Betta In A Rout

[FBTgirl]

Poor Hope is in a rout. Penny has been especially nippy and hard on poor Hope. Now Hope just lays herself against the side of the tank and sits there. She wont leave to eat. unlike Chance who sits at the bottom eating whatever drops off of the leftovers of Pennies food. But Hope just sits there. As if she gave up on everything what can I do?

 

[Jaded12]

Ummm not put 3 females together in a 5 gallon tank, the minimum of females that should be kept together is 5-6 so agression can be spread out. Seperate them until you get a bigger tank and more females.

 

[FBTgirl]

My mom said NO MORE BETTAS. hu but she only has a few nips not really aggressive but she just seems like that all the time. I can separate them until I get tanks unless they want to live in cups.

 

[Jaded12]

I don't want to be rude but you should have researched keeping females together before you got them

 

[FBTgirl]

well I am separating them soon. Hope the one that is being beat up is going to be my desk betta for my computer

 

[mommyof2bettas]

how about the agressive one instead?
If you move the female maybe the agressive one will pick on the other. TBH though, you shouldn't keep less than 5 females together.

 

[Zafirah]

Go to haggens or whatever and buy a 1/4 gallon tubbaware container, shell be ok in that for a few days, until you can sort stuff out

 

[FBTgirl]

they can stay together for a few days. Only a few nips but they have not nipped at each other for hours. I think the nipping was just to show her place as the Alfa female of the tank.

 

[Maxsmom]

If you can imagine how stressed the females are that are being picked on - I would do something sooner than later. If they start taking good nips at each other - the wounds can get infected and then you'll be spending more $ on medicine to treat that. If you have a few dollars - invest in some of those 1/2 gallon betta starter kits that stores like Walmart sells... here in Canada - they go for $10 each - and you get gravel, some plastic plant, food and water conditioner with it... if you can't get more females to spread out the aggression... then this might be a better alternative... if your females are larger - then maybe a couple of gallon glass fish bowls will do the trick - with something breathable covering the opening so they don't take a leap out. Good luck!

 

[FBTgirl]

they are not taking very bad nips at all. unfact I think the nipping stopped but I am totally going to take the big mean girl out Penny

 

[Jaded12]

I totally agree with Maxzmom!

You shouldn't have purchased the females with out knowing how many could be kept together, if you had researched you would know that females need to be kept in large groups to spread out the agression, its very rare to be able to keep 3 females together without them getting very agressive, the only girls that could be done with would be sisters or girls that have been together for a long time. And you definitly couldn't keep 3 together in a 5 gallon, that doesn't give them a lot of room to get away. Take the girls out, leave one in the 5 gallon, and get the others new tanks, 1 gallon or larger, and upgrade your boys tanks while you're at it, I'm sure they're not thrilled with being in a 1/4 gallon of water.

 

[mommyof2bettas]

Good, keep an eye out though, the 2 females left might start nipping as well, also, place some IAL, or something similair for the other bettas just to be on the safe side

 

[liz2]

my girls got split up in a matter of hours. They are in a divided now though...funny enough when I cleaned them yeserday I put them both in a small container for 10 minutes and they acted like best buddies...little minxies


ps. I had never heard of "rout" before I think it means in a mood?

 

[skincareaddicted]

The cheaper alternative would be to buy more females so they can develop a pecking order. I have heard 4 or more females may be ok but seems like the consensus on this board is 5. It is also better to buy female siblings raised together as they tend to be more harmonious.

I agree with the others in that taking one out, might cause another female to be the dominant/nippy one and your problem won't be solved. Otherwise, you may have to house them all separately. nipping can cause injuries and those injuries can make your bettas more vulnerable to fin rot among other diseases. I hope you sort it out!

 

[Amunet]

ONLY get more if you plan on getting them a larger tank.
Sounds like you're not though so you need to divide them up.
You could go to a hobby shop.. like a Michael's and look for something that would work as a divider. Like a plastic mesh (maybe one of those embroidery? things). That way you could divide the 5 gallon and all you'd have to worry about is getting one more tank or gallon bowl or whatever.