40 gallon long Betta Sorority

Hello everyone.

I was thinking about setting up a 40 gallon long tank in my bedroom, since we recently moved some furniture and acquired more space!

How many female bettas can I house comfortably in that tank? I was thinking around 10-12. Is that a good idea?

Also, I wanted to aquascape the 40 before I get any fish in there. Would I be able to maintain a lush aquascape without a C02 system?

Of course, I would cycle the tank completely before trying out this aquascaping thing I've been researching about that topic for a while now, and I think I would like to try it out!
*Another small thing I should mention: would the body type of the betta ruin the whole aquascaped look? I mean, it's supposed to look like a minI world of cliffs and forests, but female bettas are fairly compact and stocky.

Does anyone have a (professional looking) aquascape with a sorority? Or do bettas and aquascapes not mix?

What to do y'all think?

 

Bettas aren't stocky, they're torpedo-shaped :/ A 40 is a good size for a sorority, but you'll need extra tanks around for females who need to go on timeout.

 

I have a 40B going with a sorority and heavily planted - not an aquascape. I have about 12 ladies now along with a load of cories and 3 neons. Everyone behaves but now and then the pecking order will be disrupted and you have to reset it. I find that taking out the aggressor for a week and then re-introducing "usually" works.
PS: some of my girls are always out front. Two or three are always in the brush and then there are the movers going back and forth. Most come running at feeding time and will jump,for food or take it from my hand. very friendly.

 

Make sure you have separate tanks in case you have an especially aggressive female. Sororities take a lot of work and experience in reading betta body language. A colorful community tank would really make a lush aquascape pop. Bettas are fine with aquascapes though.

 

also, those professional aquascaped tanks, like amano's.....they are super hard to maintain, and have co2. I wouldn't go for a tank like that. i'd just do a natural looking planted tank.