Female betta question.

[Kalei]

Hi everyone! I know there is a lot of female betta experts on this forum and I wanted to ask a question about them. With all the talk of them and pictures you've all made me want some lol. Anyways my question is, I am going to university in the fall and can have only a 10 gallon tank at most, so I was wondering, how many female bettas can you have in a 10 gallon tank?

[IRescue452]

5 is good. Maybe a few ottos to go with them. Make sure you've got plenty of decor or plants (plastic or real) for them to hide around.

[Kalei]

awesome, Thank you very much! I was wondering what are 'ottos' are they little fish like zebra fish that scoot around everywhere?

[critter crazy]

thi is an otto


http://tnb.aau.dk/~anette/fish/otto/320x240/otto000-320x240.JPG

http://www.timstropicals.com/Inventory/Catfish/OttoInfo.asp

[Kalei]

thi is an otto


http://tnb.aau.dk/~anette/fish/otto/320x240/otto000-320x240.JPG

http://www.timstropicals.com/Inventory/Catfish/OttoInfo.asp

ooooh ok. Thanks so much for the help!:D I had one of them before, they stay very small. Are they better to have with female bettas than a regular algae eater like Bob here?:


http://hosting.showthatimage.com/FA546276-9E6D-4A5D-B8559E3C0FA7FE94.jpg

[critter crazy]

i would Imagine it is because they are much smaller, your boy Bob there can get very big, i have one, and he is 6+ inches long, not very good for a 10 gallon tank.

[Kalei]

lol that's a great coincidence lol, Bob is 6 inches long too! He is a pretty big boy. So yeah I think I will stick to the otto:D I was talking to my fav pet store owner today (she is so nice and always brings good handled animals and great fish) and they don't usually have any female bettas, but she knows a breeder and if I want some, then she would be able to order me some. That is very good news!:D

[Flatcoatluver]

The big algae eaters, or Bob might eat the female bettas once he gets bigger also. Good luck.

[Muddy4paws]

Just to warn you, I had 3 female bettas and they had to be seperated because they were fighting so much, I got them all from the same place too.

[Kalei]

Just to warn you, I had 3 female bettas and they had to be seperated because they were fighting so much, I got them all from the same place too.

Really? wow! It sounds like you got some pretty aggressive females there. I've heard of many that could be with each other, but maybe some can't. sounds like if your female bettas had been people they would be aggressive girls like the ones you see on movies all the time (the girl off Underworld...the girl off Resident Evil...angelina Jolie from Tomb raider) lol the fighters!

[TamanduaGirl]

I got some female betas before and they were fine together but did make the mistake of putting them in the big tanks with the big algae eater and she did eat them. It took a little while to realize we couldn't put anything below a certain size in with her. Now she gets frozen blood worms thrown in for protein and she ignores the other fish but we still don't ad anything small. They also like veggies. Throw some spinach and other things in sometimes for the algae eater. Ours even likes carrots and celery but usually takes a few days before you really see bites out of it. Well little of that is about betas but you can make algae eaters happy with treats.

[IRescue452]

I've had a few bad seed females who have killed before. Sometimes you've gto to take them back, but I prefer to wait a while and let things work out. If you jump at the first sign of attack you'll end up taking fish back as fast as you buy them. Even in my established tank with 7 females I've got one fish with half a tail and several fish with torn up fins. They heal though and it really doesn't phase them much.

[Kalei]

Thanks for the info. Today I was at our Pet's Unlimited and they don't get female bettas either. When I asked the store attendant, she said that once they got 10 female bettas and they were all gone in a few days (meaning gone as in dead) she said they are very hard to take care of? I"m not sure if that's true or not, but I wouldn't think the bettas should all die so quickly.

[IRescue452]

They seem to me to be easier than male bettas. There is no reason they should die in relation to their species or gender. It must have been bad water or disease.

[Christmas_Hamster]

They are not hard to take care of just hard to keep happy :p


In a 10 gallon you can get 4-6 girls and no less then three. You need lots of plants (fake or real) and lots of hiding spots. You will have to watch them for a few hours after you put them in to make sure everybody is okay. keep a close eye on them and after a few weeks with all going well it usually stays that way.

Look here:http://www.petfish.net/articles/Bettas/amber_betta.php
and here: http://www.petfish.net/articles/Bettas/female_bettas.php

And if one is being mean then you need to have an extra tank or two setup just in case. I could never bring them back they would just live in their won bowl and then you can try and introduce them again later.

[Kalei]

Wow, those sites were awesome! It made me want to get some even more. I just hate how there is no female bettas being sold around here. I asked every pet store in the town which is like 2 and 3 including wal-mart and none get female bettas. Anyways, I always use to think that the females probably weren't pretty either, but from all those pictures I seen females can be just as pretty if not prettier!

[Christmas_Hamster]

Females only seem to be less pretty because the can become stressed easier and they loose their colour for a bit so ppl see them all stressed out and colourless. But they really are a beautful rainbow :)

[TamanduaGirl]

the two I had were yellow and red real pretty.

[Christmas_Hamster]

*eye twitches* you had a yellow girl? o.0 I want a yellow girl but I can't find any around I was luky to find my yellow vt boy :)