Is It Possible...

[rlhirth]

All right here goes...

my sister has had her first male betta for at least 2 years and he is one of the most active bettas i have ever seen... so she knows that at some point he is going to pass but she doesnt want another male because shes afraid it wont be as active and she will be disappointed...

so is it even possible to keep a sorority in a 5 gallon??

Has Anyone ever tried...? what happened?

and if you think it will even be worth an attempt how many females?

Her tank has been set up got a good while, with filter, heater, lights, bubbler, and lots and lots of live plants... she just added even more too...

of course if she did attempt it we would take a good while to pick out all the perfect females and as calm as we can find...

 

[VaegaVic]

All right here goes...

my sister has had her first male betta for at least 2 years and he is one of the most active bettas i have ever seen... so she knows that at some point he is going to pass but she doesnt want another male because shes afraid it wont be as active and she will be disappointed...

so is it even possible to keep a sorority in a 5 gallon??
Ideally not, bettas are not social creatures to each other by nature, forcing them together is bad enough, forcing them together in a small space with few hiding places is bound to be trouble.

Has Anyone ever tried...? what happened?
Probably death.

and if you think it will even be worth an attempt how many females?
A sorioty needs at least 5 females to bloom happily, in your tank, that's 1 gallon a fish, no way near enough for territorial things like bettas.


Her tank has been set up got a good while, with filter, heater, lights, bubbler, and lots and lots of live plants... she just added even more too...

of course if she did attempt it we would take a good while to pick out all the perfect females and as calm as we can find...

Problem you'll have there is females will normally attack any newbies to the group, so you'll either have to buy them all at once, or completely re-do the tank every time a new one is added.

Short answer: not a great idea.
Perhaps think of Sparkling/Pygmy Gouramis instead?

 

[rlhirth]

All right here goes...

my sister has had her first male betta for at least 2 years and he is one of the most active bettas i have ever seen... so she knows that at some point he is going to pass but she doesnt want another male because shes afraid it wont be as active and she will be disappointed...

so is it even possible to keep a sorority in a 5 gallon??
Ideally not, bettas are not social creatures to each other by nature, forcing them together is bad enough, forcing them together in a small space with few hiding places is bound to be trouble.

Has Anyone ever tried...? what happened?
Probably death.

and if you think it will even be worth an attempt how many females?
A sorioty needs at least 5 females to bloom happily, in your tank, that's 1 gallon a fish, no way near enough for territorial things like bettas.


Her tank has been set up got a good while, with filter, heater, lights, bubbler, and lots and lots of live plants... she just added even more too...

of course if she did attempt it we would take a good while to pick out all the perfect females and as calm as we can find...

Problem you'll have there is females will normally attack any newbies to the group, so you'll either have to buy them all at once, or completely re-do the tank every time a new one is added.

Short answer: not a great idea.
Perhaps think of Sparkling/Pygmy Gouramis instead?

like i said i wasnt sure... she still has her male at this point so there are no hurry... i have never kept a female... so i have no experiences with sororities... maybe ill metion the idea of sparkling gouramis cua there labrith breathers too...

 

[BethK]

no offence but VaegaVic is not right.

Sorority females are not forced to be together, naturally they are together.

Females need to form a pecking order, 2 females together, won't be able to establish that. Depending on the size of the tank, depends on how many you should have. Rule of thumb with female bettas is more.

People assume bettas are solitary fish but in-fact, they are the opposite. Because they are territorial, you have to consider suitable tank mates, 1) for the other fish's health and 2) to ensure the bettas don't get too stressed.

I agree that 5 gals is too small for a sorority, I would only consider 1 in that size tank.

You do not have to 'rearrange' decor of a tank, if anything, that takes out the natural pecking order and the current group and new girl, will still have to 'flare' it out. Floating the fish bag in the tank to acclimatize for 30-40mins, will be just fine. Ensure that there is enough coverage with plants and hiding places within a tank

There will always be something that will happen to rearrange a pecking order, a juvvie female coming into adulthood, will most likely take on the dominant female, if she has it in her. Flaring isn't an issue. it's biting and it will happen at some point, whether a slight nip or fin bite. Gobby females will be put into place but that is a natural order.

I find that if you study female bettas in a lfs and pick the least aggressive ones, you stand a betta chance at having a happier sorority.

I would not suggest anything under 28ltrs, for any sorority attempts.



