Betta Help

[Sipik]

Alright heres the deal I got three females for a five gallon tank. When I brought them home I realized one wasn't doing to well so I put her in empty one gallon using water from my 37 gallon she was breathing rapidly and not being very active and had black eyes, she is also pretty big and I think shes just getting old. After alcumating the other two I put them into my cycled five gallon. Then I went to go eat then I came back and they had there jaws locked and fighting they both had torn fins and one had wounds on one side and there fins were some what clamped and they both had velvet I put the wounded one into a breeding box. Now what do I do? I dont want to buy any medication because I dont have a LFS I only have petco and petsmart

 

[KrystaK]

Get a bigger tank, 10-15 gal, and get 3-4 more females.
Ensure the tanks are heavily planted.
Even female Bettas are territorial and will attack each other, getting at least five - creating a sorority, will spread out the aggression between females so no one gets picked on. Having it well planted with many hiding places ensures that any female can get away and rest when she wants to.

As far as the sicknesses go, I recommend getting them medication, such as Jungle velvet guard, though most medications that cure ick will cure velvet.
Most petsmart stores sell live fish, and all sell medications for aquatic animals. Even the wall mart in my area carries some fish products.

 

[babystarz]

I agree with everything KrystaK said. 10 gallons is the absolute minimum sized tank that can have a sorority. 15 or more is optimal, with 2 gallons reserved per fish. It needs to be heavily planted (with real or fake plants) at all levels and it must have one cavelike shelter per fish with at least 2 exits. The reason these are necessary for a successful sorority is because you need to break up the line of sight inside the tank so any girl that is being chased can duck into plants or a shelter and lose her attacker. The reason you need at least 5 females in a tank is because the more fish you have, the more you spread out the aggression. Females can be just as a aggressive as males and some individual females will never be able to live in a sorority because they are too dominant or submissive. This is why it's a good idea to get a group of sibling females or at least all young females from a breeder; the breeder knows his or her fish and can pick out individuals with temperaments suitable for living in a sorority. These fish were bred for their aggression, so you must take into account a lot of considerations to ensure they can get along.

I would also recommend you get females you know for sure are young; older females don't always adapt well to sorority living. You could easily find a bunch of pet quality, healthy young females from a breeder for a decent price. Try to find a local fish forum for your state and post a wanted ad so you don't have to pay shipping costs.