Multiple Females In 10 Gallon?

[FishLover66]

Hi all,

My daughter has a 10 gallon with two female bettas that are seperated by a mesh divider in the middle of the tank. She also has two Aftican dwarf frogs. We took the divider out this weekend to see how they would do and to vacuum the gravel and it appeared they did fine at first, but after a while, her older and obviously more dominant betta just kept chasing the younger betta around and wouldn't stop. The divider is back in, but she would still like to have the flexibility of putting more fish in without them being too crowded in 1/2 a tank. One LFS suggested it would be better to have three female bettas so one isn't always picked on, which makes sense, but my daughter is afraid they will hurt each other. I've seen pictures here of multiple female bettas being housed in the same tank. For those that have successfully pulled this off, do you have any suggestions on how we can do that? Her tank is 1/2 ocean scene and 1/2 princess (but she had to take the castle out because the frogs kept getting stuck at the top) and not a lot of plants (plastic). I'm guessing it would help to have more plants in it, but she doesn't want that.

Any suggestions would help.

Thanks!!

 

[Man of fish]

It's suggested to have 4-7 minimum for female bettas and when kept in that number they shouldn't hurt each other

 

[lilfishie]

minimum number is 5, generally odd numbers do better

 

[Man of fish]

Ok I keep getting mixed feelings so figured I'd type 4-7. Lol

 

[Fishy friend2]

You would need a min. Of 5 for them not to pick on each other, they will pick on eachother in anything less than 4 but their still is a fairly large chance evn with 4

 

[FishLover66]

Holy cow. I thought she'd be fine with one more and that too many would be crowded and cause more strife. So five would be ok in a 10 gallon, considering she'd like to get some shrimp and/or an otto or two?

Thanks for the information! I will convey it to my daughter and see how she feels. I have a feeling she will just keep things as they are since she's SO protective of her 'babies.' We'll see.

 

[Fishy friend2]

Well, how bout 4 to 5 instead and a couple platies instead of ottos as they are very fragile IME

 

[FishLover66]

That's definitely an option. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Fishy friend2]

Your welcome. I hope everything goes well with your 5 girl sorority