Questions About Betta Sorority Tank

Hi. I have a 20 gallon long tank and I was considering maybe making it a betta sorority sometime in the (probably distant) future. I know it doesn't always work out and there can be problems. I was just wondering if maybe I started with all of them as babies then maybe they wouldnt be aggressive once they reach maturity because they would be more used to eachother. Also what would be a good number of female bettas for a 20 gallon long sorority?

 

5-7 in a heavily planted 20 long seems to be were the curve for success starts. All of mine were added as babies or young aldults but I have been adding and subtracting for over 2 years now.

 

I would say around 6 female bettas would be good for a tank of 20g. Female bettas in a sorority tank are not supposed to be too aggressive but for that you have to keep minimum of 5 bettas. But I think 6 would be safer. You can also add up to 8 bettas in a 20 gallon if your filter is good and with live plants. If you have enough plants and hiding spots for your bettas then aggression won't be an issue. If they can get enough hiding places they will be fine. Adding them when they are young is a good option but adding them as adults will also not cause any problem. They will get along. But still 1 betta in your tank can get aggressive and dominant over other but this is very rare. If it happens separate it, keep it alone elsewhere or return it.

 

Ok thanks... is it possible to put in a couple of other small bottom feeders or would that be overstocking?

 

Ok thanks... is it possible to put in a couple of other small bottom feeders or would that be overstocking?

Yes, you can do some cory or kuhlI loaches.

 

Ok that's good. I figured if I put something else in there it would kind of distract them from each other and then there would be less overall agression

 

Ok thanks... is it possible to put in a couple of other small bottom feeders or would that be overstocking?

Yeah kuhlI loaches and cories are good options. You can try snails and red cherry shrimps too. But some snails eat live plants, so if you planning live plants in your tank, snails may not not be a good choice. But you can always try with snails, not all of them feed on live plants if they get enough algae wafers but some might still do. You can return them if your snails don't work with live plants. Without live plants you can have them easily but you have to feed them feed them algae wafers.