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I have 4 female bettas at present in a 20 gal tank.... Pecking order is being established among the 4, as is evident by some nipped tails.... I was just wondering if it would be better to incorporate these females into my 55 gal community tank.... And if so, do I "dump" all 4 into the tank at once? Do I add them one at a time - and if using this method, should I add the least dominant first or the most dominant (or does it matter?) ?
OR
Should I add fish to the 20 gal tank and "form" a community tank?

Currently in my 55 gal tank, I have a definite Angel pair, 1 lone Angel, some platys, mollies, guppies, 1 butterfly fish, and a catfish....

I do have 2 Crowntail Male Bettas coming - Would it be possible to add one to the 55 gal community with females also present?

Thanks so much for your input! (I really LOVE this site! I'm learning so much!)

To thine own self be true...

If you do decide to put all four females in the 55 gallon,
then you'd be better off if you put them all in at once.
This way they'll all be on neutral territory and there's less of a chance that serious fights may occur.

Also, I wouldn't put either of the males in with the girls unless there is PLENTY of hidey-holes for the females........ or the male if the girls are feisty!

P.S: Good luck with your Crowntails!

Okay.... I've done a little bit of tank re-arrangement.... I have successfully placed my female bettas into my 55 gal community tank.....
I transferred my platy fry from the 10 gal to the 20 gal tank...
My 10 gallon will be outfitted with a divider in order to house the 2 Male Crowntail Bettas that I purchased on eBay...
And I intend to put the 2 female crowntail bettas in the 55 gal community tank....
Keep good thoughts for me that the newcomers will settle in readily to their new environments upon their arrival!

To thine own self be true...

The tank divider is a good idea if you plan to put ONE of the males in the 55 gallon with the females, but under no circunstances should you add both males together to this tank! Were you planning on two dividers for each male?
The males would do fine in their own seperate bowls of one gallon or more.

The two males will be fine in the ten gallon with the divider. Sorry, I just realized it was a different tank.

Sounds good, just watch out for the Angel. It can be a bit of a nipper around bettas.
Also watch out for the 2 males in a divided tank. Mine didn't like it. They saw each other all the time and couldn't get away from seeing the other male. Thats why I like separate tanks. You can actually move the tank away from the other if it didn't work out. The only thing you can do with a divided tank is put in a colour divider. Thats only if it didn't work out. 2 of my males was at it all the time. They didn't let up and later on after I moved them they layed around depressed. They ended up with fugus on their mouths from biting the glass divider. These 2 ended up dying from Fugus Diease. I tried to med them, but it didn't work.
This is not saying this always happens, just stateing to watch out. You may get a couple that really like one another. Good Luck.

[span class="edited"][Edited by TigerAngel 2004-07-01 00:50][/span]
TigerAngel attached this image:
[img]http://www.fishprofiles.net/attachments/386881.jpg"]

Just wanted to say, TigerAngel that's a beautiful tank arrangement! Loved the pictures!
Regarding my intended divider.... I'd purchased a 10 gal tank divider in the past - spent about $15.00 and received a very poor quality product which didn't even work! First of all, the plastic sheet was VERY flimsy! The holes - well I'd call them pin holes! So right off the bat the tank had poor water circulation and filtration.... The second apparent problem was the height of the sheet and the fact that it was SOOOO flimsy, even the small corner filter that I had in the tank made it "sway" - so it didn't always stay in place... The two beautiful male bettas that I had at that time could see each other - and both were quite aggressive - flaring and charging the divider! Eventually, because of all these factors one of the males made it over to the other side - and needless to say, one died and the other was dreadfully ripped up! I felt badly to have allowed this to happen - even unknowingly.... So now, years later, I decided to prevent this from happening again! Knowing the poor quality that can be purchased, I went online to see what was available and if there had been improvements made to the dividers... Imagine my surprise when I discovered a site that offered guidelines to making your own divider - and one that I believe will not only work, but work well!!! For about $5.00 I went to Wal Mart and purchased sturdy, plastic canvas sheets used for cross stitch... I also bought some fishing line weights (to weight the bottom & possibly the sides of the plastic canvas), a few dowel sticks and some fishing line.... With these items, I'm constructing a divider that I believe will not only be sturdy enough NOT to sway - but because of the larger holes will provide adequate filtration and water circulation! As I can customize by cutting the plastic to MY tank's personal specifications, I also will not have the worry of being too short! I'm very happy to be able to provide my coming Crowntail Males with this much security and more beneficial living environment! If anyone else has any suggestions for my divider, please let me know!

[span class="edited"][Edited by dreamweaver8891 2004-07-01 09:46][/span]

To thine own self be true...

My wonderfully understanding husband took over the project of constructing the divider - using the materials I previously mentioned.... He did an outstanding job! My divider is now in the tank - My male Crowntails arrived today - All is well!!!!!! I am strongly suggesting to anyone needing a divider to construct your own! Sure beats the "crap" they sell!!!!!

To thine own self be true...

The yellow plastic dividers I used where made out of perspex. I have a tank with 4 divided sections, divided by glass. I removed the glass and replaced it with these perspex dividers. They are the same size as the glass ones that I removed. The glass didn't go completely across, so it let water flow between each section. I had a small filter in every 2nd section. Another thing I found bad about the setup, was the 4 Bettas were sharing the same water. Which meant (and happened) if one got sick, the others could get what he had. Also water changing and tank cleaning was a hassel. I had to remove the fish from there homes into a bowl, clean there home and them replace them, as the divided sections made it too hard to clean when the fish where in there. Now I have my last Betta in a larger tank, with a molly as a companion. I do not remove him, and he loves his friend.