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I am doing research for what to stock a 60gal tank with. At a fish store, I saw a tank full of all female bettas. It looked amazing! All those colorful fish! Of course, all males would look even better, but I know that won't work at all!

Has anybody tried a lot of females together? It could be just them, and bottom feeders ( already have the bottom feeders).

I'm just thinkin of ideas, and this is one of many. I am not determined to have this, and am just looking for comments.

thanks,
-Dennis

Kitten has a lovely all girl tank



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

My females started out in a 20 gal tank by themselves.... Initially, there was a "struggle" establishing "pecking order" among the girls... nipped fins appeared here and there... but eventually, they settled down and seemed to adjust to one another...
Due to the growth factor of my platy fry along with the aquisition of several male Bettas, the females were transferred to the 55 gal community tank with absolutely no mishap - and have nicely settled in - even with having one male Betta and some Angelfish in the same tank!
From my experience, I believe your wanting to have a tank full of females would work out splendidly! Just be prepared for the first few skirmishes - and watch out for any female who might turn out to be too agressive! I agree totally that a tank full of females would be STUNNING! All the different colors that you can pick from!
My last comment is in the way of a warning - Though you might be highly tempted, I would NOT recommend adding one male to the mix! With that many females he would really be at high risk for fin damage!
I wish you well in your plan - and hope you can post some pictures!



To thine own self be true...

they have those betta vision tanks that u can put into a tank where u can have males and females in the tank but u have to know that some females will begin to fight because of the males.

Please read some of the previous posts about female bettas in tanks together. One of the main warnings I keep seeing is to make sure to get them from the same community tank when you purchase them because if you were to purchase one in one of those cups she would not be properly socialized and would probably have many issues with others. Also, make sure that your LFS has had them together in the tank for awhile, I went in to a little Mom-&-Pop type place a few weeks ago and they had apparently put in about 12 female bettas in a 20gal with no cover at all... all of them showed nipped fins and fresh wounds and at least 2 were completely missing tails... and they were still in there together fighting. Haven't darkened their door again, don't care what kind of prices they have!! So, I would suggest no lights on in the tank at first, plants for cover, dim lights in the room, and I would definately add them in all together and when you have the free time (maybe over a weekend) to watch them closely for extended periods. You may also want to have an available bowl or two with treated room-temp water just in case you have to separate one or two. Oh, and do not let them bag them in the same bag... that is just asking for trouble on the way home. Aside from all the above warnings, and any more that I'm sure other people will post, I think a tank full of female bettas is absolutely stunning and people always seem so amazed that you can put them together. Good luck and be sure to post picts when you get them.

-Beth

I have a 125 gal /6ft long tank that I have had as a community before with both a number of female bettas and a male betta. The female bettas didn't fight and I didn't get them from a community tank-they were all ,except maybe one, purchased in cups. But at the most I only had 6 or 7 in the tank so that was plenty of room. They got big, too, up to around 3" without the tail. I always kept a single male betta in there with no probs either. I have numerous males in separate single tanks that I'd switch out so they all got time in the "big tank". Only once was one male not able to stay in the big tank at all, and that was due to his own shyness..he was just too stressed.

I have four girls together in my tank.

We're famous, girls! *blush*

Yes, I've got a twenty gallon long with six... no, seven girls. I just added the seventh today. They share with six black neons and currently five cories. The seventh girl is being a bit aggressive at the moment.

You know, sometimes I really wish I hadn't gotten the black neons so I could have all betta girls, but they really are sweet. I just need a bigger tank.

The trick to bringing girls together is pretty much what bscal said. On the other hand, the girl I got from a cup at Walmart slipped into the other five girls without a huge problem. This last girl was from a community tank where she was getting picked on and was ripped up a bit. She's a little devil. Hopefully she settles down - no one's gotten hurt yet - but if she keeps being growly, she's going to have to be separated.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Thanks for all the responses!

How could I possibly get away with adding them all at once? The bacteria needs time to adjust! The reason to add them together makes sense, but I don't see how that could be healthy for the tank.

Kitten, it's interesting to hear about your tetras, because that was going to be my next question! Another sing I really want is a school of...something. I'm leaning toward Cardinal tetras, but nothing is final. And I was wondering if the females could be mixed with tetras, lol. You don't have any problems with them in together? (other than not enough space!)

Anyway, as I said, I'm still just looking at options.

I have 1 male betta in a 5gal by himself, but I have no plan to put him in big tank. I would love to, but he has had a cory, and a small pleco in with him to clean up after him, and he picked on them both! A LOT! So now he lives the solitary life.

I will certainly keep you guys informed, and post pics of whatever I do.

Advice on how to safely stock all the fish at once would be appreciated.

thanks,
-Dennis

[span class="edited"][Edited by Beefshank 2004-08-29 19:37][/span]

My girls seem to be a bit unique in that they're really not aggressive at all. They pretty much ignore the black neons; even when I first added them, they were more curious than aggressive.

The only way I can think of to add them all at the same time would be to use something like biospira or cycle the tank before adding the girls. I guess it depends on how many girls you intend to have. *shrugs*

Good luck!

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

I have three in a 10g with some guppy fry. They get along without any problems. The boys are in their own containers.