Females?

[fuzzyferretluver]

I saw a female at Walmart and a female betta at Petco the other day. I was just wondering, do females get along? I read they get along better than males, but they still nip at each other. How many should you keep per gallon? Or what is the minimum you should keep?

[Ella3]

You will get different responses to this question due to different experiences. My experience has been a good one. I have 3 females right now who get along great. They never beat each other up. The worst thing that happened was one chasing the other, but that only lasted a day. I got 2 from the same lps, but they were not living together at the time. They were each in their own bowl. I wanted 3 because I've heard that you should keep an odd number to keep down on the fights. So I had to go to another place to get a 3rd female. They've been just fine, but you should make sure that you have another bowl/tank available in case it doesn't work out. There is always that risk.

Let us know what you decide to do. Oh and the rule is usually an inch of fish per gallon of water. The females are small (usually) when you buy them, but they do grow. I was just commenting on my blue/turqoise female the other day. She was a little scrappy looking thing when I got her, but now she has grown and she is very beautiful. So make sure that you allow for growth.

Good luck

Ella

[supersixone]

i've had good luck with females, too. generally3-5 in a 10 gallon tank, heavily planted with lots of hiding places, seems to work pretty well. there's always going to be females who can't get along with other girls, but i've been fortunate enough to have fairly peaceable ones. i've gotten quite a few of my girls at walmart, too. i just got a double ray crowntail cambodian girl and a spotless cellophane girl there the other day

[minni1]

WoW! Supersixone, you must have a great Walmart!!! At my local Walmart, the poor male bettas look absolutely horrid, fin rot, dirty little containers, sick looking fish! The other tank fish look a bit better, but not much! Our Meijer, however, have much nicer, cleaner tanks. They have a few decent looking male bettas, which they keep in those little cup like containers, that hang on the inside of the tank, allowing for water flow. They have quite a few females in tanks, and they seem to do well together. They have a guy who looks after their pets exclusively, no one else bothers them, and that's all he does. However, the other day I was there, and as always, I stop to look at the fish. Well, someone wanted a female betta, and the guy who runs the pets department was on break. Well, 2 managers came, and finally found some goofy guy to dip out the fish! First, he grabbed a cup to put the fish in, and headed for the little sink built into the area. So, seeing what he was about to do, I stepped over and said, "you're not going to fill that with tap water, are you?" He looked at me, very nonplussed, like "why not?" I said, "The chlorine in the tap water will kill the fish!" One of the managers looked at me and told the guy to dip the cup into the tank, and not use tap water. After much fumbling and bumbling, the guy got the fish out and poured it and the water into a baggie and tied it up. The lady who was purchasing the fish thhanked me and said she didn't realize about the tap water! Poor fish, life expectancy-0.

[supersixone]

i've seen conditions like you're describing in walmarts in other parts of the country, but the 3 walmarts that i go to really take pretty good care of their fish. can't complain, and they always have the loveliest girls. the males are pretty run of the mill, though

[winddancer]

Our walmart takes good care of the betta also.They aren't in the tiny cup but in medium size plastic containers.Not a whole lot of room but alot more than most places. I've gotten my 7 bettas from them. The one guy who works there really loves the fish.

[babe69]

I keep 11 females in a 55 gallon tank with a total of 25 fish in the tank. As long as you watch them there may be a squabble of two and some fins may be damaged as the pecking order takes place. I use stress coat frequently and have never had problems with finrot developing. I think this maybe one reason people don't like to keep them is if you have a lot of power struggles going on, damage can occur and lead to a lot of treating secondary infections. I can add females and usually within a few days the order is established and everyone resumes their peaceful existance. Check them daily for signs of illness but otherwise invest in a large bottle of Stress Coat. I have read that some keepers treat frayed finnage as if it were finrot but I don't like to add chemicals without a definitive diagnosis i.e. more then just the bettas showing damage. I have guppies in the tank ( bettas love guppy fry!) and they seem to be sensitive to finrot. If they are ok then I know my girls have just been getting rowdy.

[amanichen]

babe69 said:

Check them daily for signs of illness but otherwise invest in a large bottle of Stress Coat.

Stress coat for what purpose? It isn't a medication, it's a water conditioner.

[winddancer]

supersixone could you show me a picture of your double ray crowntail cambodian girl ?

How many females should be kept in a well planted 10 gallon tank? I have 4 in there now.