Two Females Are Friends

[ginchinsing]

Hopefully this is the correct area to write this.

As some of you may know, I recently bought three female bettas and put them in a 20 gallon long. I plan on getting a few more bettas this week to make a group.

The two larger females did a bit of damage to each other and fought for a good while when I first put everyone into the tank. I noticed today that they seem to like hanging out together and only flare up at each other sometimes. They eat together and just swim around next to each other. It's the cutest thing.

Has anyone had this happen with their sororities? I'm almost tempted to not get more females because it might mess up the relationship of the two big ones. I just feel bad for Little Wiggle, who is almost half the size of the other two. I think she needs a friend. She's the size of a guppy male right now and I'm worried the other two might realize they are bigger. I was planning on picking out three bettas that are the same size as Little Wiggle to help give them a chance to fend off the bigger two.

[PaulO]

Sororities generally work on the structure that multiple fish allow all aggression to be spread evenly. The only thing is many people will say that 3 bettas(female) is not enough for a sorority. Usually people will set u[p a 10 gallon sorority with about 4-6 females. This prevents any one fish from being specifically targeted. With a 20 gallon I would probably put a max of ten fish but that's just because you need to keep the bio load in check. If you do decide to get at least another fish or two make sure you remove the fish rearrange the decorations so the new fish don't get bullied away from the older residents "territories". Anyway I hope this entices more people with sororities to help you out, Good Luck :)

[ginchinsing]

I have had sororities before, just none with females that actually wanted to eat together. I put food in four different places because it's so hard to find the small one with all the fake plants. It's not as if the two big ones have to eat next to each other. Fish are so weird, aren't they? These are supposed to be semi-aggressive fish and after they ripped each others fins to shreds for a bit, now they get along.

I did want to move my four live plants to better light anyway. So, I think today I will take the rotten dog up to Petsmart and see if they have any fish that might work. I was surprised to discover my local LFS no longer carries bettas on demand and you have to special order them. She deals in mostly cichlids anyway, but she always has some amazing looking fish.

[PaulO]

That is really cool!!! Contrary to the stereotype "fish are boring" it is completely opposite,these little guys have some crazy personalities and it is entirely possible that your girls picked up a schooling mentality. Also it helps if the fish are young because they are less used to being alone and are still able to more easily adapt to those situations. I remember reading a few weeks ago that another person had a sorority and all the girls would sleep together which was kinda funny. All I can say is you pretty much hit the jackpot and I am really jealous of you but anyway if they're that friendly to each other you are definitely doing something right .

[ginchinsing]

Lol. Thanks. My goal is to upgrade my little 20 gallon long to a 100 gallon. More room to stuff needy females in. Lol. And snails. And plants....