Female Betta Sororities.

[Kittykat7]

I have finally decided to start a sorority! This is going to be a long post, sorry just want to explain how I got to where I am with my fishies! lol

I originally had a 5 gallon tank that housed a couple of glofish (I do not recommend them btw, they seem too unhealthy) and a cory dora catfish. Now, at the time I was not aware that the cory needed to be in a bigger tank so it can have a small school. After the glofish died (really didn't take long) I got a neon tetra and a cherry barb... again did not now that they were schooling fish and needed more room and a least 5 of each. I am aware now. Almost a year later the neon eventually died after a water change and after talking over my options with a very nice worker at petsmart I decided to add 2 female cherry barbs and have a small school of 3 (I know, not ideal for a small tank). They were all very happy for a couple of weeks and then out of nowhere one of the females died. Shortly after that my male (who I had for about a year with the neon tetra) died.

So, after that there was just a female cherry barb, the cory dora and 1 snail. I decided I was done with regular fish and went to petco to look at the bettas. I came across a very lovely CT female that I named Cotton Candy because she is a very nice soft pink and blue color. I acclimated her very slowly to the tank and I saw absolutely no aggression towards the barb or any from the barb. They get along very very well, I think Cherry Pie (the barb) thinks she is a betta too. I went to petsmart for some new betta food when I came along Blueberry Muffin, a beautiful deep blue and red CT female. I figured I would be safe with the 3 fish in a 5 gallon tank. This is before I read about sororities and females living together. When I added Blueberry Muffin to the tank Cotton Candy and Cherry Pie paid her no attention at all. I monitored them all day and nothing. They all kept to themselves. Now, they are the bestest friends. They all swim in a little school together and there is no aggression at all.

I also have a stunning double tail male named Cubie (named after the Rubik's Cube) who was in a 3 gal tank with a snail. It was one of those cylinder tanks from walmart. It was extremely hard to see Cubie in that tank because of the shape. I mean he would just disappear! I finally got tired of that tank and decided to do some upgrades.

Now, Cubie is happy in his new home... the 5 gallon that the females used to be in. And the females got them a nice roomy 10 gallon. They still get along SUPER fantastic (knocks on wood). But I have a few questions:

Can I add another cory for the lonely guy/gal I have?
How many more females do I need... 3? I actually might I have one more... a baby that I bought from petco that I think is a female. Here is a thread about Einstein... http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=112181
So, if Einstein is a female then I should only need 2 more ladies.
Will they gang up on Cherry Pie now that they will way outnumber her? I actually tried to rehome her but nobody I know has a tank with barbs.

[nemolover]

Great post! Cannot wait till I have enough space for a sororitie. :)

[nel3]

this question doesnt really regard sorotites directly but its still on topic. i just found out an LPS has female betta for $6. most are light brown with black stripes. there are 2-3 blue/red females of the 30 or so in the 5g LPS tank. its overcrowded as heck but how can one tell future color patterns for the brown and black betta? i do plan to get a female betta sometime in the future but first i'll get a PK when i have room for one. i have only 3 possible tanks i can put a female betta in but the're occupied until one passes. though a female PK would be a option i would go for if a KK or the 2.5g free up. im guessing it'll be difficult to determine at some point.

[pyro fiend]

personally nel i woudlnt try any number over 1 female at once in a 5g. unless you are able to divide it with suction cups or something for a few weeks.

blacks n browns with stripes usually means its stressed as heck :\ one of my males was like brown when i got him i thought 'oo a chocolate' got him home.. he turned blue in a few hrs o.0 and had a all black boy come home to be green [died shortly after tho </3] with black and brown to find in a lps/lfs its not very common for it to be a natural color. maybe ask the store their return poiicy of fish if you wana try to get them but find the color. that way you dont have 3 blue girls and a red or something ;p

iv heard storys oof people bringing back those bettas and they turn all sorts of colors buddy of mine grabbed a all black girl few weeks ago shes now green and red o.0 weird how they can become a rainbow wen there happy ;)

