# Big sorority



## poissonrouge (Mar 21, 2014)

So first post here! (Yay  ) I have a 55 planted sorority with I'd say probably about 10+ females. I started out with just a few (4) along with guppies to help keep aggression down. Once they were all settled I added a couple more girls in. It's been up and running for awhile, everyone is happy and I see little to no nipping when I spend time relaxing and watching the fish tv (lol). 

I have another "female" that is separated out in in a breeder container in the tank. I firmly believe it's actually a boy and the people at the petstore don't know what they were doing but hey, I got him for a dollar so I won't complain! I'll be setting up a different tank for him in awhile once he grows out more to confirm it. 

I've been thinking about putting some neon tetras into the mix. Has anyone else tried that? I don't want the tetras being picked on.


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## JDragon (Jan 28, 2014)

Nice. I have a 55 gallon too. 11 females and counting. I had some tetras, but they were actually the biggest nipping culprit. I finally had to get rid of them. Now I see very little nipping, flaring, or chasing... plus if I remember correctly, neons like cooler water. I may be wrong. 
I might look into danios or rasboras personally.


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## poissonrouge (Mar 21, 2014)

Oh I bet it's nice! Really? I mean I have about 15 or so, and they seem really mellow and calm but of course right now they're just with a male betta. I certainly don't want anything happening to my sorority though, they're my girls >w< danios are like the zebra danios right?


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## JDragon (Jan 28, 2014)

Yup, That's right. I even used to have long fin leopard danios a few years ago. Anything will do, but they seem to be less nippy overall. The tetras took one of my girls down to almost no fins and she's a plakat. I was NOT amused. She finally started flaring at everyone from her hangover holder yesterday. Still missing a few scales. Some of that could have been the girls, but I saw the tetras going for her and I thought she was a goner.


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## missavgp (Apr 17, 2013)

I haven't had any trouble with tetras and my sorority. My girls are in a 25g with neon and ember tetras with nipping at all.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Be careful not to add rambunctious fish like Zebra Danios, they are much too fast and rowdy for the girls. While you may think it keeps aggression down, it actually stresses the girls out which can leave a door wide open for diseases; I know that first hand.

Tetras like tropical conditions JDragon.

I'm a believer in keeping the sorority itself rather small, if you find that one number of fish just clicks where there is no fighting, so much peacefulness then it may be good to stick with that number rather than going out to buy more fish just because you can. I had my 33 gallon and I found that the number 9 worked amazingly with them but I didn't really know about what I just talked about previously and I ended up with 24 females in total by the end. They were very stressed out fishes, it didn't help that I had three german blue rams in there and one was a super bully, he was called Boss Ram and I blame him for the downfall of my sorority lol but it was also my fault as well.

So this is why, if you find that one number (and each sorority is different with it's personalities) really really works, stick with it and don't change anything if you can if you want the sorority long term. That is my advice at least.


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## poissonrouge (Mar 21, 2014)

@JDragon I'll keep that in mind for when the local stores have some on sale. I like to buy a bunch and quarantine them all in one go.

o_o I would have been furious, goodness. I don't think I've ever seen a female plakat, she must be really pretty! I hope she recovers all the way.

@missavgp how many do you keep in the tank? Maybe it's a numbers thing?


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## BlueLacee (Dec 8, 2013)

exiting, I want a sorotiry


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## missavgp (Apr 17, 2013)

I have 5 girls, 6 neons and 6 embers, also, 6 ottos and 4 amano shrimp (which are larger than my newest girls). Everyone gets along great, though it has lots of plants and hiding places. It is also tall so the girls hang out at the top, with the tetras in the middle to lower level


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## poissonrouge (Mar 21, 2014)

lilnaugrim said:


> Be careful not to add rambunctious fish like Zebra Danios, they are much too fast and rowdy for the girls. While you may think it keeps aggression down, it actually stresses the girls out which can leave a door wide open for diseases; I know that first hand.
> 
> Tetras like tropical conditions JDragon.
> 
> ...


I'm using guppies, not danios. I aimed for a very peaceful tank after stepping away from angels. I pick out each of my girls carefully, making sure they're healthy and sassy in the cup but not too aggressive. It's worked so far. There's the usual body curving upon first meeting and then the occasional chase but otherwise they've been alright. 

I don't think I'm going higher than what I have right now. Everyone has a hiding place and is comfortable. I might get one more after my old lady passes away but she's still got awhile before that happens I think. She's the only grumpy one but being a double tail she's far from the quickest of the bunch.

@bluelacee they're a lot of fun, but easy to have sudden crashes with, at least from what I understand.


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## poissonrouge (Mar 21, 2014)

@missavgp That's a really pretty tank! I like how you set it up. 

