Guppy Bullying Female Betta

[Beth]

Hi Everyone,

I joined this group a pretty long time ago. I was interested in setting up my first soriority. A nice lady, I'm sorry I don't remember her name, answered my query with a lot of thoughtful questions and lo and behold I had a MAJOR puter crash and just never got back on here.

Soooo, I'm back.[g]

Our beloved puffer fish of 5yrs. passed away and I've converted his 30gal. salt water tank to FW and have put my first little betta girl in there. My son named her Kimberly. I got her last Fri. BTW, the tank was cycled with media from my 75gal. cichlid tank. At the same time I also bought a little girl that my son named Betty. Betty was obviously depressed and not doing well. Since they're so tiny I put them together in a critter keeper at first. This was while the 30gal was cycling. Kimberly was seperated from Betty within the first hour due to picking. Poor little Betty woudn't even try to defend herself. Oh well, I guess even the babies fight. These two are the smallest bettas that I've ever seen. Betty is still alone in the keeper and is doing much better. I really didn't think she was going to make it but I think she's fine now. Oh, and these were the last 2 females that the store had.

My son had also brought home a TINY female guppy along with a snail in a little cup at the end of the last school year. I had put the guppy and snail with Kimberly. Kimberly is never out when I go to check on them. Finally, today I saw that the guppy won't allow Kimberly to come out into the open at all. Blade, the guppy, chases Kimberly betta until she hides away. I took Blade out and put her back into the 10gal. that she and the snail came from. Now Blade is extremely upset. She's pacing up and down the side of the 10gal. as fast as she can and shaking her tail in a fury.

What do you all think that I should do? I'm really upset that Blade is so upset. She was absolutely thrilled when I put her in the 30gal. She is one of the most expressive fish that I've ever seen. I could tell that she loved all that space in the 30. I swear I heard her yelling WEEEEEEEEEEEE!! Do you think I should put her back in the 30 and let her and Kimberly work it out? Kimberly did show signs that she wanted to argue with Blade, but she'd chicken out and go hide. Also, can I add Betty betta or should I absolutely wait for the other female bettas to arrive at my fish store? I was planning on having 7 in the 30. There's a lot of plants and hiding spots.

Should I go to Petsmart and get a few more female guppies for Blade? If so do you think I could put the guppies in the 30 and Blade might be more apt to pick on her guppy sisters and leave the bettas alone? Petsmart keeps their female and male guppies apart so I don't have to worry about any breeding. Nothing is allowed to breed in this house.

I hope you can sort out my questions. Seems I'm often as clear as mud.

Thank you all for any and all advice.

Warm Wishes, Beth

[thePWNISHER]

If there are plants and hiding spots then they should be fine, eventually the female bettas will be bigger and more aggressive and that will put the guppy in its place. If you add more female guppies who knows?!? I mean females that have been hit just once can store the sperm for up to 6 months, then you will be stuck with the population issues. I'm actually using my 29g to take in some overflow guppies from a friend, but I plan to have a sorority of about 8-12 betta girls to control fry populations.

What is odd is that Usually male guppies, since they are like a dog that humps your leg, they will pester female bettas to no end sometimes since they just run around hitting everyone since that is what they do. It is really odd that the female guppy is bullying the female but honestly if you add any type of other fish I'm sure the aggression will pan out and no one will be exclusively picked on. Plus your bettas need to get to the surface once in a while to breathe.

[GreenTea]

Pwnisher I'm not trying to be mean but I've seen you give some bizarre advice lately...Putting male and female bettas together, advising her to put her fish back in the same dangerous situation again hoping that it will work out when the female betta are bigger and more aggressive. If they are stressed and scared they might not get the chance to do that.

Hi and welcome back to the forum. I wouldnt worry about your fish being upset, really the set up isn't good for any of them. Female bettas in a sorority do best with at least 5 or more females, with tons of hiding spots and plants. Two girls together is just asking for one to kill the other. Bettas are slower than guppies and tend to do better on their own. Guppies like to be in groups.

I would give each betta girl her own space, or set up a proper sorority in your 30 gallon and figure out what to do with the guppy.

[thePWNISHER]

my comment about males and females was sarcastic in the other thread. They need an ocean between them for it to have a decent chance was my only point.

[Beth]

Thank you for the kind welcome.

