# male betta in a female betta sorority



## tiinykat (Oct 22, 2013)

I keep getting mixed answers. I have a 16 gallon aquarium that's going strong *(knock on wood.) I cycled the tank a few months ago, added six female Bettas. I've got three Platyfish, three White Cloud Mountain Minnows, a really awesome and active Vampire shrimp (who recently molted, wow!) and like maybe 10 or so ghost shrimp. 

I have came across an extra Betta and have yet to set up a suitable tank for him due to space and time. I read that some people have had success with a single male within a female Betta sorority.

So what's the deal with this? Because I *thought* it was a big no-no. However, some say they've done fine. It is a heavily planted tank, a pecking order has been established between the females and all I've come across so far is an occasional nip taken out of a tale here and there. Would I totally disrupt the peace in the tank adding a male? Is it as big of a no-no as I think it would be? Has anyone ever done this, and what was the outcome/conditions? Thank you. Merry holidays.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I did it in the past and was fine until one day my male got attacked. His injuries were fairly gruesome and I suspect inflicted by more than one female. He died not very long after.

That male had been purchased very young as a 'female'. He grew up in the sorority and was very docile except towards a couple of similarly coloured females that I later removed. He was also very accepting of newcomers and lived that way for close to if not more than, a year.

Some people will never have any issues with housing male and females splendens together. However, there is a reason it is generally an accepted 'rule' in this hobby that males and females are best kept separate from each other. Bettas are extremely unpredictable fish and can be extremely violent towards each other. Things can go wrong quickly and really it all comes down to whether you want to potentially risk the lives of your fish.


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## tiinykat (Oct 22, 2013)

LittleBettaFish said:


> I did it in the past and was fine until one day my male got attacked. His injuries were fairly gruesome and I suspect inflicted by more than one female. He died not very long after.
> 
> That male had been purchased very young as a 'female'. He grew up in the sorority and was very docile except towards a couple of similarly coloured females that I later removed. He was also very accepting of newcomers and lived that way for close to if not more than, a year.
> 
> Some people will never have any issues with housing male and females splendens together. However, there is a reason it is generally an accepted 'rule' in this hobby that males and females are best kept separate from each other. Bettas are extremely unpredictable fish and can be extremely violent towards each other. Things can go wrong quickly and really it all comes down to whether you want to potentially risk the lives of your fish.


Thank you for sharing your experience and your well thought out answer. I'm not sure if it's worth the risk. So much debating.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

There are always going to be exceptions to every rule. It really all comes down to what level of risk you personally feel comfortable with. 

I mean there is a large amount of risk in keeping females together in a sorority successfully long-term. I've seen a number of threads on this forum where sororities have fallen apart in spite of the best efforts of the owner. 

I own wild bettas that are generally considered less aggressive than splendens and in most cases can live together without issue. However, that still didn't stop one of my females from recently trying to kill her male twice after living with him without issue for a couple of months. 

For me personally, after seeing what those females did to that poor male, I would not try it again no matter how docile my male is or how peacefully they seem to get along.


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## tiinykat (Oct 22, 2013)

Thank you again. I'm leaning towards no. It doesn't look like this little guy is going to make it. He had been at the pet store a long time, I caved and got him, and instead of getting better in his temp tank he appears to be growing worse. I'm not sure what my next move with him will be. Since he's appeared to decline, the sorority is now out of the question. It looks like I'll have to set up my 2.5 gal and throw in a heater to see how that goes. I figured a one gallon unheated/unfiltered temp tank would help him perk up a bit instead of that little cup in the pet store, but looks as though I was wrong. I feel bad I've waited this long to put together a more suitable tank. We'll see if he makes it through the night. /:


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