Betta Sorority Problems

[TheAD]

Yes the tank is cycled. There is plenty of plants, a big hollow tree in the middle and cichlid caves they could run into if they wanted.

 

[Luckyscale2003]

Hello everyone. My sister has set up a betta sorority and she is having issues. So she asked me to ask you wonderful people for some suggestions.

She started the betta sorority tank this week. It is 36 gallon tank and she currently has 14 female bettas in there. The store manager said they were already all in a tank together before she purchased them. We honestly have no idea if this is true or not. The issue she has run into is there is a lot of chasing and fin nipping going on. One betta in particular is flaring and being the most aggressive.

She was told that having more is better to help with aggression. Should she maybe look at getting some more? Remove the problem bettas?

Any suggestions would be helpful. A lot of the bettas she has looked to be in pretty rough shape when I was at her place today.

i would make sure the female is actually a female cause that happened in my tank and ended up being a young crowntail plakat male

 

[TheAD]

i would make sure the female is actually a female cause that happened in my tank and ended up being a young crowntail plakat male

She is actually thinking that one may be a male. She just text me that as I read your post.

Although female bettas are not as aggressive as males, they can still be pretty aggressive. They are going to spar with each other until they establish the order of domination. With 14 females in the tank, it is going to take a lot of fights to settle the hierarchy from No. 1 to No. 14. Even if they were all together in the same tank at the pet store, once they are moved into a new environment, the process will start all over again.

The females in the bottom spots are going to take a lot of damage along the way. Be sure you have plenty of plants and decorations in the tank so that the least aggressive of the sorority are able to escape, hide, and recover from the bullying. Hopefully, they will survive the ordeal.

Well dang. Sounds like a rough few days ahead.

 

[Luckyscale2003]

She is actually thinking that one may be a male. She just text me that as I read your post.

either way its not comparable in that tank so either rehoming or a new tank for that little one

 

[Dis13]

I can second that - A couple years ago I started a sorority and also had one of the females that was labeled a male turn out to be a crown tail mail and I had to separate him out into his own tank . Honestly even after being in the same tank for years with each other, they still fight with each other all the time and nipped and damaged fins are common unfortunately. as much as I love my sorority I do feel bad for the girls on the bottom rung of the hierarchy. They are always getting chased!

I read that if there is one that is super dominant, sometimes it helps to cup them up and float them in the tank, but that didn’t seem to ever have much affect when I tried it

-Steph