Betta's as aggressive as said to be????

[anabellebalderas]

I have 2 male bettas. I was told in a pet store that the male's can get along with the females, so I bought 2 female bettas.
I am aware that bettas are an aggressive breed and really don't get along with other fish, but I still added the new female betta to each male's bowl.
Well sad to say that one of the females is now dead. So I checked in on the other one and she looked pretty beat up too and I took her out of the fish bowl and gave her a home of her own.
So here's the thing: was the person at the pet store lying? Male Bettas are meant to always be alone? And how about the females?
Also my female, her fins look as though they have been bitten by the male, do those grow back? Will she survive? I sure hope so. I will post pictures tomorrow, that is if when I get home she is still swimming.

[iamntbatman]

The person at the pet store is dead wrong. Male bettas will not tolerate any other bettas in their territory. They will only accept a female into their territory for breeding and will often chase her out after they've spawned. It's possible to keep female bettas together, but they can still be aggressive so care should be taken to make sure no fish in particular is picked on.

[minpiner]

i have a Betta male as well you can put them with other females but if their living space isn't big they can fight with the female but they should get along better if you change the tank around to make the male think that it is in a new tank with the female and you were a little mis informed about Betta's not being good tank mates they are great with most other fish i have my Betta with jewel tetras, red eye tetras, balla sharks, guppies, snails, and a couple other tetras and the fin can grow back but you may want to get something to help sooth the fish if it has sores now

[anabellebalderas]

Since my female has been pretty bashed up, what can I do to make her feel better and hopefully survive that thrashing she got.

[iamntbatman]

Just make sure she's in a different tank and keep the water quality as high as possible. Keep an eye on her for any infections she may receive as a result of her wounds. Something like Bettafix (or diluted Melafix) would be beneficial in regrowing damaged fins.

[anabellebalderas]

Thanks for all your help.

Can purchase that betta fix in any pet store? If so I am going after work.

[iamntbatman]

They should have it in any good pet store. Also, if you can't get to a pet store, you could make your own Melafix. Here's a thread I started a while back on it, with some useful links:

http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=16989

They sell Tea Tree Oil at stores like GNC. It's a little more expensive than a bottle of Melafix, but it's 100% tea tree oil rather than the 1% solution you get by buying Melafix itself. Bettafix is the exact same product as Melafix, but is diluted even further. So, you could basically make a lifetime supply of Melafix/Bettafix with one small bottle of tea tree oil.

[tmz]

bettas are very aggressive.

mine attack anything that seems like it could have moved and they bite and try to kill me through the glass. i love them XD