Possibly A Super Dumb Quesiton

[juhason]

I'm not saying that I plan to try this in ANY way. I know that bettas fight each other and would never want to put them in harms way... plus they are expensive.... 

 
I'm just curious though, bettas are territorial right? So do you think they would behave in a similar manner as some cichlids do, as in, if there is no "room" to create a territory, will they tolerate each other? What exactly would happen if you filled a tank (and I mean like, maxed out a tank) with bettas?
 
AGAIN, I DO NOT PLAN ON DOING SUCH A THING, I'M JUST A CURIOUS SOUL.

 

[attibones]

That's kind of how sorority tanks are set up. It has to be done with care though. You need to get females from a breeder who has kept the females together. That's ideal anyway. You also need to heavily plant the tank. It helps too if you add caves and branches. You shouldn't do this with males and not all females are good candidates for a sorority tank.

 

[bluesword23516]

If there isn't much room one betta will claim the entire tank as their territory and will fight off the rest. Because the others can't flee she would kill them. 

 

[DanielKeepsFish]

to be honest i think it might be like fish battle royal

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

I have a friend with only two male bettas in a heavily planted US standard 75 gallon. He said it was a social experiment. Both are living their lives normally for the past 6 months but chases each other away upon entering 'enemy territory'. No serious fin damage occurs but I'm kinda worried about their stress level though.

 

[bluesword23516]

75 gallons is pretty large so I can see why both males are alive. In the wild males wont necessarily kill each other, they may just chase each other off. If the tank has decorations and plants they may have their own territories and hardly see the other male.  

 

[Wildbetta]

Not a super dumb question at all.  LOL 

Keeping bettas housed like some cichlid species is how successful sororities are done.  While doing that works with females for the most part, it would not work with males.  Even sororities are cautioned against for anyone not used to betta body language because aggression can be missed early on which often leads to several dying from an overly aggressive female who was not cut out to be kept with others.  Stress can be really high in a sorority tank which brings on sickness and often death of individuals.  While I have personally kept successful sororities, I caution anyone thinking of setting one up since they are not "easy" and maintaining them is often difficult.
 
With male bettas you can simply not keep them in this manner.  They will kill each other or just completely stress each other to the point of death.  Breeders can keep them together for longer than most as they are raising them up but even then they have to be separated because of damage to other fish or themselves because of aggression.  Even in large tanks with just a few males, I personally have never heard of long term success.  You hear good things up until about the year mark and then....nothing which leads me to believe that it failed. I don't believe it is ever a good idea to house males together.  It is not healthy for the fish which is how I look at things.

 

[AmtotheBurr]

My lfs has two males together in a tank where they sell their live plants. I was shocked.

 

[Bubbelzzz]

When the tank is large enough, with enough decoration and hiding places, it could work to add one extra betta. However, the idea of placing a lot in order for them to drop their territories is in my opinion not a good idea. The stress levels will be really high, leading to diseases. Furthermore, will these contant high stress level shorten the length of the life of the fish.
It might look like it works but it isn't very healthy for your fish.
 
So I wouldn't do it.

 

[Ltygress]

For a short while, I had a male and two females living together peacefully in a 10-gallon. They would dance and "slap" each other if they got right beside each other, but otherwise left the others alone. It was an emergency situation with a broken tank, but I was surprised they were all okay in there. And the 10-gallon sat in my bedroom so I was VERY aware of what was going on, and would have known if they were fighting. As a matter of fact, one female's fins actually HEALED during her time in there.

I wonder if they somehow knew that for a week or so, that was their only option, so they just dealt with it... *Twilight Zone Tone*