Opinion on betta sororities

I've been a fish keeper for 10+ years and recently started a betta sorority(3 years ago) and since then have had no issues and all my girls get along great(it took about 6 months to find compatiable females and a lot or returning fish) However I've heard some conflicting options about sororities. I personally think that 20 gallon minimum with small female bettas(smaller bodied) is fine IF you are experienced and very familiar with bettas and ready to remove fish as needed. But I wanted to see what other people thought.

 

Way too much stress in the beginning for my liking. If i wanted to add stress to my life, i would just add a 2nd wife or a 5th child.

If willing to deal with, suppose it is very worthwhile, though.

 

Personally, I would never do it or ever recommend it. It’s just unnecessary stress on the fish, especially already genetically weak fish that would probably be better off overall in a stress-free environment. If you wanna keep multiple betta splendens in one space, get a rice patty imo. Or get a different betta species.

I’ve also seen it be rather harmful, newbies getting the idea that they can keep multiple bettas in general in the same tank, not even just females.

I don’t, however, really have a problem with people who are actually experienced enough and have enough value of life to do it properly. (Like you seem to be doing)

 

I'm of the opinion that they're never really a good idea, even when done by experienced individuals. I'm not saying that it can't be done or can't be successful, but I do believe they're just not worth it.

When I am adding additional stock to a tank I always keep in mind the pros/cons not just from my point of view but also from the existing inhabitants. For example if I'm considering adding more neon tetras to a tank the pros would be the fish would be more comfortable but the cons may be doing more water changes. To me thats worth it.

For bettas though there really aren't any benefits to the fish themselves in adding more, only the risk of stress and fighting. Sure I could remove the ones causing problems and replace it with another but the moving around of fish itself is stressful to them. Additionally if I had to remove and add fish multiple times I would either have to quarantine each one coming in or risk possibly infecting the entire tank. Plus we already know higher stress leads to lower immune systems and illnesses being more of a pain in the butt to treat. With how notoriously unwell bettas are already due to poor care in stores and abysmal genetics on top of all that this cons list starts to look like a novel.

The only pros I can think of are that they are beautiful to look at and can give you a huge sense of accomplishment. Neither of these things are felt by the fish involved though. These can be achieved with countless other species of fish that actually do benefit from being in groups or at the very least aren't territorial.

I can definitely see why people choose to do sororities. Bettas are probably my favourite fish and honestly the idea of having a bunch of them all together in a big beautiful planted tank is very alluring. I know that people do have success with them and I am glad it's worked out. I just cannot personally look at all the risks and think its worth it for a pretty tank.

 

I think you should do what you like. Especially since you are attentive to your fish and ready to separate if need be. It seems you are looking for validation from others for what you are doing. You don't need it.

 

I've been a fish keeper for 10+ years and recently started a betta sorority(3 years ago) and since then have had no issues and all my girls get along great(it took about 6 months to find compatiable females and a lot or returning fish) However I've heard some conflicting options about sororities. I personally think that 20 gallon minimum with small female bettas(smaller bodied) is fine IF you are experienced and very familiar with bettas and ready to remove fish as needed. But I wanted to see what other people thought.

I personally have a 20 long heavily planted tank with 4 female bettas. One I did breed with my male betta. Well I have had nothing but good luck with my tank. The females took a few days to sort things out. The female a breed was un hurt by the male during the breeding but the other females didnt like her much after that lol jealous. but she lost some finage but is healthy. Has the stripe showing the others she is not challenging the others. It's clear who is the boss of the tank is no one challenges her and they all get along now. There are also other fish in the tank I have 3 endlers, 8 cherry barbs, and 3 panda corydoras. the tank is heavily planted and has a good filter on it. No fighting, the fish are healthy. And some day I will get a bigger tank and add the young bettas I just breed.

 

I haven’t kept a sorority but at the height of my betta addiction I was keeping both males and females. What really put me off the sorority idea is the fact that I had two females that on purchase were docile and had come from community tanks but then went on to be very aggressive. My worry would be that at any point down the line one or more of them will just change and become a serial killer.

My view isn’t scientific of course. Who knows, may be in a sorority they wouldn’t have became raging killing machines but I can only go by what I have personally experienced. But I do appreciate that urge to have that type of fish live together because on paper it would make a beautiful tank. Personally, I looked into other betta types but they were too expensive so have settled on sparkling gourami as they are a similar shape, can be kept as males and females but are very small compared to a betta.

 

Females can be just as aggressive, or even more so, than males when they reach sexual maturity. I think that the easiest way to set up a sorority that might work long term would be to get siblings from a breeder. I would rather forego the hassel of trying out one fish and then another...

 

It usually doesn't work, I wouldn't risk it.

 

If I did one it wouldn’t LEAST be a 30 gallon that’s heavily planted with lots of caves to let the bettas calm down from the stress and lots of moss balls for the bettas to play with

 

My first, second and probably third attempts at sororities with store bought females ended badly, sickness ravaging the entire tank and most of them dying. Once you separate out a betta for any extended amount of time they have a hard time adjusting back into a sorority setting. So buying females that are cupped in the stores is not the way to do things, even females in sorority tanks at the pet store are iffy as I've seen lots of nipped fins among them.

Now my females that were born and raised in my tanks are an entirely different story. I know aggression is a heritable trait so perhaps I've bred a lot of the aggression out of my line (it's been 7 generations after all) but I've had no issues with the majority of my females. Only one or two of mine were absolute snots for no apparent reason so they were taken out of the sorority setting. My oldest girls are 1.5yrs old and there's 5 of them (all sisters) with another dozen or so 9 month olds (daughters/nieces) plus 5 unrelated females. All in a 36gal planted community tank. Nipped fins? Next to none. Occasional aggressive displaying? Every now and then but rarely does it lead to a fight. Disease? None that I've seen (knock on wood).

So from my experience it is always best to have females who have grown up together, lots of individuals to spread aggression, and a big planted tank. Nothing smaller than a 20gal and no fewer than 6 females is what I would say. The more females the better, they seem to behave similar to African cichlids in regards to over stocking.