20 Gallon Tank 2nd Attempt at a Betta Sorority

This is BT. Her full name is Beta Test 1.2 (I know it’s a weird name). I got her from a mixed tank of adolescent female bettas and guppies at petco. She’s in a mostly empty 10 gallon for now, and, if things go well, will go into a 20 gallon that I have yet to set up. I’m going to attempt to start a sorority for the second time. My first sorority (a 55 gallon with ~20 bettas from the same breeder) didn’t go very well, and I’m going to try and not repeat the same mistakes.
BT is sort of my “test” betta. If she survives and doesn’t turn out to be a male, then I’ll get more bettas and really start the sorority. I have to say, I’ve only had her for a day and I’m already excited to see her personality develop.

 

She is very pretty! Can I ask why the first set up did not work? I have always been curious about a betta sorority tank.

 

She is very pretty! Can I ask why the first set up did not work? I have always been curious about a betta sorority tank.

The biggest problem was that all the bettas from the breeder had issues. They had swim bladder problems, tumors, and some looked permanently bloated. At that time, I wasn’t able to do as many water changes as I would’ve liked, either. Also, the tank had an excess of algae, and, looking back on it, probably had cycling issues as well.
This time I’m going to examine and quarantine each new betta I get. I’m also not going to get more than 5-6 bettas.

 

I have a creamy colored Crown tail that is smaller & got picked on. Ginger is her name & I had to move her to a 10 gallon because she was always hiding, so it wasn't fair to her as a fish.

I added a blue female veil tale with Ginger because they are social & no dominance displays that I saw.

my female elephant ear ( only 1 eye works after a pop eye infection) is dominant in my 20 gallon long.

she's house with a blue crown tail & Koi female who both are fairly easy going and don't mind her bossy ways.

they've all been in a sorority set up over a year. 20 long since Feb.

I do randomly move girls around for a day or 2 just to prevent oppression.

my advise is if you have a girl hiding, she isn't suited for a sorority.

My 2nd elephant ear female ( juvenile) was super stressed. She had been in a 5 gallon tank for several months and did not transition well to soriority life, so she's solo for the rest of her life. she's much calmer now and back to her fishy self.

Play it by ear & be ready to move them to solo tanks if needed.

Good luck! A sorority betta tank can be fun

 

The biggest problem was that all the bettas from the breeder had issues. They had swim bladder problems, tumors, and some looked permanently bloated. At that time, I wasn’t able to do as many water changes as I would’ve liked, either. Also, the tank had an excess of algae, and, looking back on it, probably had cycling issues as well.
This time I’m going to examine and quarantine each new betta I get. I’m also not going to get more than 5-6 bettas.

Gotcha, I hope it goes better this time!

 

I have a creamy colored Crown tail that is smaller & got picked on. Ginger is her name & I had to move her to a 10 gallon because she was always hiding, so it wasn't fair to her as a fish.

I added a blue female veil tale with Ginger because they are social & no dominance displays that I saw.

my female elephant ear ( only 1 eye works after a pop eye infection) is dominant in my 20 gallon long.

she's house with a blue crown tail & Koi female who both are fairly easy going and don't mind her bossy ways.

they've all been in a sorority set up over a year. 20 long since Feb.

I do randomly move girls around for a day or 2 just to prevent oppression.

my advise is if you have a girl hiding, she isn't suited for a sorority.

My 2nd elephant ear female ( juvenile) was super stressed. She had been in a 5 gallon tank for several months and did not transition well to soriority life, so she's solo for the rest of her life. she's much calmer now and back to her fishy self.

Play it by ear & be ready to move them to solo tanks if needed.

Good luck! A sorority betta tank can be fun

Thank you for the advice! Do you think it would be easier to have a conflict-free tank if I continued to get adolescent bettas?

Gotcha, I hope it goes better this time!

Thanks!

 

BT today.





She was flaring at her reflection, which is adorable since she’s so small. I think that she has ammonia burns on her gills from petco. I’m going to do a water change tomorrow.

 

The biggest problem was that all the bettas from the breeder had issues. They had swim bladder problems, tumors, and some looked permanently bloated. At that time, I wasn’t able to do as many water changes as I would’ve liked, either. Also, the tank had an excess of algae, and, looking back on it, probably had cycling issues as well.
This time I’m going to examine and quarantine each new betta I get. I’m also not going to get more than 5-6 bettas.

I just realized that I forgot to clarify exactly what happened to my last sorority- there wasn’t any major fighting, but eventually all the bettas succumbed to a disease I couldn’t figure out how to treat/genetic issues.

 

I got worried because I noticed that BT had what looked like white dust on her head after the water change. Thankfully, it’s gone now. Also, I’m going to probably get her some fancy fish food because she keeps spitting out half the food I give her (which isn’t much).
Honestly, even if I try and add another betta and it doesn’t work out, I’ll still be happy with just BT + another separated betta. She’s so fun to watch.