Also the one betta that I think might be a boy jumped the container (s)he was in and is now roaming the tank peacefully and seems happy. Should I remove it or leave it be?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

poissonrouge said:


> I'm using guppies, not danios. I aimed for a very peaceful tank after stepping away from angels. I pick out each of my girls carefully, making sure they're healthy and sassy in the cup but not too aggressive. It's worked so far. There's the usual body curving upon first meeting and then the occasional chase but otherwise they've been alright.
> 
> I don't think I'm going higher than what I have right now. Everyone has a hiding place and is comfortable. I might get one more after my old lady passes away but she's still got awhile before that happens I think. She's the only grumpy one but being a double tail she's far from the quickest of the bunch.
> 
> @bluelacee they're a lot of fun, but easy to have sudden crashes with, at least from what I understand.


Sorry, I wasn't talking to you about the danios but to JDragon, I apologize for not making that clear.


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## poissonrouge (Mar 21, 2014)

Oh okay XD As long as I'm not in trouble for doing a no-no!


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Nope! Just some advice was all. I'm sure I could dig up pictures of what my sorority looked like when I had it if you wanted to see it.

With sororities (and this goes for all not just you poisson) you want your tank to literally be a jungle of plants so the girls have a very difficult time getting through the tank to prevent chasing, nipping and biting.


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## poissonrouge (Mar 21, 2014)

It's been noted  I would love to see pictures! 

It's getting there, I have a lot of upwards growing plants and tons of ground cover and lillies because I like them. I'm thinking about getting some large floating plants because the roots would make great cover.


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## JDragon (Jan 28, 2014)

Did not know that, lil. And the temperature issues I was thinking of were with neon tetras - must have been thinking of another species. Oh well. I tried.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

It's okay JDragon! It happens ^_^ Danios are actually the ones with the temp difference, they prefer cooler water along with white cloud minnows. Tetras and Rasboras like the tropical temps up around 76-82 mostly 

poisson, I used water sprite for my floating plant! My girls absolutely loved it! Although it does block out a lot of light so make sure you keep plants that need higher light, out from under the shadow of the Sprite (oo that sounded like a cool book name or something!)

Here's what my sorority looked like at it's prime, noticed the larger floating Water Sprite!!


And here's just showing how big the water sprite had gotten. This is a 33 gallon tank: 36in.x12in.x18in. So at this point the sprite was three feet long XD


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## poissonrouge (Mar 21, 2014)

Wow Lil! Your tank is incredible! I'll have to keep that in mind. I'm going to buy an LED lighting fixture for my tank because I found a nice plant one and I'm hoping that helps the plants grow along with the root tabs. Haha that's a book I'd read!


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## Blue Fish (Jun 11, 2012)

Oh, first off, I LOVE the shape of that tank! So cool! And the plants are beautiful.  

I've got a 40g sorority, and I had a male in there by accident (he was sold as a female...then grew up...) and my suggestion is to take your escaped boy out. Mine was okay for a while...but then one of the girls started going after him. No nipping, so it was not obvious, but he started laying on the bottom, clamping...and then I saw the largest female chasing him and I realized that she was the issue. They'd lived together okay for months (I've actually had this happen twice now...two males sold as female, one could never live in the sorority, the other has been okay in there for months...but recently started being bullied and is now slated for a new home.) 

That's the problem I've found with males...you never know when one of the girls is going to decide to turn against him and then he's going to either be bullied or killed.  

Safest method is to just take him out.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Thank you! It's a 33 gallon Flat Back Hexagon, worst shape a tank could be in if you're looking for a hood or top like I am >.< But it is nice, I need to take it apart and completely resilicone it though....dreading that quite a bit!

I agree with taking the male out, LittleBettaFish also had the same issues; male was fine for a while but the girls ended up ganging up on him and actually killed him--well injured him enough that when she took him out, he didn't survive too much longer. So just to be on the safe side of things, I would take him out.


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## Blue Fish (Jun 11, 2012)

Oh, bummer about the top being hard to find.  Have you considered having glass or plexi cut to size? 

Either way, it looks amazing.


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## poissonrouge (Mar 21, 2014)

I agree with blue fish, having something cut to it might honestly be the best option. That's the curse of unique tanks I think. 

Unfortunately by the time I found him after he came out from wherever he was hiding I think it was too late. He passed away this morning though there's nothing more than a few nips to his fins. I think the stress might have gotten to him, I'm sad about it ;x;


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Aww, sorry about the boy poisson!

Yeah, I've been meaning to have plexy fit for it but the tank is currently out of commission until we get rid of our piano and I can set it back up again after I resilicone it somehow >.< but yes, I've just recently dabbled into plexy glass cutting so we'll see!!


