What are your opinions on betta sororities?

Betta sororities - Some people say they're great and their fish get along well, others say that they are total chaos and their fish fight/kill each other. Anyway to whoever's reading this, what are your experiences/opinions on them? If you have kept them successfully, what did you do/how would you set it up to avoid aggression?

 

Betta sororities - Some people say they're great and their fish get along well, others say that they are total chaos and their fish fight/kill each other. Anyway to whoever's reading this, what are your experiences/opinions on them?

I think it’s too risky

 

I did one following the conventional wisdom of the time (it may have changed, I'm not sure).

It was a 20 long with 6 females and a group of platies to act as a distraction. It did really well till I went away for a couple days and the dominant female killed the other 5, I assume due to food issues. I probably wouldn't do one again unless I could try it in like a 75 or larger, and preferably with dozens of females.

I think it's definitely possible to do with lots of success, but I can say for sure that smaller tanks aren't a good idea.

 

Hi.

I have NO experience in betta sororities, but they're definitely something I want to do when time permits.

From the YT videos I've watched and my own research, I believe that it's very possible. You just have to have the correct tank size with a good combination of hardscape and planting.

I think a good hardscape that contains driftwood with a lot of plants that grow around the middle region of the tank will be really effective for breaking lines of sight, and helping with hiding spots.

 

I've had them. You really get to see some personality traits.

my smallest female (elephant ear, about 1 year old) thinks she's an alpha but is really a beta betta (lol)

my koi is alpha ( 1 year old) from what i've seen. my half blind elephant ear Persephone (2 years or so) is a tank in size and everyone lets her have her way, but half blind, she doesn't rule the tank like before. but she like

some females actually relax with their peers and swim side by side.

technically my 38 gallon would be a harem now because 1 female ended up male. But they've all been together 6 -12 months or more. I was running 2 sorierity tanks until I merged them into the 38 gallon.

it's heavily planted with cory cats and tetras, so there are distractions.

I enjoy it, but it's like office politics, lol. some fish are pushy, others chillax

 

I've done it a couple of times - if the fishes are young they seem to get along fine even when they grow up. I've kept them with guppies; swordtails and cockatoo. I've not tried buying older fishes that have been kept alone and then seeing if they would get along. One thing is the tank needs to be a reasonable size so they can spread out if they want - i've used a 29. My understanding is there are different types of betta and some are more prone to be aggressive than others but i'm not an expert in that area.

 

If you are interested in a betta sorority, I suggest viewing this YouTube video.

There are a few keys to success:

a. The larger the tank the better
b. Have enough females so that any aggression is spread out. The video shows 30 females in a 125 gallon tank.
c. Have some fast moving dither fish like danios to distract the bettas to minimize aggression.

 

My opinion is why open yourself to that possible amount of stress? I keep fish to reduce stress!

But, different people, different goals and all that. I imagine they can be quite rewarding if successful!

 

But most situations are stress ridden for fishes. If you have nothing but guppies they constantly bicker causing stress. If you have a school of angels they constant fight. Even my lovely swordtails have been seen fighting at times. I'm not sure that you can keep more than a couple of fishes in a 100 gallons without any stress yet we frequently see people with many fishes in their tanks. Anyone ever notice a school of neon fighting - they certainly do it often enough.

To be honest when i had 6 female betta in my 29 i noticed less hostility between them than the guppies. Of course i sleep at night and one can never tell what mischief the fishes were up to at night.

It isn't that i don't fundamentally agree with you but the sentiment that putting female betta together will be stressful but then keeping tetra or rasbora will be better, with regards to stress in the tank, is i believe from my own experience misleading.

My opinion is why open yourself to that possible amount of stress? I keep fish to reduce stress!

But, different people, different goals and all that. I imagine they can be quite rewarding if successful!

 

My opinion is that you need to have enough knowledge and experience under your belt before even thinking about it. It's not for beginners and it won't be stress free so it's important to have a back-up tank if you need to separate one or two. Betta splendens are a naturally solitary species and females don't school in the wild because they are territorial fish and have plenty of space to establish their own territories and get away from each other as needed. It might be possible for the them to coexist under the right circumstances but ultimately they are/can be very aggressive, territorial fish who would prefer to have their own space instead of sharing it.

 

Betta sororities - Some people say they're great and their fish get along well, others say that they are total chaos and their fish fight/kill each other. Anyway to whoever's reading this, what are your experiences/opinions on them? If you have kept them successfully, what did you do/how would you set it up to avoid aggression?

Well the way I got into fishkeeping was a sorority. My mom put 4 bettas into a 2.5 gallon... yikes. One of them died, so I decided to do some research and found out how awful the tank was.. now I have the remaining 3 in separate tanks.. and after witnessing the horrors of the 2gal I will never try a sorority lol.

