my betta sorority

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bettamum

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hello everyone! i am planning to set up a betta sorority. my tank is 70L, 60x30x36cm.
there are no fish in it right now, im still setting it up. it is cycled, and i am in the process of decorating it.
today i bought some new plants: one java fern that i have tied to my driftwood with fishing wire, and three bunches of mystery plants (the tallest ones with lots of leaves). i am planning to get some floating plants at the surface (maybe duckweed?), to make the lights dimmer as i know bettas prefer low light.
do you think i have enough plants in my tank? if not, which plants would you recommend? i am on a bit of a budget so nothing outrageously expensive.
i will keep updating this thread over the lifetime of this tank. this is my first sorority (i have kept male bettas in the past) so any advice will be greatly appreciated!
 

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Hi

So you decided on a sorority, good on you.

Here's what I think you need in this order.
Get a few more plants, things like Swords, Anubias, Crypts, and Blue Stricta.
Set your tank up and do all your planting.
next
Get young females, and if you can get females that have lived in a sorority all the betta.
Expect them to have little squabbles they are just sorting out a pecking order, also expect some bitten fins, this is normal and if you keep the water clean its not a problem.

Make sure you introduce the girls to each other if they are strangers. I use breeder boxes.

Do not rearrange your tank much, the girls will each have a favorite spot, rearranging will cause them to try and re set the pecking order.

You are in for an interesting 2 or 3 weeks but once everything settles down its so worth it.
 
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Betta sororities are a ton of fun, just make sure all your bettas are indeed females rather than young males. Get them young, perhaps on the smaller size, and either do them all at once or in groups. I've used breeder nets several times when introducing new girls, as Nick has.

The more plants you have the better. It helps them feel secure and breaks up the line of sight, meaning that any girl who decides to chase another will lose sight of their victim pretty quick.

I'm not sure many people on this forum have sorority tanks, as for as I know there's only me and NickAu, maybe a couple others. I'm definitely going to be watching this thread. I love hearing about other people's sororities.
 
thank you both for the replies! nick, i will definitely get those plants. i know i saw some anubias at my LFS today, but ill have to ask the store owner to order in the other ones for me, so it might be a couple weeks before i can get the fish in.
once the whole tank is set up, im planning to ask my LFS to order in 5 bettas all from the same breeder. that way they will hopefully be siblings or at least have lived together.
i will update as soon as i do something new with this tank!
 
im planning to ask my LFS to order in 5 bettas all from the same breeder.
Make sure they are all different tail types and colors, Eg get a White crown-tail. A pink Double tail, A Yellow veil tail, Thats the beauty of a sorority each fish is different.

Just do me a favor dont name them Brittany Ce$ha Kim etc, No betta deserves to be named Kim Kardashian.
 
yep, will do!
and dont worry, i definitely wont be naming them after pop stars and trashy celebrities haha
id like to do theme-naming, but im gonna wait til i get them to decide what the theme will be.
 
This is normal, Well as normal as having 4 or 5 psychopathic killers in a confined space gets anyway.
 
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i can definitely see the use of all those plants! your girls are very feisty!
 
i decided that i wanted to get duckweed, blue stricta and vallisneria for my tank. i called my LFS and they have the first two, but unfortunately since its winter their supplier doesnt have any vallisneria.
i really like the long reedy look of val, are there any plants like it i could get instead? winters still a long way off finishing so i cant just wait for it to get warm.

also, im planning to stick a sheet of black perspex on the back side of my tank (on the outside of course) to make the plants and fish stand out more. i will post photos when this is done.
 
major rescaping today! got my duckweed, for $5.50 we got heaps! it nearly covers the whole water surface.
image.jpeg


i also got another clump of plants. the store owner told me their name, but i cant remember it. she said it would do fine in low light.
i added a large piece of driftwood. i sterilised it first with boiling water.
here is what my tank looks like now. i turned up the brightness so you could see it clearly, its a bit darker irl. do you think its sufficiently planted?
image.jpeg
 
is that a fertiliser?
what would you recommend i do with my tank? or is it good as-is?
 
really? awesome! i cant wait to stock it!
ill get some seachem as soon as i can.
should i keep gravel vacuuming? i think itll be a bit hard now since most of the tank floor is planted, but im worried not vacuuming will ruin my water quality.
the next time ill update will probably be a picture once i put the perspex on the back of the tank.
 
Vacuuming? Whats that? I do not bother but I have Malaysian Trumpet snails.
Just do the bits you can reach.

Malaysian Trumpet snails also make great free live food.

Watch the white girl.

 

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