Female Betta Limit for a 29 Gallon? & possible Tank Mates?

I have a 29 gallon tank and would like to have a sorority. I know the minimum is 5 fish and that the number should be odd so they can establish a hierarchy. I would like to have as many female bettas as possible, but not so many that they're uncomfortable. What would be the limit on female bettas for a 29 gallon? Does this number change if I get a cleaner fish?

Also, what fish or other species would make great tank mates for a sorority?
Last but not least, would bettas try to eat snails?

(I read that a sorority isn't always a good idea because females can still be aggressive. However, the place I plan to get my fish from already have them living as a sorority and they seemed happy and peaceful together. If I get all of my bettas from that tank alone, meaning that they're all already familiar with each other, wouldn't it be fine then??)

 

Bettas usually do not eat snails. The number of bettas you could have depends on the other fish in their tank. Corydoras usually do well with bettas. Loaches are also good, but sand might be required, depending on the species.

 

(I read that a sorority isn't always a good idea because females can still be aggressive. However, the place I plan to get my fish from already have them living as a sorority and they seemed happy and peaceful together. If I get all of my bettas from that tank alone, meaning that they're all already familiar with each other, wouldn't it be fine then??)

When I saw the question I was tempted to just reply "One". Don't let the fact that they're fine in a group now fool you. There's a very good chance that will change when they get older.

 

So a couple things. Number will really depend on the individuals in the sorority. Your absolute best bet is to get them from a breeder that are all siblings that have lived together their whole lives. By doing that, the breeder has already removed the males and the more aggressive females. If you *can't* do this then getting them all at once from your LFS in a tank together is probably your next best bet but make sure you have a backup plan.

Honestly, number I think is going to depend on how much space you have for back up plans. How many small tanks you can set up if you have a female (or 2-3) that do not tolerate others. Your tank will need to be HEAVILY planted (fake plants are fine), I found it best to use really bright silk plants as it helped the bright fish blend in better.

I successfully had 10 female bettas in a 29g tank without issue but I watched them like a hawk and had multiple other tanks I could use to separate as needed. I kept them with mystery snails, I would not put other fish with them as honestly they are grouchy sometimes and other fish don't handle that well.

 

I read a study same color/fine type does much better. I posted it a long time ago here. no link sorry.

My last addition was 4 female veil tales - 2 are in grow out tanks because they were just too small for the 38 gallon community to thrive. I added them , observed them and said nope, gonna wait a few weeks. They were much smaller than the other 2 veil tails and were hiding/ not comfortable.

Adults: I have 2 burgundy , 1 red crown, 1 elephant ear ( they tend to be dominant in my experience, I've had 3 ele ears ), 2 white with marble gene and 1 adult blue veil tale currently. They definitely recognize the 'oh you look like me' and do not act aggressive from what I have seen.

I did have 1 ginger (cream crown tail) that got picked on ruthlessly. I place her in a 10 gallon with 2 other less aggressive females & she did fine.

always have a back up tank with a sorority/harem imo.

*when I got into fish keeping 1 ended up buying three 10 gallong tanks, I kept 2 of them just to keep on hand for emergencies. they were up in use for a 1 year, so they're easy to cycle using old gravel from established tank to jump start a cycle. stuff goes sideways, I can whip one out & use immediately.

 

You could probably have up to 13 females BUT you will want to get a group of youngsters or siblings, preferably ones living together already. Once a betta has been separated for some time from other bettas they will be more aggressive. That much I’ve discovered with my many spawns.

Have the tank already well established with plenty of plants and driftwood. Decent tank mates are most bottom feeders. Kuhli loaches, small pleco species, corydoras etc. You could try schooler but slow moving ones with flowing fins are likely to get nipped and tiny ones may get eaten. Small species of rainbows may work well. Rice fish are also an option.

And yes, betta will eat snails! Many if mine have decimated the ramshorn population in their tanks. Once they ran out of rams they started preying on the MTS. They wait for them to cone out of their shells before attacking and ripping them out. Yum! I would not keep any snails other than nerites in a betta sorority. Any snail that has a lot of it’s body exposed when crawling around will get bitten.

This is my current sorority/grow out. All but 2 females are daughter of the big yellow dragon front and center. No nipped fins, no overly aggressive females. This us only a 20gal. Ignore the specimen container, it’s my medaka/rainbow fry hatchery.

 

Thank you so much! All of your information was extremely helpful!