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## poissonrouge (Mar 21, 2014)

It's sad but it's alright uxu

Ohh, I hope we get to see it up and running again! It would be nice to see what you do with it


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## Blue Fish (Jun 11, 2012)

I've never resealed a tank...but I would think that you could use a caulk gun and some clear GE silicone I to do it? If you've never used one, a caulk gun works rather like a hot glue gun, there's a trigger and when you press on it, a bead of silicone comes out the tip and you just smoosh it into the crease where you need it to go.  I've caulked before, and it seems like the same process...?  

Having seen your beautiful tank...I'm starting to seriously wonder about doing a similar shape for a 100+ gal goldfish tank...I've been wanting to do goldfish forever, but currently don't have a space for a tank...and I keep trying to get a good deal on Craigslist...but so far no luck.  I love the different tanks that aren't quite so boring as the usual rectangle, but the regular hex's are too narrow and tall for goldies...but the flat-back hex or a modification of it might just work...hmmm!  

Anyway, I'm just drabbling on now, lol, best of luck to you!!


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Haha, thank guys! As I said, we need to get rid of our piano first >.< That's the biggest ordeal! And yes, Blue_Fish I've used caulking guns before; it is the same process. After you've applied the silicone though you've got to smoosh it with your fingers to make it flat rather than letting it stay in the tubular shape is all. It's a fairly simple process it's just a pain in the tooshy! You can't stop to take a break really since you can't silicone new stuff on the old stuff; it won't bond so you have to do it all in one shot; hence the pain in the butt!


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## Blue Fish (Jun 11, 2012)

Oh, yuck! I had no idea that it wouldn't bond later...yeah, that is a pain!  BUT, glad to know the information!


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yep :-/ Also silicone (well the glass one that we all use) doesn't bond to acrylic either but this can be good if you want to put a divider up but not make it permanent! Well...no silicone is technically permanent anyways but it will just come off easier ^_^ They do, however, make silicone specific for acrylic. I don't know the name of the tube but I know it exists somewhere.

Yay Silicone fun facts lol. Sorry for throwing the thread off track!


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## OrangeAugust (Jul 23, 2012)

I have a 55 gallon that once had 9 female bettas, a bunch of neons, a bunch of zebra danios, a bunch of leopard cories, and a few otos... The sorority started kind of falling apart. One of them got picked on so much I had to put her into a separate tank until she got bigger. And they just all started fighting a lot- they all had ripped and nipped fins and I was getting nervous about it. Someone here suggested that I need to get a lot more, or move them to a smaller tank. So I moved them into a heavily planted 10 gallon, and they do great in there! They hardly ever nip at each other. I also have 5 neons in there that I put in there when I moved my 55 gallon tank but I couldn't get them back out because of how heavily it was planted. lol. But the bettas don't pick on the neons at all.


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## BlueLacee (Dec 8, 2013)

good luck, btw, when the other girls get here, it would be best to redecorate and then release them all at once, even better if you wait until you have them all


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## BlueLacee (Dec 8, 2013)

I so wish that I had a 55g, if I did I would deffinatly make a sorority


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## LurkerMom (Sep 9, 2013)

I might highjack the post a bit, but I was wondering,
I'll make a sorority soon(ish) but I was wondering if it's possible to build it with 3 females to start with and add after. 

the tank already has guppies and is planted (though not enough so I,ll work on that first) but I'm trying to get females from diferent breeders and backgrounds since they all will be handpicked for possible breeding with my two males.

Is it doable in anyway? or do I have to get small bowls until I get all of them? (it might take a couple of months before I find every single female)


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

LurkerMom said:


> I might highjack the post a bit, but I was wondering,
> I'll make a sorority soon(ish) but I was wondering if it's possible to build it with 3 females to start with and add after.
> 
> the tank already has guppies and is planted (though not enough so I,ll work on that first) but I'm trying to get females from diferent breeders and backgrounds since they all will be handpicked for possible breeding with my two males.
> ...


Keep them separate until you have at least 5 females. 3 is extremely minimum and would only attempt it if they were sisters that never have been separated. Honestly, sororities are best done with sisters who have never been separated before but just make sure your tank is extremely planted.


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## LurkerMom (Sep 9, 2013)

alright, I'll keep them separated then, because I really want to go for good females, even if it means not having a sorority.

I'll get two or three only and make a 15g with separator or something ^-^


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

LurkerMom said:


> alright, I'll keep them separated then, because I really want to go for good females, even if it means not having a sorority.
> 
> I'll get two or three only and make a 15g with separator or something ^-^


Good plan ^_^ you can even just use a 10 gallon and split that three ways, easy to do and less space consuming unless you want/can get the 15g ^_^


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## LurkerMom (Sep 9, 2013)

yea I guess hihihi, i'll get a long one too and see.

Beside, we might move soon so it wont be for now :S


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