Looking to build a sorority

[Marc M]

HI all. Hoping for some advice here.

I have an established 10 gallon with an adult female and 3 corys. I am planning on moving the corys into my 20 gallon so they have more room and am considering adding two more female bettas to the 10g. I have read that odd numbers are the way to go in a betta sorority but I am not finding too mush info on how to add the newcomers. Does anyone have any experience in this? Thanks.

 

[Meenu]

HI Mark, I have heard of people having limited success with sororities when there is plenty of space and the females are sisters that were raised together. I'm not sure that your 10 gallon is big enought for a sorority, and since you already have one of the girls, you wouldn't end up with her sisters who were raised with her.

I personally would not be inclined to try a sorority, and in your case, I'm not sure you've got good circumstances for it.

 

[Marc M]

Thanks for the advice. Can you suggest any suitable tank mates for her?

 

[Meenu]

Well, the recommendation is that she live alone. Some people have success with a snail with their betta. Others like shrimp in the tank, and just know that the betta may snack on them from time to time (need lots of hiding places for them). I am not going to recommend any other fish in a betta tank, although others may come along and do so.

You always have the option of dividing the tank into 2 sections (or even 3) and adding another betta or two, but just giving them their own space instead of making a sorority. If you do this, there are DIY instructions stickied in the betta forum.

 

[Marc M]

Thanks Meenu. Dividing the tank was my alterantive plan. I do have a couple of questions about this.

1) Can there be a male on the other side? If so, does it matter if they can see each other through the mesh?

2) Would it be better if I use a UGF with lift tubes on both sides of tank or stick with sponge filter on just one side?

 

[Meenu]

You're welcome.
1) Yes. I think you can put in some plants to block line-of-sight.
2) I would avoid UGFs.

 

[Marc M]

Meenu - do I still have to block line of sight if it's another female?

Also, I currently have the UGF in my 20G as a supplement to power filter. Do you think UGF's are bad in all cases? thanks

 

[Meenu]

I don't think so. I think that when a female sees a male, she can become eggbound, which (I think) can be dangerous for her. I remember someone losing their female to this. I haven't had a female before, only a male, so this is based on what I have read.

I have had one UGF before, many years ago before I even understood what a filter was. That tank was a disaster, but really because I didn't know what I was doing back then. I don't know enough about UGFs to answer your question. My favorite LFS swears by them, but the overwhelming majority of hobbyists on this site recommend against them, especially in planted tanks. And I really do mean the overwhelming majority. So I wouldn't use one. I trust the experienced people here. I'm really sorry I don't know how to answer this one better for you.

 

[Marc M]

Thank you very much for all of your advice Meenu. I will scrap it and pick up another sponge filter.

 

[Meenu]

You're welcome. For the 20 gallon community tank, you should consider an Aqua Clear (AC50). They use loose media like a canister, but are way more cost-effective. And you want that level of filtration in a community tank.

 

[damprye]

I have 2 divided tanks atm and both of hem have a male and female in them, most of my Bettas can see each other but they are used to it and will very rarely flare and none are stressed or eggbound. It is very rare for a female to get eggbound and if she does and you catch on early enough then your female will not die.

 

[Shiba]

I've had my female and males next to each other for months, and nobody's ever stressed.
If you want to block line of sight, you could put two dividers so you can't see through.

the sorority idea wouldn't work because the female already in there has established a territory over the tank and would fight others relentlessly.

 

[Treefork]

I've got a female betta in a 10 gallon with some neon tetras. They get along pretty good, she ignores them mostly, she's only interested in food. Oh and I have two of my mystery snails in there because my male krib kept attacking them.