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Betta Sorority?


Shirley

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Hi guys!
So I have some questions about running a sorority tank. I've been keeping betta on and off for about 10 years now but only ever males and obviously in solitary tanks.

I'm a science student and my lab works on animal behaviour using fish as model organisms, last year an honours student was using female fighting fish for his experiments on learning and now that his project is over we have about 30 or so female fighting fish that need a home. From what I understand there were some aggression issues in the beginning so they were all separated but kept in the same tank still. Last week we trialed letting them all out and so far they've all been behaving well with minimal fighting. I obviously won't be taking all of them but I'm interested in taking SOME home. They're all well over a year old now.

My questions are, how many can and should I take? Right now I have an 18gal tank that is housing 4 guppies (grow out tank), but I can easily move them into the guppy tank downstairs. I know I need to crowd the tank up with plants and hidey holes but I'm wondering what a good number for a tank this size would be?

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18 gal is around 72 litres. If you look to keep it to around 4L per fish, that allows you to have 18 fish. Take a few off to allow for some snails and maybe a BN or two, I imagine 12-15 females with plenty of plants and hidey holes should be okay.

Just a note - depending on how these Betta were raised, and where they originally come from, a year old is getting on towards the end of their life span. There are tales around of Betta living up to 10 years, but this is the exception. A few go on to two or three years but again, fairly rare. 12-18 months is more the norm for power grown Betta purchased from a LFS.

Breeding with them may also be a tricky thing. You'll always be more successful with younger fish, but again, depends on where they came from and how they were raised, and each Betta is unique - not only do they develop their own personalities, but some may breed when older, some wont.

Either way, I'm sure they will be lucky individuals to have a new home with someone who only has their best interests at heart.

Sorority's will always have some bickering to begin with as they sort out their pecking order. Put a breeding net in there and if anyone gets too out of hand, separate them in the net. They still get to interact with the rest, but cant bully anyone. Seems to put them back into a community spirit. Each time you take a fish out for an extended period, or because of a death), they will rework the pecking order - so more bickering. Just keep an eye on them and separate any over aggressive individuals for a day or two.

Good luck :)

Edited by Brenton
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Hi Brenton,

Thanks for your reply!

I'll keep those numbers in mind when I'm picking out individuals this week. I'm not looking to breed them and thanks for letting me know that they might not have much longer. I don't mind so much if they are getting on with age, it's just a bit sad to see them in the lab tank because they won't be used in experiments again and I'd much rather they had a loving home even if only for a few more months. I'll think of my tank as their retirement home :)

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I don't have a good camera so no photos for the time being!

I ended up taking home 7. My supervisor decided he wanted to keep using them in experiments but he let me take some home. They've settled in really well and they're loving the big tank. No fighting so far!

Being that I only have 7, I do want to put some more fish in the tank but I'm wondering what species should I be looking at? I'd love something colourful, or some kind of schooling fish, maybe? But I know fighters are aggressive so I don't want to bring home fish just for them to be killed.

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Betta get along with most fish listed as peaceful community fish. Stay away from fish with flashy caudals or fish like barbs who trend to nip other fish who have flowing fins.

I've only ever shared my tanks with Bristlenose, but there are plenty of other members here who have more experience in that area :)

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