Setup A Quarantine Tank For Female Betta Fishes

Hi,

I am about to get 2 female betta fishes from an individual who currently has them in a 40-gallon community tank. I plan to quarantine them first. Then, I plan to add them to my 10-gallon betta sorority tank already containing 3 female betta fishes, 1 apple snail, 1 rabbit snail, and live plants. My current betta fishes are a few months old, and these 2 new fishes are also less than a year old. Here are my queries, please.

1. How can I set up a quarantine tank for these new fishes? I have a spare 3-gallon tank and a couple of 1-gallon plastic (breeder-type) boxes.
2. How long do I need to quarantine them?
3. Do I need to use any medication during the quarantine phase? As such, it seems there are no issues with the new fishes.
4. Any tips to maintain a successful betta sorority in my 10-gallon tank? I know that 10-gallon tank is not an ideal size for 5 female betta fishes. But I am hoping it to be fine until I upgrade it to a 20-gallon long planted tank in about 2-3 months.

Thanks!

 

1. I would just use the 1 gallons and perform water changes daily.
2. A couple of weeks to a month is usually a good amount of time.
3. If they don't have symptoms don’t needlessly medicate, you could add a little bit of stress coat however to help with the transitional stress.
4. Since you already have a small sorority going I would suggest: taking all the girls out, rearranging all decor/plants if possible, and then slowly acclimate all females to the ‘new’ tank. This will make it so there is no established territories and will put the new girls on a more even playing field.

 

Thanks for the responses, BettaMom98!

Could you explain a bit how exactly can I use the 1-gallon boxes? Should I simply fill them with tank water and let the boxes float on top of the tank for 2 weeks? Or should I set them as separate tanks (with an air bubbler and something else)? How much water changes do I need to do? Sorry for all these queries. I never set up a quarantine tank before.

As for the stress-coat, I have Seachem StressGuard. I guess I can use it to reduce the transitional/transportation stress.

 

Set them up as individual tanks with a bubbler. That way even if you think they look healthy now but they do end up showing signs of sickness then you can treat it easier. 50%-70% water changes daily.

It’s totally fine, always better to ask questions and learn new information that can help you in the future.

 

do you know why they're re-homing? do they already have a sorority?
if so there's a possibility they're rehoming the bullies in the tank
I am somewhat surprised you're having a successful sorority in a 10 gallon as usually 20 gallons is the minimum suggestion

 

Set them up as individual tanks with a bubbler. That way even if you think they look healthy now but they do end up showing signs of sickness then you can treat it easier. 50%-70% water changes daily.

It’s totally fine, always better to ask questions and learn new information that can help you in the future.

Sounds good, thank you! I guess filters are not required since the water change % is high. Also, my room temperature is good enough that heaters are not required (I think). So I will simply set up the 1-gallon boxes with water and air bubbler. I am thinking of using my current tank water on the first day, followed by Prime-dosed tap water starting the second day. Does this sound good? Also, can I add some duckweed to relax the girls further? Or would it be too much for a 1-gallon box?

 

do you know why they're re-homing? do they already have a sorority?
if so there's a possibility they're rehoming the bullies in the tank
I am somewhat surprised you're having a successful sorority in a 10 gallon as usually 20 gallons is the minimum suggestion

It looks like these girls are the only two betta fishes in the current 40-gallon community tank. I was told that these girls get along well with all other fishes in the tank. The main reason for rehoming is that these girls are eating too much food and getting bloated constantly - most likely because of being in a community tank. And since the other person does not have space to set up a separate betta sorority tank, they planned to rehome the girls.

Yes, I was also surprised and nervous when I first set up this 10-gallon tank. I think the main reason for success is that I started with tiny baby girls (initial size of around an inch). When I bought these babies in last December, I was told clearly by the shopkeeper that I would need to upgrade my tank in a few months time when the babies grow bigger in size. That's my plan: to have a 20-gallon long heavily planted betta sorority tank.

I actually started this 10-gallon tank as a community + betta sorority tank. I started with 3 baby betta girls, 3 corydoras (2 pandas + 1 albino), 3 guppies (2 female + 1 male), 2 snails (1 apple + 1 rabbit), and live plants. This may be another reason for success because the betta girls may have shown their aggression on other fishes !?

I moved guppies to my 29-gallon planted tank a few weeks ago. I plan to move corydoras too to the 29-gallon tank before getting these betta girls. So for a while, I will be left with a 10-gallon betta sorority and a 29-gallon community tank.

 

Sounds good, thank you! I guess filters are not required since the water change % is high. Also, my room temperature is good enough that heaters are not required (I think). So I will simply set up the 1-gallon boxes with water and air bubbler. I am thinking of using my current tank water on the first day, followed by Prime-dosed tap water starting the second day. Does this sound good? Also, can I add some duckweed to relax the girls further? Or would it be too much for a 1-gallon box?

I wouldn’t bother with the duckweed because of the constant water changes. It’ll make it harder.

 

I wouldn’t bother with the duckweed because of the constant water changes. It’ll make it harder.

Oops! Yes, thank you!

 

Here is an update followed by a few queries: I set up two quarantine tanks (1-gallon and 3-gallon) with air bubblers as you can see in the attached photos. I am changing around 50% water daily. Both the betta girls are fat, which, I was told is due to overfeeding in their previous tank. Both these girls are swimming/behaving fine. The 1-gallon tank has some duckweed. The 3-gallon tank has some duckweed, java fern, and around 50 Malaysian trumpet snails. I got these girls + plants + MTSs around 3 days ago. A few queries, please!

1. Are they indeed girls? I know that they existed well together in the community tank of the previous owner. I just want to make sure again because I saw slight flaring when these fishes see each other. That's the reason I put an envelope in between the tanks.
2. Do they look like having some issue pooping? You can zoom in the photos to see some white dots under the body where from they poop.
3. I haven't fed them anything other than a single pea each yesterday (day-2) so that it helps in their pooping issue. But they did not eat the pea. So I plan to starve them for 3 more days or so and try feeding a pea each again. Should I not do this, and feed something else on a daily basis?
4. They are a bit less active than my current three betta girls. I know this is probably because of less space and 'dull' quarantine tanks. Can/Should I do something to make them more active?

Any other suggestions are very welcome . Let me know if more information or photos are needed. Thanks!