Phloxface
Member
This morning I woke up to a massacre. No one was killed, but Aenara has almost no tail left, only a crescent shaped piece on top and bottom. Noelle and Angel are looking pretty ragged too. Angel used to be the Alpha but it seems she was knocked down to second last place with Karma and Whisper teaming up to bully the other 3. I witnessed Karma bite Noelle on her body and literally drag her and shake her around like a Pitbull! She wouldn't let go even with me banging a spoon on the tank! I had to put my hand in the tank to split them up and then ALL FIVE of the fish turned on me and bite my hand! Of course they can't hurt me with their tiny teeth... This was more than enough to convince me the aggression level was out of control here and I filled up the Kritter Keepers and first took out the worst ones, Karma and Whisper. I watched the other three (Aenara, Angel and Noelle) to see how they were with the bullies removed. They were definitely more calm but there was still a hint of aggression between Noelle and Angel. Aenara NEVER bites the other fish. I decided it wasn't safe to even try with these three so I put Noelle in another 1 gallon Kritter Keeper and put my tank divider up to split up Aenara and Angel.
I am picking up another divider tomorrow morning on my way home from work and will split the 10 gallon into 3 parts with Aenara, Angel and Noelle. The other two will have to live in the 4 gallon Kritter Keepers. What a shame that the nice 10 gallon tank is going to be ruined now with all those dividers. They'll be fine seeing each other as long as they can't hurt each other. Aenara is surprisingly not traumatized and not afraid of any of them even though they picked on her.
I'm not sure how Whisper became SO aggressive! She was such a mellow quiet fish at first. That's why I called her Whisper. I think I'm going to change her name. :-\ Right now she is thrashing around in the Kritter Keepr like a rabid dog! She seems really angry. In the tank she was getting aggressive even with the plants! She was ripping leaves off the plants and racing around with them. She seems to have totally lost her mind! She's too aggressive right now to even live in a divided tank. I think Aenara, Noelle and Angel should be fine in a divided tank. They are also the ones with the shredded tails and they all need medication for finrot. With Aenara's tail almost gone I can't fool around with something as light as BettaFix. I'm going to have to use Maracyn 2 to make sure they are all okay. I see no bite wounds in spite of the pitbull-like hold Karma had on Noelle but I think antibiotics will be a good idea regardless.
I really think one more day and Aenara would have been killed and then Angel. I love them all but right now I'm a little **** off at the two bullies!
Betta females seem so sweet and innocent when they are all alone but put them together and within a few days you have a tank of pirhanas that will even attack YOU!
I'm so saddened and disappointed that this didn't work out. For a while they played together so nice. Watching my babies tear each other apart this morning brought tears to my eyes. Thankfully I split them apart before anyone died. Aenara is still eating well and fearless. A good sign I think.
I think I can safely say my experiment was a failure. Don't try this at home kids!