Male and females in same tank

Hi, I am new to this site.

Can I please ask a question. My local aquatics shop sold me a male betta and 3 females saying it is fine to put them all in a tank together as long as I have more than 1 female. Since looking on the net about betta's I have found that all sites say male and females should never be together in one tank to live. So far, they do seem fine, the males fins have been nipped a little, but over the last couple of days no further damage. I am now worried after reading this, can anyone advise me please?

Jane

 

I advise you to separate all of them into their own tank. Even with the females living together they can still turn on one another. A couple member's on here who have experience with Bettas tried it and it turned out to be disaster. They all fought each other. If they haven't eyt they will very soon and if the males fins have been nipped already then there is already aggression showing and it will just get worse as time goes on. what size tank do you have? If it's more then a 10 gallon it might be possible to divide them, otherwise you will have to choose  atleast 1 or 2 and put them in a divided tank.

Don't always listen to the stores because they don't always give the correct advice. I'm very sorry that you were mis-informed about this. Welcome to Fishlore. Natalie

 

thanks Natalie, I have looked at various site on betta, and they all say that it is ok to keep femailes together as long as it is more than 2, so I think my best option at the moment is to take the male back and swap him for a female and see how it goes.... my friend has kept females together quite happily.... will be sad to take the male back he is so cute! but don't have the room to have another tank I am afraid. The shop I go to is usually very good and the staff very knowledgeable....have gone there for years.

Jane

 

Unfortunately, I wouldn't even attempt to put females together because they have been known to turn on one another also. The 2 members I had been talking about tried it with females and it was very disasterous. She had to put them all in divided tanks. It is your choice to do this, but I would keep a very close eye on them and if you see any signs of aggression at all separate them or take a few back and only keep one. Natalie

 

The females may get along for a short time but the older they get the more aggressive they get. Eventually some will kill each other or die of stress and fear. IMO it is NEVER a good idea to keep Bettas together, male or female. I kept five females together in a ten gallon tank and they got along great for 5 days and then suddenly began visciously fighting! They were only babies about 6 weeks old. They would have gotten even more aggressive as they grew. I had to separate them immediately or a few would have died for sure. I was lucky I was home when it happened or I would have lost a few of them.
Even females that seem to get along will nip each others fins and this will cause finrot. It's just not worth it letting some of the fish suffer like that. You could try dividing a ten gallon tank and keeping one female on each side. That would work fine.

 

Trust us this is NOT a good idea. Phloxface's Bettas (female) would have killed each other if it hadn't been for her quick action.

But please do not attempt to add another female Betta in. Another member of this forum had female Bettas kill each other when she added females to an existing tank with a female. The fish you have now already consider the tank their territory, and if you add another one it will disrupt any existing pecking order--which means all the females will turn on each other and probably kill each other in order to become the new alpha.

There have been a few cases of females living peacefully together...but these were mostly females who were kept by their breeder and raised together in a large tank from birth. You don't know if your Bettas were raised together or not, and if they are really getting along or simply waiting for the perfect chance to start shredding each other. Imo not worth the risk. Please do consider separating your Bettas.

Here's what I would do in your situation. You don't have to take back your male Betta necessarily...just for the moment separate the Bettas into containters which you can float in the tank to keep them warm. Then set up a second 10 gal, and get a divider for both tanks. Then you can have one Betta on each side. They are alright seeing each other as long as you make sure they can't jump over the divider.

 

thank you everyone for your advice. I will keep a very close eye on them and will not be adding another female. Apparently the females came into the shop together and he said he knew they have always been together. I will be taking the male back, as I said previously I have nowhere to set up another tank, even a really small one..(I would keep him if I possibly could, but cant) If they start fighting I, of course, will separate them, even if I have to take them back to the shop.

cheers everyone