[swimchica]

I have a ten gallon tank that has "dividers." Well, I went and got three baby beta fish from PetCo. I got a heater and everything, and they went in with the male and female I already had.

The male and female would be allowed to roam the tank for a while (two-three hours a week) when I cleaned the tank and she would get stripes but he was never interested so they kinda follow each other.

Well I put the babies in and one of them figured out that there was about a quarter inch between the divider and bottom. One of them started visiting the other tanks. Then another baby... Then the big female...

Now they all do it, and I just cleaned their tank and put one less divider in it (it needs to be cleaned). The big male took the biggest section, the big female took the next one, the more aggressive baby took the next, and the two littlest ones were in the smaller one. Not the ones I put in there.

None have attacked or anything. The female has even killed a baby fish and has been fine for about a month with this situation.

Is it fine to leave them like this? Has anyone had this happen?

Edit: The guy is in with the heater and literally will not move from beside it. The tank is 78 on the coldest part. Silly boy.

 

[lvandert]

To be honest I'd get a few new tanks and separate boys from girl and then babies from adults. Hormones can cause a ruckus in there possibly ending in the death of your girl(s). They get eggy and just can't pass the eggs and well they have a fatal blow out. No one one this site would recommend letting them swim together, a few times a week let alone just once, unless your breeding. The general cencus would be to separate them immediately and get them their own tanks.
Bettas are not community fish and dont school. I would fix the slipping through dividers problem right away (separate tanks would solve this as well). I'm sorry if I seem harsh, its just the last person that tried this ended up with a few less betta within a few weeks