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well, you could fit 3 in there, and i know i'll get yelled at for saying it, but i had 2 females in a 2 gal for quite some time. it wasn't ideal, but at the time i didnt know much better and hadn't considered pecking orders. they were both from the same spawn, so that helped a great deal i think.

i have a few sparkling gouramis in my 3 gal atm, they might also be worth looking into

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

I use an 8g for single breeding pairs of paradise...but you need something considerably larger (like 20G long or 40G wide) for raising all the fry.

thats a beautiful fish

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''All the clown fish and yellow tangs in the world cant save you now!''

I haven't seen any wild bettas, but on the other hand the low pH doesn't bother me, our tap water had a pH of 5.5 at one point, but is usualy a bit higher.

I was trying to find a fish that was pretty hardy and couldn't jump out of a gap 1cm in diameter

<Vet in Training>
Blog under development: http://www.nearlydrferox.blogging4life.com/

Wild bettas would be good

In lfs here I've seen B. coccina, B. brownorum, and B. unimaculata.

B. coccina (whose tail has healed quite nicely since this pictures was taken):





Theresa_M attached this image:


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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

what about keeping an eye out for some of the wild bettas that are coming thru? the are usually less aggressive then the splendens and look pretty whizbang.

at the moment, only coccina is available, and they are a low pH fish, so that might not be ideal.

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

It really depends on the individual personalities of the bettas. I had three in a 10g, added a fourth and all hell broke loose. At the same time I had two in a 5g and they were fine.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Yeah, my females have had issues too, even having 4 of them in a 15 gal with lots of plnts and everything.

I guess I'll keep my eyes open for females in a community tank that seem to be in good condition.

<Vet in Training>
Blog under development: http://www.nearlydrferox.blogging4life.com/

Don't put three females in a 5 gallon! I made that mistake, and they're making life hell for each other. (I can't buy another tank. I'm a college student living at home, and my mother has threatened to flush the fish if I try and separate them. She would do it, too.) I'm dealing with health issues because of the stress. At least they aren't fighting anymore.

Moral of the story - 3 females in a 10 gallon would be okay if it were heavily planted. For a 5 gallon, one female would do best, unless it was a divided tank. And I like my females more than the male I had before. They have much more personality, and I get all sorts of compliments about the big black one.

I heard paradise fish were pretty hardy, but with one (or however many) do well in a 5 gallon? It has a close fitting lid and a heater, but i wasn't sure if it would have enough space.

<Vet in Training>
Blog under development: http://www.nearlydrferox.blogging4life.com/

okay, maybe not a paradise fish.

The other option was a number of female bettas, but i didn't think it could hold enough to develop a decent pecking order.

<Vet in Training>
Blog under development: http://www.nearlydrferox.blogging4life.com/

I dont think we are disputing that it will physically fit and survive, its more of an activity level thing.

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

i think that one paradise fish would be perfectly fine in a five gallon tank one time my two kribensis were killing everything in my 10 so i put them both together in a two and a half gallon tank for three monthes and they were fine
i know its not a paraidse gourami but its the moral of the story that matters and i have been through many many paradise and believe me it would do perfectly fine in a 6.45 gallon tank

I recently purchased my second male. Both times I got lucky with peaceful paradisefish, but I wouldn't put one in anything smaller than a 10g. Very nice fish though

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

I agree with Callatya, I'd be thinking 10 as a bear minimum...

In the long term something like a 15 or 20 may be better even... When I was a young fella, I had one in a 17 and he claimed the whole tank as his own (in the end I gave him away cause I found it impossible to keep anyone with him in peace).

You can luck out an get more friendly individuals though.

For what it's worth fishbase.org recommends they be kept in a tank at least 80cms long.

Dex



Last edited by dextroze at 20-Oct-2004 05:07

I wouldn't put them in less than a 10, as they like territory, however i have found, as they get older, they get more sedintary.

its suitable for growing up a young one, but probably not for a lifelong home.

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

actually, it's 6.24 US Gallons

<Vet in Training>
Blog under development: http://www.nearlydrferox.blogging4life.com/