Just for the record, this is all put into practice by myself and it works unfortunately, too many people rely on the net, when most of what is out there hasn't been tested by those writing it..............always have a back up plan though.

for an 18ltr, you would be best off with nano fish, many types out there, esp with rasboras.

If you want something betta like, you could go for scarlet badis, 1 male to 2-3 females

 

[VaegaVic]

no offence but VaegaVic is not right.

Sorority females are not forced to be together, naturally they are together.

Females need to form a pecking order, 2 females together, won't be able to establish that. Depending on the size of the tank, depends on how many you should have. Rule of thumb with female bettas is more.

People assume bettas are solitary fish but in-fact, they are the opposite. Because they are territorial, you have to consider suitable tank mates, 1) for the other fish's health and 2) to ensure the bettas don't get too stressed.

I agree that 5 gals is too small for a sorority, I would only consider 1 in that size tank.

You do not have to 'rearrange' decor of a tank, if anything, that takes out the natural pecking order and the current group and new girl, will still have to 'flare' it out. Floating the fish bag in the tank to acclimatize for 30-40mins, will be just fine. Ensure that there is enough coverage with plants and hiding places within a tank

There will always be something that will happen to rearrange a pecking order, a juvvie female coming into adulthood, will most likely take on the dominant female, if she has it in her. Flaring isn't an issue. it's biting and it will happen at some point, whether a slight nip or fin bite. Gobby females will be put into place but that is a natural order.

I find that if you study female bettas in a lfs and pick the least aggressive ones, you stand a betta chance at having a happier sorority.

I would not suggest anything under 28ltrs, for any sorority attempts.



Just for the record, this is all put into practice by myself and it works unfortunately, too many people rely on the net, when most of what is out there hasn't been tested by those writing it..............always have a back up plan though.

for an 18ltr, you would be best off with nano fish, many types out there, esp with rasboras.

If you want something betta like, you could go for scarlet badis, 1 male to 2-3 females

No offence, but that is your opinion.
My information was also tried and tested and obviously we have had different experiences.
My sorority had to be shut down as they were all too aggressive to each other, I tried a group of 6 in 64L, each had their own territory but war broke out and literally everyone was fighting everyone else, there was no pecking order, just mass carnage. They all live in different homes now throughout my family, all in community tanks with no other anabantoids and all are doing brilliantly last time I checked.

Our advice to the original poster is exactly the same so I don't see why you needed to discredit me and call me outright "wrong", one thing I've learnt in my many years of fishkeeping is there is rarely a clear-cut right or wrong.

Thank you.

 

[BethK]

so, you think a straight answer of 'death', is good advice?

My steps have been given to other people, who have appreciated it and all have happy and healthy sororities (14 people currently), so I must be doing something right

Any way, the OP can pick which advice she would like, at end of the day a poster can take or leave advice.

Maybe a softer approach and to explain will help as 'death and no way' aren't exactly helpful.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

My females are fine; they are in a 54 litre. No nipped fins (well one did when they were in a bucket for tank rearranging for new plants and caves last week).

I upgraded my tank a while ago and everyone was ok in the smaller tank; when I put them in the bigger tank there was a lot of flaring and chasing from one of my girls (she was punished; breeders net for a few hours) since then she’s been good as gold – my breeders net would have either worked and she’d have been calm or she’d have been a nightmare when she came out; so I watched them for ages once she’d been let out.

I got a new girl at the weekend; I floated her bag in the tank; all the girls ignored her and the bag and came to see me (looking for food). The new girl is about 2cm long and the others are fully grown I’d say; the new girl had a bit of an issue with one of my older girls; the older girl was looking at the new girl with an expression that said “get it off me, what is it” – she gave her a half-hearted flare, another girl who is really shy came to her defence and flared and the two bigger girls swam off. The little one has been fine since.

If I see a girl I like in the shop I’ll watch her for ages to see how she behaves with the other tank inhabitants, I saw a beautiful demin blue Cambodian girl the other day but she wasn’t right for the tank. I’d rather miss out on a pretty girl when she isn’t right; at the end of the day the existing girls are my priority. With 2 of my girls I watched them for weeks in the shop to see how they were , the pretty Cambodians don’t seem to sell very much and they are the ones I like (I got a red Cambodian and a purple Cambodian).



Anyway back to the OP’s question. 5 gallons is too small for a sorority.