# How do you decide which fish to put in divided tanks together?



## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

I have bought a 20 gallon long and will be setting it up shortly. How do you decide which males to house together? Do you put them all in the tank at the same time with dividers or go one by one over time? I would like to house 4 together. Do you consider size? Whether they are easygoing? Do you let them hang out side by side in separate tanks before doing dividers? What is your process?
Here's a little about my fish:

I already have 2 that sit side by side already in their separate tanks and have no reaction to each other. They don't flare at each other. They don't even flare at me. In fact I've never seen them flare. However, sometimes I wonder if the other betta Ollie even knows he's looking at another betta as Gossamer is pretty much like his name you barely see him. It's like having a little faery or insect flitting around in the tank with a little pinkish white head. Both are just easy going fish. 

Zeus is slightly shy but seems relaxed, John Clyde is very active and flares mildly at people and really flares at other fish. Curly Gallo-well he's just a chicken I think may be excluded he get's pale if he sees another fish and shows dark stripes beneath his coloring. Nano is he is very interactive with me and he flares at me sometimes. I am not sure how he'd react to other fish. I do think he loves his current five gallon tank.

There are two others I am still getting to know. One I am not sure if he will recover from the poor treatment at the box store but he is huge. He looks like a veil tail crossed with a king. Otherwise I don't know how he could be so big. The other one is a small red veiltail with some blue irredescent scale who I could have left he was doing ok but I admired his spunk- he still was making a bubblenest in a cup at the store. He's made more than one in the weeks I've observed him. I just came for the huge one he was suffering from ammonia poisoning had been there at least three weeks but left with two bettas. I learned that females should not be in with males so Penelope will stay where she is. She is really small and I think she is happy in her set up.

I'd appreciate any pointers. My husband is not crazy about having fish everywhere. We have plenty of room to house and I have time to do water changes but he is really puzzled by my recent renewed interest in fish ( I had a regular fish tank before we got married) and he really can't understand why bettas? Why not just get fish you can stick all in one tank without them killing each other. :hmm:


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

All of my males are in divided tanks (5 of them and 3 more soon). It makes work a LOT easier and means I can have more fish! I don't really carefully select males to be beside each other, I find that within two weeks they don't even notice each other. Make sure dividers are tight, and you leave the water 3 inches below top of divider.


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

I got my 20 long new for a good price but I could still get another one for $15 this weekend used.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

What are you telling me?


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## bettafishgirl (Mar 29, 2013)

lol!


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## LittleBlueFishlets (Nov 10, 2012)

I think she's telling you that instead of just one divided tank, she's planning on having two.


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## bettacrazygirl86 (Jan 21, 2013)

I have my female and male bettas in a divided 10 gallon. Their tanks were side by side for a while, so they could see each other. Neither of them flared at each other or tried to get into the other's tank. Not that they could, since the tanks had lids, but still.

When I put them in the tanks, I set up the tank first with the divider, gravel, heater, filter, plants and decorations. I made sure they had their own decorations to make them feel more at home in their new tank. I floated them both in their own sides of the tank and acclimated them, then released them both at the same time.

No one has tried or managed to get into the other half of the tank. Honestly, I don't think my female even knows he's there. My male flares at her sometimes when she comes near the divider, but she doesn't seem to notice him. If she does, I guess she simply doesn't care. They've been doing really well and neither seems to be stressed or anything. My male likes to fight the filter current and surf along the glass around the heater. My female likes to play with the plants and try to dig them up.


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

Actually I think I now will have to get a 40 long instead. I showed my 3 new fish to hubby today. Not happy(though it seems like he's getting past it). He objects to two 20's. So 8 fish one tank divided. Each fish will have 5 gallons. Is 8 fish in one tank too much bio-load? One average the fish are 4 inches if you count fin length in measuring them.


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## bettacrazygirl86 (Jan 21, 2013)

I think in a 40 gallon, it should be fine, as long as your filter can handle it. As you said, each fish will have 5 gallons, so I'm sure it'd be okay.


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## Hadoken Kitty (Jan 24, 2013)

8 fish in a 40 gallon is perfectly fine. Sororities usually have more girls in their tanks than that. However, sororities work differently too, but the bioload is still the same. You could house more than 8 males if you would like. I suggest a couple of filters, though, as sometimes dividers can muffle the flow of water to the outer fish's quarters.


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## isochronism (Nov 24, 2012)

I might consider putting the filter and heater in the center of the tank in it's own separate narrow divider. Your husband should be thankful that you didn't choose Piranhas! HA


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## Fishy Mom (Feb 11, 2013)

I know what your going through with your hubby. I'm getting my larger tank because I told my husband he could decorate it, lol.


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## Hadoken Kitty (Jan 24, 2013)

Also, to answer your question about deciding which fish to choose from....I just put my larger one in the middle and my smaller two on the sides (I three way divided by 10 gal) I gave the half giant a bit more room, though...seeing as he's much larger. xD


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## CrazyDiamond (Feb 20, 2013)

I am a first time fish owner and I also have a divided tank and one of my fish is totally chill, swims up to the divider and just sits there watching the other flip his lid xD he taunts him, it's pretty funny.


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

I am well equipped filter wise. I have 5-6 sponge filters, 3 air pumps and two Aquatech filters. With the 20 gallon I was going to do at least 4 sponge filters and probably one Aquatech filter to keep good flowing going. I've recently read that have a sponge filter in your tank whether it's running or not is important in case of a power outage because you can at least run one of those off of a battery back up. 

I keep hoping my husband will eventually get interested in the fish and somewhat knowledgeable like he has with other hobbies such as gardening I've picked up. He doesn't necessarily participate directly in them but still has taken an interest. I had surgery last year for now my participation in something that I found relaxing like gardening is very limited. 

The fish for me at least give me some enjoyment that I used to get doing my other hobbies. I like giving them a good home, interacting with them and decorating the tanks. So far he doesn't get that. Honestly if he had decided to do the same thing I would not be bothered by it. It's not like I went to a shelter and brought home a Great Dane. I am really looking forward to trying to decorate each section with a theme.


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

I will still have two that won't go in the large tank because one male is a complete chicken (and kind of named that way) he gets pale an stripes at the sight of a male. My female keeps swelling up with eggs and I think it will become worse if she's in a tank with other males. She's very small and seems happy on her own.


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