[Janeaubree]

Hi there, I'm extremely new to the whole keeping females together-thing, and I'd like some help before I make any sort of mistake!

I'm very familiar with bettas, behaviors, care, etc. I bought myself a little, very young looking female yesterday (oct 20th) and I've heard a lot about "sororities" within female betta fish. It sounds great! So, of course, I'd love to try it out.

I've had a 10gal tank running for about 2 1/2 months. It had an algae eater and a bristle-nose Cory in there, keeping things going.

The female betta i have in there seems to be followed/occasionally nipped at by the algae eater, because of course, they're semi-agressive fish.

Do you think adding three to four more female bettas would over-crowd the tank, and create a waste problem? Would it distract the algae eater from picking on Rosie?

Thanks to all who reply!

 

[shellieca]

What kind of algae eater? If its a Chinese algae eater 10g is way too small & they only eat algae as juveniles (as do most algae eaters) they will need other food as they get older. If you're seeing aggression already I'd say the tank already isn't big enough & its being territorial. This I know because I have 2 & they started out in a 10g with 3 female Bettas, now everyone is happily living in a 46g. The 5 fish I had in my 10g produced a lot of waste so if it were me I wouldn't do more than 5 fish total.

 

[Janeaubree]

Yes, it's a chinese algae eater. I was misinformed about how large they would get, from the store I bought him at. I'm thinking of returning the algae eater & frog, keeping a single Cory and having 4 to 5 female bettas together. Would that be more suitable?

 

[MaisyDawgThirteen]

There is no such think as a bristlenose cory. There are bristlenose plecos and cory catfish. Cories are schooling fish and like 4+ cories in the tank. Bristlenose plecos need a 30 gallon, same with the algae eater. The CAE is extremelly aggressive and will hurt your fish.

 

[shellieca]

I would do a little more research on the fish, other than the Betta, you have or want, you have to see them as adults not the babies the LPS or LFS sells them as. I have limited fish knowledge because I only have Bettas & the 2 CAE's & I tend to understock because I don't want problems. Personally, in a 10g I would have only the Bettas & possibly a mystery snail. Keep in mind if you put 5 Bettas into a 10g that's 2g per fish just for the Bettas.

 

[logisticsguy]

This is just my opinion here. I think 10 g is to small for a properly functioning sorority. You need 5+ females to spread out the aggression, 4 at the very least. The females can be very aggressive to each other and need space to get away from each other, plus lots of hiding spots and some plants too. I have 5 females in one tank and Im glad my tank is 33 gallons, I would not want it any smaller. Dwarf corys make a nice tank mate 4+ and work really hard keeping it clean and the betta do not even notice them. Stay away from ADFs as a tank mate imo, I have bettas that want to eat my frog, while others have frogs that bite the betta and rip up fins.