New Sorority!

[Mirage23]

Yeah Gyarados likes to chase the others away when she's eating. Or she decides she wants to be a little brat and steals food that others were eyeing . What's weird is that she doesn't nip very much. She'll get close to them and they'll be fine but the minute they start to run away from her, she chases them and nips their tail. The other two basically bowed down to her so I'm afraid to add another two today and destroy everything Gyarados has set up. I like it right now. All their fins still look fine. Mild chasing and slight nipping. I hope it stays that way. We'll see what happens when the other two come home. As for pictures, I'll try my hardest. They're so small in that tank and run away when my phone gets near them. The only non camera shy one is rogue haha

[Mirage23]

Rogue. I'll try and get better ones. Destiny doesn't take good pictures... You can't see her

[AyalaCookiejar]

The more girls you have, the more the aggression spreads out. It'll be safer for them with more girls, and I highly doubt that an extra girl or two will change Gy's personality ;)

It is important though to QT any new girls and cup the current three and rearrange a bit before releasing them all. Three girls, I believe, CAN work, but not often. They usually work for awhile before they start experiencing problems. You will likely have two gang up on the third one and will get some devastating injuries.

Some people also cup the girls and feed them individually. If you have a girl who is stealing from all the rest, you can maybe try just cupping her?

[Mirage23]

So here's what happened. I got two more. And the the newest girls fought with Gyarados (the former Alpha). One of them backed down pretty quickly while the other an Gyarados went at it for a while. The fight is now over I still don't know who one but I'm sure it'll take time. How do I know when I should separate them? How do I know when one is being super aggressive to the point where I should cup her and try again later? They both have a couple of nipped fins it looks like. When they get close to each other they don't fight anymore but I have a feeling they'll go at it again in te future. So what should I do?

[LebronTheBetta]

If there are only a few nipped fins it should be just fine. It's the pecking order after all... Are any of them showing stress stripes? You can cup the most aggressive one for 2-3 days if you wish.

[Mirage23]

No stress stripes, but the other is now floating at the top corner of the tank. I thought she was dead but she's still waving her fins to around and breathing. She looks depressed.

[Mirage23]

Gyarados won't nip unless she gets nipped at but she will definitely chase them if they start to run away

[LebronTheBetta]

If she's starting to act sick then you can cup her and buff her up with some high protein foods like mosquito larvae.

[Mirage23]

What can I do about the nipped fins? Will they just heal on their own?

[AyalaCookiejar]

They will with clean warm water. Stress coat doesn't hurt. It's a conditioner and the aloe Vera in it helps. I use stress coat and prime for my sick fish.

I also have a four gallon back up tank for any females that maybe too aggressive for my sorority.