FishProfiles.com Message Forums

I saw two female bettas in a lfs tank with other mixed fish. When ever the two females saw each other they would flare their gills right out so the looked really scarey but it looked comical to me. Would they hurt each other or is it normal for females to display to each other like that?

You can put as many female bettas as you like in a tank, you just have to be sure that they have a good temperament or be ready with a net to separate them

2 is a bit of a funny number, 3 is usually better as there are multiple targets of one gets grumpy. It can and does work, but you have to be even more careful about the fish you select when you have a one on one situation.

The flaring is just posturing, females have a pecking order just like males and need to have a dominant fish. Just be careful that they aren't plakat males, as they come through quite often in 'female' lots.

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

Also its a good Idea, to have multiple hiding places, in the tank so that if one female is getting picked on more than another she has a bolt hole she can run to. er swim to...

mts.gif" border="0"> I vote do you?
My Tanks at Photobucket