you'll end up with scuffles and eventually injuries or death. In a fifty-five, you should have around fifty fish.
Heavily plant the tank with tall plants and floating plants, provide plenty of caves (floating caves can be beneficial too and you can make them out of PVC pipe), and make sure that the food is varied, and you should have a decent set up. However, those two points I mentioned are critical. As soon as you start introducing new fish, you can have issues. The minute you have too few fish, you can have a serious problem on your hands.
corvettekid
Mostly New Member
I have had a few bettas over the years, i actually have a male and female breeding pair that live together in my 6ft long 120 gallon community tank, they have lived together peacefully for almost two years, never any fighting or anger and they never swim anywhere without eachother, its pretty cool too see. But i have never had a betta only tank. I was planning on buying them young from my lfs, they always have babies in stock. Would it be possible to have a betta sorority/community tank?
It is not recommended to have a sorority in a community tank, just as it is a horrible idea to keep a male and a female together. However, that tank you mentioned has a load of problems I've already mentioned in your other thread, so I won't get into that now.
I don't recommend baby bettas either as they can be difficult to sex when they are very young and you still don't know their personalities. It is best to go to a breeder. I can't remember the name of the breeder I used, but when I think of it, I'll let you know. I was very satisfied. There are several reasons to buy from a breeder instead of your LFS. With a breeder (well, a good one) you'll know the origins of the fish, so you know the lines, you know that the breeder knows the fish well and can give you a good estimate on temperament and general health. Breeders also often run sororities because it is easier to keep female juvies in a tank together than separating all males and females into individual containers. The breeder runs the sororities, isolate the ones who are too aggressive to be kept in a community setting, and then you can buy females which are already used to each other. WildBetta and RCA both can provide some good info on keeping the species in such a way (I don't remember if WildBetta has a sorority, but WB is well versed in the species, and RCA has a successful sorority).
However, if I were you, I'd work on that larger tank's stocking before stocking your 55. You may need it to hold some of the fish that really are not suitable for the stocking in that tank.
I don't recommend baby bettas either as they can be difficult to sex when they are very young and you still don't know their personalities. It is best to go to a breeder. I can't remember the name of the breeder I used, but when I think of it, I'll let you know. I was very satisfied. There are several reasons to buy from a breeder instead of your LFS. With a breeder (well, a good one) you'll know the origins of the fish, so you know the lines, you know that the breeder knows the fish well and can give you a good estimate on temperament and general health. Breeders also often run sororities because it is easier to keep female juvies in a tank together than separating all males and females into individual containers. The breeder runs the sororities, isolate the ones who are too aggressive to be kept in a community setting, and then you can buy females which are already used to each other. WildBetta and RCA both can provide some good info on keeping the species in such a way (I don't remember if WildBetta has a sorority, but WB is well versed in the species, and RCA has a successful sorority).
However, if I were you, I'd work on that larger tank's stocking before stocking your 55. You may need it to hold some of the fish that really are not suitable for the stocking in that tank.
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