The girls are still seperate. Kimberly is in a 2.5gal and Betty is still in the critter keeper. It's probably a gallon. Yesterday was the first time that Betty swam to me and did the little betta dance that we love so much. I've had a few bettas in the past. I know that she will live now. She was so puny and depressed when I first got her home. I don 't like her being in the critter keeper so I'll either try a sorority of 5 in another 10 gal. that I have, or go to petsmart and get her a 5 gal.

I can't get rid of the guppy. Not only would my little boy be heartbroken but I feel so responsible for her life. Who knows what would happen to her if I took her to the store. Since I can get virgin females from petsmart how many girls could I put with her in the 10 gal to make her more happy? I would want the smallest amount but enough to make her happy.

Thank you for your help.

Beth

Originally Posted by GreenTea

Hi and welcome back to the forum. I wouldnt worry about your fish being upset, really the set up isn't good for any of them. Female bettas in a sorority do best with at least 5 or more females, with tons of hiding spots and plants. Two girls together is just asking for one to kill the other. Bettas are slower than guppies and tend to do better on their own. Guppies like to be in groups.

I would give each betta girl her own space, or set up a proper sorority in your 30 gallon and figure out what to do with the guppy.

[Beth]

I've read that about male guppies and bettas on here. What a bunch of little goobers those boys are.

Guppies were my first fish but that was so long ago that what I remember was that they like to bred me out of the house. I never wanted any more after that and then my little boy brings this one home in a cup. Oh, and with a snail.

When they were in the 30gal I was afraid the guppy wasn't allowing the betta to come up for air. There's so many plants that I'm sure she was able to sneak up to the top though. But that's no way to live. I think I'm just going to put some virgin females from petsmart in with the guppy and keep the betta girls seperated and in their own tanks. At least that's my plan at this moment. Darn guppy.

Take Care, Beth

Originally Posted by thePWNISHER

If there are plants and hiding spots then they should be fine, eventually the female bettas will be bigger and more aggressive and that will put the guppy in its place. If you add more female guppies who knows?!? I mean females that have been hit just once can store the sperm for up to 6 months, then you will be stuck with the population issues. I'm actually using my 29g to take in some overflow guppies from a friend, but I plan to have a sorority of about 8-12 betta girls to control fry populations.

What is odd is that Usually male guppies, since they are like a dog that humps your leg, they will pester female bettas to no end sometimes since they just run around hitting everyone since that is what they do. It is really odd that the female guppy is bullying the female but honestly if you add any type of other fish I'm sure the aggression will pan out and no one will be exclusively picked on. Plus your bettas need to get to the surface once in a while to breathe.

[GreenTea]

You're welcome :)

Well the general rule is a gallon of water per inch of fish. So if you have 5 two-inch (they will be eventually) guppies, that will take up the 10 gallons. However, if you plan to have live plants and a decent filter, you could probably get away with up to 9. Good luck with your tank! I have just set up a sorority and am waiting for my female betta to get here from Thailand. They were supposed to get here Wednesday but have been postponed another week =[

[Beth]

My fish guy is supposed to get more girls in today but I haven't called yet. Kim and Betty are still seperated with the lone guppy in the 10gal. I didn't make it to petsmart this weekend to get some more guppies.

I've got another empty 10gal that I could try to put a divider in for the 2 bettas. I've never done that before. Decisions, decisions.

Let us know when you get your girls. You must be so excited!

Originally Posted by GreenTea

You're welcome :)

Well the general rule is a gallon of water per inch of fish. So if you have 5 two-inch (they will be eventually) guppies, that will take up the 10 gallons. However, if you plan to have live plants and a decent filter, you could probably get away with up to 9. Good luck with your tank! I have just set up a sorority and am waiting for my female betta to get here from Thailand. They were supposed to get here Wednesday but have been postponed another week =[

[Sena Hansler]

Well if you get only female guppies, it's okay but with a male.. beware the population boom haha!!!

I have had to remove my one female betta, Rose, because she is the smallest most submissive little thing. Everyone bullied her and now her fin is split D: so she is sharing a divided 10 gallon with Spartan and neither seem to mine (exceot Spartan goes.... "wait a minute... WHO PUT THAT WALL THERE?!")

And trust me. Male guppies... ohhhh boy xD an endler I had was 1/4 the size of my balloon molly, and he "flared" for her, showing off, trailing after her like a love struck puppy dog haha!!!