Female Bettas

[Tonym]

Hi everyone

I am currently doing a fishless cycle which seems to be going well, i was wondering if you guys could answer some questions on female bettas as i have looked for information on these but seem i can only find info on males and little is said about females.

1) Can they be kept in groups, if so what sized groups are suitable.
2) Are they aggressive.
3) Do they flare there gills like the males.
4) What other fish can be kept with them.

Thanks

Tony

 

[CTlovesKS]

Hi Tonym,

1. Yes they can be kept in groups.. Any size group that is okay for your tank size...
2. Shouldnt be, but every fish is different, so bare that in mind.
3. Im not sure so someone will have to back me up on this. Though I dont think they do.
4. Anything like shrimp or snails some corys. If not for breeding can risk keeping them in a cominuity tank...

Hope this helps
Charlie

 

[CraigBaines]

1) Can they be kept in groups, if so what sized groups are suitable.
2) Are they aggressive.
3) Do they flare there gills like the males.
4) What other fish can be kept with them.

1) Yes, i know that other members on here have recomeded groups of 5+, it stops them from ganging up on the weaker female so much. Makes them less aggressive basically.

2) Well, answer 1 sort of sums that up.

3) Yes they flare, but they have smaller "gills" at least my female does.. She's only ever flared when she was in with the male when i bred them though.

4) no idea on that one, sorry.

 

[Devorax]

Not knowing the size of your tank it would be hard to suggest a maximum recommended number, but there is a lot of sense in having a minimum number of 5-6.
Betta females do flare, but it's obviously not as impressive as the males. They do have the 'beard', less pronounced, and they will adopt a display pose where they go stiff and all fins are extended. Sometimes you will get a female with 'Aplha Disorder', that is, one that things she is boss and no-one else is, which obviously causes problems if you end up with 2.
Suitable tankmates are a tricky question to answer, without knowing more about the tank.

 

[Tonym]

Thank you all for your feed back.

The tank is 95L, seen some lovely crown tail females in my LFS today white bodys with many differnt fin colour types.

 

[Devorax]

Do me a favour then, buy them and post me them....lol I'll pay you for your troubles...lol CT females don't seem to exist iin this part of the world. A 95L throws open lots of options for tank mates, what kind of fish would you be interested in? ie colourful, active, slow, bottom dwellers, swimmers etc

 

[Tonym]

The chap at the store was saying that he is willing to post out and does send fish to people by post he said that if in was looking something they havnt got to email him on there website or pop in and ask, its called coxwell aquatics in cosford near wolverhampton, if i hadnt of been cycling my tank i would have brought the lot of them. lol. looking for tank mates that wont pester and stress them out

 

[Devorax]

Well IME they will be better with slow moving fish that are of similar size or smaller. Cories are ideal, plus they will mop up any loose food that falls to the substrate. (I notice bettas ignore ANY food once it lands...lol).
I can't think of a list of suitable fish right now but if I do then I'll let you know.

PS I feel NASTY...lol, I might just order those females....lol

 

[Tonym]

Dont worry bout ordering them he said he gets them in from a breeder in Germany, and that a local breeder had also offered him some which are apparently better.

was suprised when i saw them as only ever seen wild looking females in LFS's

 

[CraigBaines]

If your after crowntail females,please bare me in mind and keep an eye on my website

They will be some going in there shortly... Im in the north west, postage is not a problem

I want to try and re house as many as i possible can, then if i can not find homes for the rest ill have to take them to my local shops, who have already said they will take them.

Just i dont like seeing them there, either tinyyyy tanks or getting there tails ripped to bits by other fish.

Infact the other day i went in one for some food, and seen quite obv a male, with his really long fins, then either 3 PK males, or 3 females in with him.

Now im not sure what they were, althought im 90% sure they were female. But i know they shouldnt of been together! haha

 

[Tonym]

Thanks Craig will have a look at your website.

 

[CraigBaines]

Appricated, thanks.

 

[Jaded12]

1) Can they be kept in groups, if so what sized groups are suitable.

They do best in groups of 4+ to help spread out aggression. And should really be kept in even numbers so you dont get that odd one out, that gets singled out and attacked by the rest.

2) Are they aggressive.

Some are and some aren't. It all depends on the individual personality of the fish, but its always best to assume they're going to be aggressive, better safe then sorry

3) Do they flare there gills like the males.

They do flare, but they dont have that extra membrane on their gills that the males have that give them that big beard effect!

Heres a male flaring

And a female flaring

4) What other fish can be kept with them.

Once again it depends on the individual personality of the fish, but generally they do well with cory cats, otos, plecos (the small ones) Fast moving non fin nippers like danios and white cloud minnows, and ive kept mine with platies, swordtails, and neon tetras with no problems