sorority additions?

[BlueBlazeSilverHeart]

so got a new girl (total accident i just couldn't help my self^^;) and i was wondering if any one had any suggestions about adding her to my current sorority? ( my girls are 4 so the newbie would be 5). also has anyone heard about female bettas killing neon tetras? i had 4 neons and 4 glo light tetras in the big tank with my girls and all 4 neons and 1 glolight just up and died. it was weird...

[Bombalurina]

What size is your tank? Have you tested your water? Neons are so poorly and massively bred in a lot of places that they can be total canaries.

As for adding, remove all the girls, re-arrange the tank, then add everyone (including the newbie) back in at the same time. The glolights can stay in there whilst you do this. :)

[shellieca]

I know everyone says remove the existing girls & re-arrange but I have never done so. I have a 46g tank so it would be a huge hassle; with the size of my tank, the plants & caves a newbie can easily hide. I always QT a new girl for at least 2 wks in a 1-2g tank, depends what I have available, then acclimate her properly & add her in. I usually do it on the weekend so I can keep an eye everyone. So far I've never had a problem, they do the usual flaring & puffing up but no actual fights.

[Hadoken Kitty]

While Bomba is doing what we technically advise most people who don't really understand betta behavior to do... I usually just scoop up all my girls and float them all at once. My sorority is an NPT so moving all of my plants around would be a real hassle, especially since I'm trying to get things to attach and grow in there. Anyways, then I just release the newbie first. If she's spending all her time flaring at a girl, a move that girl's baggie to the other side so she can't do it anymore. She'll get bored and swim away. Then I release my other girls. No fights, no issues.

[Bombalurina]

I should point out, I don't do it either, (as if I want to have to pull out that many live plants), but I've never had even the slightest issue with my girls, my sorority had been set up a long time and I knew how to read them. I just advise doing this to minimise risk until you know exactly what's what. :)