 

I'm currently running a sorority. 5 females in 20 gal long with a group of cardinal tetras as dither fish. I have a good amount of plants and pots and caves for hiding.

 

Well the way I got into fishkeeping was a sorority. My mom put 4 bettas into a 2.5 gallon... yikes. One of them died, so I decided to do some research and found out how awful the tank was.. now I have the remaining 3 in separate tanks.. and after witnessing the horrors of the 2gal I will never try a sorority lol.

I feel like the main problem here was the 2 gallon tank, not that betta sororities are just bad.

I'm currently running a sorority. 5 females in 20 gal long with a group of cardinal tetras as dither fish. I have a good amount of plants and pots and caves for hiding.

How long have you had it?

 

Betta's, regardless of male or female, are by reputation notorious for turning on tankmates with little or no warning and causing untold carnage.

Betta can live with other fish for months, even years, quite peacefully but alot of times something inside snaps and they attack for no obvious reason.

Male Betta must never be in the same aquarium and tbh in my own opinion nor should females live as a group. They are very unpredictable, afterall they are not called Siamese Fighting fish for no reason, their fuse is extremely short and will vanish in a fraction of a second.

By all means have a female group but you need to be aware and understand that the aquarium will never be 100% sweetness and light. The ferocious side to the Betta temperament will always be just under the surface.

I have had Betta many times over the years, both male and female, and all had been perfectly peaceful and fine. That was until little hints of trouble appeared.....using the tail and/or fins to guard food, sudden snapping around at tankmates that swam too close, over flare - not just the usual flaring motion but bulking the body with an intake of air and holding it to make themselves look alot larger.......the ability to read a Betta body language really helps when things start getting tense. Sometimes very subtle changes but more often than not its very expressive. Food guarding often being the first sign of trouble.

So by all means have your female Betta group but learn and research all that you can in order to identify potential behavioural issues and be ready to act on them before attacks happen. These fish might be beautiful but underneath they are quite literally a devil in disguise.

 

Betta's, regardless of male or female, are by reputation notorious for turning on tankmates with little or no warning and causing untold carnage.
...
Betta can live with other fish for months, even years, quite peacefully but alot of times something inside snaps and they attack for no obvious reason.
...
Male Betta must never be in the same aquarium and tbh in my own opinion nor should females live as a group. They are very unpredictable, afterall they are not called Siamese Fighting fish for no reason, their fuse is extremely short and will vanish in a fraction of a second.
These fish might be beautiful but underneath they are quite literally a devil in disguise.

1. fin type- my male will never ever be as fast as any of my females. he's just not built for it
he's at a disadvantage

2. animals do not 'snap' that's human emotion

animals run on instinct. if they appear to 'snap' it's because an element - water parameters, breeding etc. played a part and owner did not expect it

3. 'fighting fish'

see Russian domestication experiment. It only take 4-5 generations to domesticate a mink and then reverse it

any fighting traits in their DNA have been altered especially due to the random breeding that goes on to make Koi, longer fins etc. These fish aren't bred to be fighters in USA or the West.

it would be like claiming all pit bulls attack or see red.

You'd have to know the bloodlines, the genetic marker and see if it's turned on.

yes, the fish can be aggressive, but so can any animals.

we are literally playing survival of the fittest in our tanks - # of population, scarcity of resources, social hierarchy, who has breeding dominance.

I'm not saying there won't be issues, but after having 20+ Bettas, most in a community tank (10 gallon, then 20 and now my 38 for just over a year)- if you keep the tank healthy ( minimal environment stress) observe behaviors and act, you could be pleasantly surprised.

if solo in a tank, i'd never see my Bettas real personalities. I'd just be the magic hand that delivers food.

Instead I know Blue avoids everyone but Persephone ( half blind ele ear) they are close and swim side by side.

Lil ele ear (lil/lilac) and Koi ( Flame) see each other as peers) -also swim side by side, no avoidance

My Red Crown is sort of 2nd tier fish fam, but no 1 bugs her

my 2 purple/red veil tales are extremely chill and the type to get along with anyone.

I think we've trapped ourselves into some myth about Bettas.

If you've seen the videos of them capturing bettas in wild, they're literally inches or feet away from each other.

I think like Diamonds (omg, so precious and elite, buy them etc) it's all marketing for most part.

This is not an attack or challenge- I just think we'd blown up this idea that you 'can't have bettas getting long.'

I think some bettas can ( temperament)
some owners can
some tank set ups can


my 38 gallon, I do 2 water changes a week - usually 5 gallon, sometimes 10 depending on how tank looks.

my tank therefore doesn't go 7 full days with 'dead' water - poo, muck etc.

I'm not saying everyone run out & do it. I am saying : if you are serious and dedicate yourself - never skip water changes for longer than 1 single day - hey , maybe.... but yes have a back up tank ready on the fly in case something happens. *peace*