Aggressive Female

[vgames33]

My 20gal female betta tank started with 5 girls. One died of a very nasty wound (not sure how she got it, but she was cut all down her left side, died before I could do anything to help), and another just died of dropsy. The tank is maintained regularly, cycled, filtered, etc.

Shortly after the second fish died, one of my other girls has become very aggressive . She seems to just swim around and chase the other girls, even though there is plenty of room and many places to hide. She was always a bit aggressive, being the only one to flare at me, but she's never been this bad.

I've been told that three girls is not enough. Should I add more fish?

 

[modaz]

My 20gal female betta tank started with 5 girls. One died of a very nasty wound (not sure how she got it, but she was cut all down her left side, died before I could do anything to help), and another just died of dropsy. The tank is maintained regularly, cycled, filtered, etc.

Shortly after the second fish died, one of my other girls has become very aggressive . She seems to just swim around and chase the other girls, even though there is plenty of room and many places to hide. She was always a bit aggressive, being the only one to flare at me, but she's never been this bad.

I've been told that three girls is not enough. Should I add more fish?

mixed views on how many females should be housed together and it depends on the actual owner and their experiences as im sure they will all tell you different things, 3 is the lowest amount that you can have but this does depend on the overall behaviour of these 3, if 1 is being a total nightmare then you will defo need to add more females to sort her aggression out, it wont stop her but it will even the aggression over the tank mates.

 

[Bubblenester]

My 20gal female betta tank started with 5 girls. One died of a very nasty wound (not sure how she got it, but she was cut all down her left side, died before I could do anything to help), and another just died of dropsy. The tank is maintained regularly, cycled, filtered, etc.

Shortly after the second fish died, one of my other girls has become very aggressive . She seems to just swim around and chase the other girls, even though there is plenty of room and many places to hide. She was always a bit aggressive, being the only one to flare at me, but she's never been this bad.

I've been told that three girls is not enough. Should I add more fish?

How long has it been since the second one died? If it's been less than a week, they're just sorting out a new pecking order and might be okay. If it's been a while, then her bullying is probably going to be a permanent thing, and I would add a couple more girls to spread the aggression.

I've successfully kept females in just trios and pairs, but I have always seen less aggression in larger groups... in other words, you really can't go wrong with adding more as long as your tank can support it.

 

[vgames33]

I removed the last fish about a month ago. I've just noticed this behavior withing the last week or two.

If I get more girls, can I just add them, or od I have to do something first?

 

[vgames33]

Well... I guess I don't need to worry about her anymore. She got a cut and apparently bled to death. She was bleeding a little on my way out the door this morning, so I added a little antibiotic to the water and went on my way. Her body is now white (she was a vibrant red before).

3 dead in 6 months. Am I doing something wrong here? Two fish died from wounds. Am I not supposed to have rocks in my tank or something?