3 females & 1 male betta in 1 tank??

[fayhe37]

Hey everyone, Thanks for the advice about male & female in a 10 gal tank. It has all been helpfull.

I bought 2 more females today (3 total now) but what is it with the frickin' pet store employees and their "so called pet knowledge"???? I only asked the girl at Petco how much their female bettas were, she checked, told me the price than said "if you are going to put her in with a male, he will kill her. She than quickly said you need 5 or 6 females to every 1 male betta in your tank because HE WILL KILL ALL THE FEMALES EXCEPT FOR THE ONE HE LIKES & WANTS TO BREED WITH" I didin't even tell her I had a male, or tell her anything else for that matter. Was she just trying to boost sales by saying that?

Now since I am new to all this, and I did get 2 more females (3 total) to take the aggression? from the male (so he ain't chasing the 1 female around all day) should I be expecting to come home 1 day and see dead females (or the male) floating cause they will (by nature?) just kill each other, or should I just throw them in together and whatever happenes, happens. Trial and error sort of lesson?? Any thoughts/comments are always welcome

P.S once I find my camera I will be posting photos. SOON.......

Thanks, Fayhe

[rustyness]

dont put 3 females and a male together in a tank. in all likelihood your male is eventually bound to be attacked and die, especially with 3 females and a male in a 10 gallon tank (seems a bit crowded to me). the 3 females may be fine in the 10 gallon without a male, though.

[herefishy]

I am currently using the same formula that you are, 3f/1m. I do have alot of elodea in the tanks for the females to hide and to help anchor the bubble nest. In a 10g tank, about 4-6 nice bunches would suffice. Elodea is a floating plant that also helps by competing with algae for nutrients and is a leaf feeder, takes nutrients through its leaves. Some say that it also helps to soften water. All in all, it is a very goot plant for a betta tank.

[MattD]

fay, my advice to you is proceed with caution. The best way to go about this is to provide lots an lots of hiding places. Get lots of plastic plants if you don't fancy the live plants, and cut several of them into smaller pieces and allow them to float on the surface. Keep an eye on the tank for several days to gauge their behavior. You could probably add one more female tops before overcrowding and overloading the tank, although I wouldn't recommend it.

Good luck! Keep us updated.