Female Betta Help Please

[Mariah]

Hello all,

I have not posted on this forum in ages! Im back into the hobby of bettas and I need some advice. I have a small tank (silly me) that contains two female bettas and two goldfish. I just added the second female betta today and the two girls were getting along very well (I am planning on getting two more females tomorrow). I left for an hour and when I came back the new girl (Rosey) is/was laying on the bottom on the tank. Looks like the two had a brawl and Rosey lost. What can I do for her? I have added salt to the tank and extra water conditioner. I feel really bad. ANy advice would be great. Thanks!

Edited to ask, should I take Rosey out for the night until I get two more girls? Or leave her in and let them settle their differences? Help!

 

[afireinside]

It depends on how big your tank is. Goldfish can get about a foot long. Get rid of those, plus bettas are tropical. Goldfish are coldwater. Yes you should take the betta out of the tank, and think about rehousing it somewhere else.

Get some melafix and hope for the best.

 

[Mariah]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick responce. The goldfish will be coming out tomorrow when I can get them another tank. I took my injured girl out and shes in a 1.5 gallon. Shes swimming around but not flaring her fins. The tank she came from is a 3 gallon. Is that big enough for 3 female bettas? It has tons of hiding spots for them.

Thanks!

 

[constantine03]

I think that size might be okay for three bettas. It just kind of depends on the temperaments of the bettas, the hiding space available, and the shape of the tank. Typically, people say that 4+ female bettas should be together. I have had 3 together that were just fine, but they all had good temperaments, but they were in a longer tank with hiding spaces so they weren't all on top of each other all the time. 3 gallons is def. too small for two gold fish, let alone adding the bettas in too. I would also suggest rehoming them, and removing the female for the night. The female that was attacked may do better in some low water with salt and melafix if she's having a hard time getting to the surface.

 

[Mariah]

I think that size might be okay for three bettas. It just kind of depends on the temperaments of the bettas, the hiding space available, and the shape of the tank. Typically, people say that 4+ female bettas should be together. I have had 3 together that were just fine, but they all had good temperaments, but they were in a longer tank with hiding spaces so they weren't all on top of each other all the time. 3 gallons is def. too small for two gold fish, let alone adding the bettas in too. I would also suggest rehoming them, and removing the female for the night. The female that was attacked may do better in some low water with salt and melafix if she's having a hard time getting to the surface.

Hi there,

I did remove her (Rosey) from the 3 gallon and put her in a 1.5 gallon. Shes swimming around and flarring her fins so Im taking that as a good sign. The goldfish are coming out today and hopefully (fingers crossed) I can get one or two more female bettas to even out the tank, it just depends on the selection at the lfs!

 

[Phoenixbaby]

ok imo 3gallons isnt enough to hiuse multiple fish, i have a 4gallon that my males have to them selves

If ur thinking about getting more than 3 females, id go for something like a 7gallon, i mean even then u cud get 5 and that wud stop with alot of bullying becuase basically u need numbers to even out bullying, as in ur case as u found out, one bullied the other to nearly death

good luck

 

[Mariah]

Ok, so I ended up getting one more female. Im going to try to put the three girls together and see what happens. Constantine03 has done it with success so Im going to try too

I also picked up a male VT... Very pretty boy!

 

[blue_betta]

Ok, so I ended up getting one more female. Im going to try to put the three girls together and see what happens. Constantine03 has done it with success so Im going to try too

I also picked up a male VT... Very pretty boy!

eeep.. i hope your male isnt going in with the females ?

as for introducing new females, what i do is i put the new female in a breeding trap in my sorority and she can then learn who is boss and establis a rank for herself in the heirarchy without coming to blows. i usualy keep them in the trap for upto a week before letting them out. i seldom if ever have any problems this way. i put a small amount of sand and some small sprigs of plat in for them to make them feel more comfy.

 

[Mariah]

Ok, so I ended up getting one more female. Im going to try to put the three girls together and see what happens. Constantine03 has done it with success so Im going to try too

I also picked up a male VT... Very pretty boy!

eeep.. i hope your male isnt going in with the females ?

as for introducing new females, what i do is i put the new female in a breeding trap in my sorority and she can then learn who is boss and establis a rank for herself in the heirarchy without coming to blows. i usualy keep them in the trap for upto a week before letting them out. i seldom if ever have any problems this way. i put a small amount of sand and some small sprigs of plat in for them to make them feel more comfy.

No, dont worry!! My male- who is named "Owl" is in a 1/2 gallon right now. Yes, I know, thats not very big, but its bigger then the cup he came in! I had been eyeing him since last week and I finally took the plunge and got him! He has sort of a pinkish body with red then white on his fins. Is there a specific name for this color? He also has a tiny hole in a part of his fins. What can I do to help him?

My new female "Peaches" is a yellowish/whiteish color. I will post pics when I figure out how to!

Regarding putting the female in a trap, I dont think I can because my tank is only 3 gallons... Any other suggestion?

 

[Netty]

We sometimes remove all the females and bagged them separately for about an hour.....making sure you keep them warm then rearrange the tank and release them back in starting with the least dominant first

 

[Mariah]

We sometimes remove all the females and bagged them separately for about an hour.....making sure you keep them warm then rearrange the tank and release them back in starting with the least dominant first

What about floating them in cups? Would that work too?

 

[Netty]

Yes you could do it that way too

 

[Mariah]

Ok so, I dont know what to do. Two of my girls are getting along great, the other one keeps chasing them both around the tank. What should I do???

 

[nataliabeds]

Only 3 females rarely get along well and IMO I would never put less then 4/5 females in one tank. I would buy one more female or better get bigger tank and put at least 6 females as they wont be so aggressive then. Usually with 3 females two gang up and kill third one. It dosen`t mean it never works, but it`s rare. I wish you luck whatever you decide to do

 

[Mariah]

Only 3 females rarely get along well and IMO I would never put less then 4/5 females in one tank. I would buy one more female or better get bigger tank and put at least 6 females as they wont be so aggressive then. Usually with 3 females two gang up and kill third one. It dosen`t mean it never works, but it`s rare. I wish you luck whatever you decide to do

I ended up taking the vicious girl out last night. The two females that are in there are getting along great. Swimming together and not attacking each other. Im going to look for another girlie today and then try to put back in the agressive one. If she still aggressive then she will be having a tank of her own... I hope thats not the case because I wanted to do a split tank with two boys, not a boy and a girl!

If anyone has similar experiences to share, I would like to hear! Also, suggestions are welcomed!