[RelaxRehab]

I am new to the site and to bettas in general, but ignorance isn't always bliss. hence I am here, I have a 55 gallon tank and a female betta "whiplash" with a few skulls and a large ship. Never been too fond of plants sense they seem to take a lot of TLC( thank goodness for plastic plants). I'm thinking of starting a soroity and maybe having some other kind of fish in there too, any suggestions? although im opened to any plants that is easy and harty.


(i also have a male betta, shellshock, also the tank is heated, water flitered and a large)

 

[kfryman]

If you already have one in there you probably have to rearrange the tank before adding new girls and introduce whiplash with the other girls. You will need a lot of girls as well for the amount of space you have. I wouldn't go under 10 for the 55 gallon. Contact some breeders on here if you want as it will be much safer. Many petstores sell young males as females and you can't tell.

Wait is there a male and a female?

 

[RelaxRehab]

The male is in its own 1g tank, but yes, i might do that, but would it be a bad idea to maybe add some ghost shimp also?

 

[Olympia]

Kfry, I don't know about buying bulk from a breeder.
Just my assumption, but if you got say, 15 sisters that were raised together, I'm guessing there'd be a huge chance that the original would be very bullied.
I'd buy separate fish, but that's just me.

 

[MrVampire181]

Siblings are the best for sororities. Though with a big tank it generally won't matter.

 

[Olympia]

Yes, I know, but the OP has a female already to be included in the sorority.
With 15 sibling girls and one random girl, won't the random girl be very likely to be picked on? I feel like she'd be singled out.

 

[MrVampire181]

I purchased a ton of females from cajunamy last fall and they were put in a 30 gallon with some of my sibling females that I bred. Not an issue until they started competing for the males I was floating temporarily.

 

[Olympia]

Ah, okay. That's good.

 

[MrVampire181]

But for any tank I recommend caves and lots of fake or live plants. These fish can get aggressive so it's best just to pack the tank with plants.

 

[Bombalurina]

Yep. Sororities are a massive risk without proper cover.

For other fish, it depends on what sort of water you have. For instance, soft water with a lower pH lends itself to tetras, higher pH and harder water is better for livebearers.

 

[EvilVOG]

i added 4 sibling girls to my 20g that already had 1 female in in it (along with 4 raboras). The Original female tried to be dominant, but then that girl is HUGE. Thankfully she is also slow. The tank is planted, with a big piece of driftwood that a couple of the girls lived under for the first couple days. But after a few days the big girl got tired of trying to chase the others, and now they all get along pretty well.

 

[LittleBettaFish]

I add new females to my sorority all the time. The originals will usually henpeck the newcomer a bit but I've never had anyone be so aggressive they need to be permanently removed.

Usually it's the newcomers I've found who tend to be the aggressors and instigators.