I Got A Femlae Betta

[020292]

I got a new female betta! I will post pics later, but she is in a 10 gallon all by herself and i was wondering wht else can go in with her or if i should put her in my 30 gallon with the following:

3 female guppies 1 is a baby
3 male guppies 2 are babies
2 bronze corries
1 albino corry
1 common pleco
1 tetra (forgot the name but it is is silver with black strips going vertically and it has a fin (looks like hair) right before the tail)

Do you think she would like being by herself or in the 30 gallon? Please let me know

 

[starrynightxxi]

i would leave her in the ten gallon. if you give enough places to hide and heavily plant the tank you can put 5 more female bettas and have a sorority tank. but most females are compatible with most anything that won't/can't eat them because they don't have long fins like the males.

i believe you have an emperor tetra, but tetras really ought to be kept in groups, and those particular tetras get to a good size. I'm not so sure you have room for a proper school of them. You'd have to ask in the characin/cyprinid/etc forum. also i don't think that common plecs fit into 30g tanks at full grown. they get too big and make a LOT of waste. Check in the catfish forum.

 

[020292]

I have had my common pleco for about 5 months now and i had him from baby stage and he has grown to be the length of those caves you buy at walmart for like 1.00 and he has not grown since! So if i have a cave, and 4 plants do you think i can have more female bettas? do i need a divider?

 

[tank212]

No divider needed althought you may get some highly aggressive females each betta is different so be prepared. I would suggest sticking to about a group of 4, 6 might be a little much, a 10gal isnt that big. In my experiences I don't see a problem putting it with your other fish in the 30gal I have not had any problems with my female bettas or male bettas for that matter in with community fish.

Edit: Didn't see you had a tetra in there that might be a problem I've not known a betta to get along with tetras.

 

[lisie]

If you want to get more female bettas make sure you get ones that are used to being kept with other females. Ones that are used to being kept seperately generally don't like having to share their space with other bettas. I wouldn't go for 6... 4 or 5 at the most in a 10 gallon tank. Also, unless the plants you're talking about are really big and bushy, you'll probably need more of them. Other good, but cheap, hiding spots are rocks and terra cotta flower pots turned on their side.

 

[020292]

okay i think i might get maybe one or two more and get some more hiding spots! Thanks!

 

[lisie]

Ah, but you should have at least four in order to even out aggression.

 

[020292]

Here are the pics of the tetra that i cant think of the name:

Here is the betta:

 

[lisie]

That looks like a black skirt tetra (I think they're also called black widow tetras).

Your new girl is really pretty. She has such bright colors.

 

[020292]

thanks! Do you think the betta will get along with everyone in the 30 gallon or keave her in the 10 gallon and get some more female bettas? If i get the ones that are in cups, which is all my pet stores sell will they be alright to be in the 10 gallon together! I am thinking about getting 4 more! It will be done over time, not all at once! Any ideas or tips?

 

[amio]

Looks pretty stressed out, though.

Go with the sorority tank!

Aha, but you do need to get them all at once. Or at least put them in the ten gallon all at once. Otherwise, the first fish you put in there would've already established a territory before the other fish get there. And you woudn't want that to happen. Either way, you'd have to rearrange everything first before you put any new female bettas.

 

[lisie]

thanks! Do you think the betta will get along with everyone in the 30 gallon or keave her in the 10 gallon and get some more female bettas? If i get the ones that are in cups, which is all my pet stores sell will they be alright to be in the 10 gallon together! I am thinking about getting 4 more! It will be done over time, not all at once! Any ideas or tips?

You probably could try her in the 30 gallon if you really wanted to, as long as you can keep a close eye on the tank for the next couple days.

Sorority tanks are usually really... well, delicate. When you get more female bettas, you can scoop out your current girl in a cup (so as not to stress her) and rearrange your tank decor. Like amio said, you'll want to get all the girls at once, because females living together will establish a hierarchy, and when a new one is added, it will throw everything off... sometimes there will just be spats here and there, but sometimes it can result in more serious fighting. Also, if the bettas are not used to living together, there's no guarantee that they'll all get along, so you'll want to make sure you have individual back-up tanks in case it doesn't work out. Like I said, sorority tanks are really delicate, especially in such a small tank.

 

[020292]

i think i might just stick with one betta and then get some other fish are okay with her! What are some other fish that would be okay with her?

 

[lisie]

Hmm... some oto cats (although you'll need to feed them extra because there's not enough algae in a 10 gallon tank), a few pygmy cories... *maybe* some white cloud mountain minnows, but they might need more than 10 gallons, not sure on that.

 

[020292]

What about some neon tetras?