# Best way to add 2-3 more female bettas in with Athena?



## queenamira (May 5, 2015)

Currently I have one female betta (Athena) and one nerite snail in my 10 gallon tank, and I've read everywhere that if I want more female bettas it's best to keep them in a school of 3 or more (correct?). Athena is not aggressive or violent; when I added my snail a couple days ago she was very curious but minded her own business most of the time - although I know it's a snail and not another fish, so that doesn't really account for much in terms of her possible reaction. 
If I do decide to get more female bettas, first of all how many would be an ideal number? And I've heard of people removing their first bettas, rearranging the tank, and then adding all bettas at once - is that something that works well? If you have added more females to your existing betta tank, how did you do it? Any advice would be great, thanks!


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

There's debate about what is the best sorority #/size. They're technically not a schooling fish. 
Before you consider doing a sorority (adding more females) you need to make that tank insanely desnse with decor and/or live plants. TONS of line of sight break up at all levels (including by the surface). 
Just because your female is mellow on her own doesn't automatically mean she'll play nice. Betta splendids were bred for countless generations for fighting, even the females got some mean in them.

Personally I'd setup a 20g long (10 can get cramped for a sorority but some people have done it) and get a [censor] ton of decor/plants to cram that thing full then after your new females have gone through quarantine (always good to keep new fish separate for at least 2 weeks). Introduce all of them into the tank in rapid order (acclimate them all at the same time then release into the tank so first and last fish in are within a minute of each other).

If you put new fish into an existing fish setup the previously "lone betta" can become very aggressive and territorial, after all, this is their space and has been for some time. If you want to use the existing, buy more decor/plants and when new fish are done with quarantine remove your betta from the 10g temporarily, re-arrange everything and add the new stuff then acclimate and put them all in.


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## VivianKJean (Aug 20, 2013)

+1 

also it is not correct that do better in groups. I have a single female in a 3 gallon tank and she is incredibly pleased. 

Bettas are not schooling fish. 

If you were to do a sorority. follow Aqua Aurora's advice. However, you need to have at least 5 females but ive heard that more people have luck with 7. 

also the tank MUST be cycled. this will give your fish the best water conditions. 

also you must have good QT facilities. Each female (unless you get them from a breeder that kept them in the same tank) must be in separate tanks for 2-3 weeks. To be safe, i always QT for 4 weeks. So you would need 6 separate tanks all heated and preferably filtered. 

Also you must be prepared to separate all the fish if the sorority fails. Meaning either have separate tanks or have friend that can take them at a moments notice. 

Sororities are not nice. As Aqua mentioned females can be extremely aggressive, more aggressive than males. There will be fin nipping and biting. Females will chase each other. Even if you set up the tank correctly there is still a possibility that the females will gang up on one of the females and kill her.


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## queenamira (May 5, 2015)

VivianKJean said:


> +1
> 
> also it is not correct that do better in groups. I have a single female in a 3 gallon tank and she is incredibly pleased.
> 
> ...


Woah okay, so I guess a sorority is not the best option here eheh. If anything I guess I can grab a 20g and raise a baby sorority since females are more likely to get along if they have grown up together.
Also when doing quarantine, what exactly are you looking for? How do you know if it was successful or not?


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## VivianKJean (Aug 20, 2013)

when doing QT, you just want to check the fish for any illnesses. its the same with any fish you have. If after 2-3 weeks the fish is healthy then it is safe to put into the community tank. If you fish gets sick then treat and when the fish i completely healthy for at least 2-3 weeks then it is safe to add it to the tank. 

Just to point out - you should NOT use baby bettas for a sorority. They are still likely to attack each other or kill each other. Even if you buy all the females from one breeder, the sorority may still fail. Sororities are basically ticking time bombs. There are cases where to sorority works out perfectly but they are rare.


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