Sorority Help!

[PhilipPhish]

So I have a 20 gallon set up with TONS of plants and hiding spots and today I went to go buy the girls for it.

I bought 4, 3 VT and a CT. I named then Cleo, Annie, Shoes, and Beans.

Well Cleo was being REALLY mean to Shoes and I didn't know what to do so I took Cleo out and now its just Annie, Shoes and Beans.

But it was really scary cause Cleo had Shoes by the mouth!!

It was horrible....

But I don't know if it is part of the pecking order or if Cleo just isn't a nice fish!

The others are doing good, but they all have really big, dark lines on them and I'm sure they are stress lines...

I need some help!

What should I do? I put Cleo in first because she seemed like the less aggressive. Then I watched her swim for a little while before putting Shoes in, then I put Annie and Beans in together.

I put Beans in last cause she was getting really mad at Annie and Shoes who were next to her. But I think Cleo might be the aggressive one....

Cleo is out and in the PETCO cup until I can figure out what to do. But Annie, Shoes, and Beans are all in there together and they kinda chase each other around and then they go sit in the plants and breath air and stuff. But they all have REALLY BIG black stress lines on them and i don't know what to do for those either.

Thanks for the help!

[bettafreak33]

I don't know anything about soroirities but it may be usual for there lines being in a new, big tank and new tankmates also.Hope this helps as much as possible.

[PhilipPhish]

OK. I think Shoes' lines are starting to go away and shes starting to go back to her orange color, Annie is skeptical, she swims around though, Shoes' is Annie's
"Friend".
Beans likes to swim more by her self. I don't know what to do with Cleo though....

[Lordsameth]

Try introducing her slowly by floating her again. There is a lot of excitement adding them all at once.

[PhilipPhish]

kay. I have her right next to the tank and she gets really excited when Shoes swims by...

I'll put her cup on the water and see what happens.

[youlovegnats]

If she gets too pecky again, you will have to remove her. A lot of sororities fail.

You want to add the smallest girls first and then move up in size from there.
If it fails, do you have a place to put the feisty one?

[1fish2fish]

I NEVER recommend only putting 4 fish in a sorority. In fact I really don't think 6 is even a good number to be honest.

Unrelated sororities rarely work. The people that have successfully done it are very lucky because they've picked the right fish or know enough about Betta behavior to make it work.

Personally I never add them on the same day. They get to float together in separate cups for a week or so (with twice daily water changes to the cup) and then once they've had time to stare at each other for several days I release the most timid first and the most aggressive last.

Is your tank cycled? With sororities a cycled tank is almost a requirement because your bioload is going to be so heavy.

Leave the light off for several days so they aren't stressed by other conditions. To be honest you should have quarantined each of them separately for at least a week prior to adding them to the tank to scan for any illness they might have.


They are going to fight, you cant get around that. They are going to have ripped and nipped fins and are going to lip lock occasionally, they have to establish a pecking order. It usually takes a few days for them to settle down.

[LittleBettaFish]

I have five females in a 7 gallon heavily planted tank and they get along as well as fish selectively bred to kill each other can.

When I first introduced mine, one of the females hunted all the others down and was body-slamming, tearing at fins, and trying to lip-lock with the other 'dominant' female in there.

I left her floating in a cup where the others could see her. I then released her 15 minutes later. She proceeded to get her butt kicked by the new dominant female within minutes of leaving the cup, and has been very submissive since.

I think if you give the females enough space/plants so each of them can patrol a 'territory', it works out better. My females all spend time in various spots around the tank and the only squabbling that breaks out is when my socially-impaired female swims into someone's territory and gets chased out and beaten up.

In a 20 gallon tank, I would buy a few more females. You really want to spread the aggression out. Also do you have a picture of your tank? I've found 'tons' is a bit of a subjective term when it comes to planting sororities. You really want it so you can't see from one side to the other.

[kathstew]

I think you should just take them all out for today. :/
You need more girls. The more girls, the more the aggression is spread out. Less fighting.
Is your tank cycled? You need to cycle it before adding the girls, because adding to many girls at once will be too much of a bioload on the filter.
I reccomend at least 5 girls to start. Add the least aggressive fish first, the most aggressive last. You need to be able to watch them for a few hours and be able to interfere if needed, so make sure you have the time for at least two to three days to watch them at first.
When you readd the fish again (after getting more), rearrange the plants.
Will you have a place to put any girls that are too aggressive to live in the sorority?

Honestly, I don't think you should be making a sorority, if what I see in your signature is true. :/ You should divide your tank and put the fish that are in the .5 gallon tanks and a pickle jar in this 20 gallon tank.
:/

[bettafreak33]

Originally Posted by kathstew

Honestly, I don't think you should be making a sorority, if what I see in your signature is true. :/ You should divide your tank and put the fish that are in the .5 gallon tanks and a pickle jar in this 20 gallon tank.
:/

Agreed.They would be MUCH happier in a 4-5 gal space.