[nel3]

Originally Posted by pyro fiend

personally nel i woudlnt try any number over 1 female at once in a 5g. unless you are able to divide it with suction cups or something for a few weeks.

blacks n browns with stripes usually means its stressed as heck :\ one of my males was like brown when i got him i thought 'oo a chocolate' got him home.. he turned blue in a few hrs o.0 and had a all black boy come home to be green [died shortly after tho </3] with black and brown to find in a lps/lfs its not very common for it to be a natural color. maybe ask the store their return poiicy of fish if you wana try to get them but find the color. that way you dont have 3 blue girls and a red or something ;p

iv heard storys oof people bringing back those bettas and they turn all sorts of colors buddy of mine grabbed a all black girl few weeks ago shes now green and red o.0 weird how they can become a rainbow wen there happy ;)

thank you very much. it looks like a few are relativly calm given thier tank size but the many others inside the same tank are very stressed at the situation. whenever i do get a female betta i probably wont ever return them to the store. though looks like anyone who gets a super-stressed female is in for a colourful surprise if cared for properly. i dont plan to get a sorority, no space for the proper tank. though single fish tanks are perfectly acceptable for me. fish returns may be possible but ive seen what sort of tank they're kept in and wouldn'twant to put the fish back in there.

is there any easy way to tell apart the fin types of the female betta when they're young?

my newest male betta has orange and smoke grey fins. when i got him he had faint turquoise blue highlights on the fins but they're showing now where they werent before.

[pyro fiend]

h im so sorry i read that wrong. i thought you was asking if you can get a few girls n put them in a 5 npt XC i was half asleep :'(

but yea big suprize only betta tha was dark i didnt have a surprize was with my black male who had a orange tail and orange fins :P oonly slight color change ihad was tails went from reddish to orange [tho had bad tail rot] and he got blue speckling on his back but never went lue even in a heated tank o.0

i luv this link helped me a bit for my new girls hope you can remember it when you visit you lps ;P http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/be...ale-betta.html

[nel3]

Originally Posted by pyro fiend

h im so sorry i read that wrong. i thought you was asking if you can get a few girls n put them in a 5 npt XC i was half asleep :'(

but yea big suprize only betta tha was dark i didnt have a surprize was with my black male who had a orange tail and orange fins :P oonly slight color change ihad was tails went from reddish to orange [tho had bad tail rot] and he got blue speckling on his back but never went lue even in a heated tank o.0

i luv this link helped me a bit for my new girls hope you can remember it when you visit you lps ;P http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/be...ale-betta.html

NP on the misunderstanding, i do tend to make mistakes also when tired.

my only concern for the DeT blue colouring is taking over the punkpin orange but i'll see what he decides to do regarding tail colouring. he even has the uniform offset highlights on his body. ie like the VT female in the link you provided. the blue so far is creeping on the fin edges and a few spot interior of the grey.

thank you very much for the female betta tail link. its very helpful and i'll definetely make a note to visit that site when the time comes to get a female betta. are CT females prone to fin curling due to hard water? my 2 male CTs have a bit of it but most regrowth is near perfect shape. CTPKs are pretty nice, they're quite distinct.

[pyro fiend]

honestly you got me stuck there ihave no idea on hardness tho ik my waters quite hard. and easily makes calc. buildup but iv yet had a girl get a curled tail, or even boy o.0

but mine, it did go over some of my boys orange. but not alot. but i wouldnt worry. iv never mixed red and blue paint and gotten orange ;) so i wouldnt think a scale can be orange and turn like blue. tho my boys finnage did a lil but mainly on the trim and some of the thingymajigers [staf thngs dk what to call them im tired XD] but not a whole lot. so i woudlnt worry to much on that :P

[teeneythebetta]

Yes CTs find will curl in hard water.

[pyro fiend]

teeney to the rescue. ig my water aint that hard afterall? o.0 then again my ct's harly lived past 6months </3