Female Bettas

[Paul]

My wife want bettas. And I have a 29gla sitting in the basement collecting dust. I was wondering if it would be possiable to stock it with 5 or 6 female bettas only? Or could I keep a male in with them? I am planning to filter with a AC mini and decorating the tank with various live plants and slate rock. I'm not intrested in breeding and have no experance with bettas. So input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[William]

Keeping a male betta with females is hazardous, never kept them myself but since no one else has replied yet I will.

Even at the ratio 6-1 i imagine the male will over exert himself and could well attack or pick on the females. I know you say breeding is not in mind but what breeders do is condition them seperately then introduce for the breeding if they haven't bred in 24-48 hours (bubblenest) he'll remove the female and start the conditioning process again. If they do breed I believe he removes the female and lets the male take care of the bubblenest as they make very good fathers. I am not 100% sure of the entire process, but I think keeping male bettas with females could just be asking for trouble.

 

[LiquidLife]

Hi, I'm new to this forum but I've kept bettas for a while now.
A male can sometimes be kept with females but he'd have to be a gentle, non-aggressive male--so know your fish! I have one beautiful male who isn't interested in any other fish at all, just cruises around making friends with everyone, never flares, never gets excited at seeing a female or a male betta. However, most male bettas are just too aggressive to keep with other bettas of either sex. If you do decide to try it, first make sure there are lots and lots of safe havens for the fish (sometimes the females will get very aggressive with an uncooperative male and tear at him, especially if he's outnumbered)--lots of plants, lots of things to hide behind/under/above, etc. 29 gallons is large enough so each fish an establish a territory so it should be interesting--but keep a close watch for a few weeks so if one fish starts tearing into any other fish, you can jump in there because you don't want murder in the tank. It may work out if all the fish are congenial but it might not. Something else you should consider is that a male in with a female(s) may breed and either the other fish may eat all the eggs or fry, or you may end up with hundreds of bettas. Are you prepared to deal with tending baby bettas?

 

[betta_beta]

You can have up to 13 females in a 29 gallon with out much fighting (To discover a pecking oreder.) at all, you might want to include plenty of plants, just incase they all pick on one.Female bettas are comunity fish and can live with mollys, swordtails,guppies, and algea eaters. The list porbably goes on those are just ones that people I know have with female bettas.(don't put 29 females with all the other fish or their wont be enough space for them all.)
I wouldn't suggest putting a male with them or he might want to breed, and if they don't he'll prbably chase them or since their are so many females they might chase him.

Sara