# Safe number of betas in a tank?



## vixie1600 (Feb 15, 2010)

I'm looking at getting a 75 gallon tank. I currently have four male betas in separate tanks, but I'm thinking about putting them in the 75 gallon tank along with other compatible fish. I'd like to make sure that that would be enough space for them to form their own territories so they don't fight with each other before I just stick them in there. Thanks everyone!


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## Betta Fish Bob (Dec 31, 2009)

Unfortunately, it would only take one encounter, and the more aggressive fish would chase the wimpier one (ones). You would still need dividers.


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## ScuitoAmi150 (Nov 19, 2009)

I wish you could do that. But they would explore and wander into another one, they would fight.


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## Hidr (Feb 15, 2010)

You can't do that well males. You can with females if you add enough and have tons of hiding places.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

I agree with everyone else. ONLY experienced breeders who have raised males together from fry should try this. You can't put full grown adult males together one day and expect them to live together.. it will end in death.


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## 2brown347 (Feb 2, 2010)

I agree with 1fish2fish. It can be done, but shouldn't be done except by experienced betta keepers. From everything I've heard in a really large tank they don't need to be from the same batch of fry, but they have to be keep with clear dividers for a really long time so they establish territories, and if they flare at eachother it's time to move to a new pair. 75 gallons is big enough to house multiple males (since their territories wouldn't take the whole tank and in theory shouldn't go into each other territories) but it's not a good idea. 

You could put a lot of females in there and go with a asian black water biotope (not exactly a betta biotope but it's the closest thats affordible IMO) and you'd have a great looking tank.

There are some wild bettas that you could put multiple males and females in there but you'd really need to do your research since they require a bit more than a common betta.


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## vixie1600 (Feb 15, 2010)

Thanks everyone! I'm planning on introducing them two at a time into the big tank. Before they're introduced to that tank they'll be in the 10 gallon 'holding tank' with separators between them. They've all been 'introduced' to each other in their separate little tanks and the flaring and aggressive displays have stopped. So I don't think we'll have too many issues. Hopefully they'll be alright. We'll be watching carefully for any issues if they happen to arise. 

We're not exactly beginners at this (my boyfriend and myself), we've both successfully had beta males together in much smaller tanks than the 75 gallon one without dividers, and he's managed to breed betas before. I just wanted to make sure that, theoretically speaking, 75 gallons should be big enough for the four. We have our backup tanks ready in case there are any issues! The 75 gallon is up and running, we're waiting for it to filter out nicely before we introduce plants to the tank, then the fish. So here's hoping our boys play nice so they can all have a nice big tank!


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## Hidr (Feb 15, 2010)

LOL I have got to know why you asked if your going to do what you want anyways?


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## vixie1600 (Feb 15, 2010)

Hidr said:


> LOL I have got to know why you asked if your going to do what you want anyways?


As I pointed out in my last post, I wanted to make sure that theoretically, that's enough space for four of them.


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## Hidr (Feb 15, 2010)

And you were told no there is not. But I guess that answers my question. Thank you


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## doggyhog (Apr 30, 2009)

I personally wouldn't risk it...

here is my question though. Why not just divide it?


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

..... OR why not just get fish that LIKE to be together? I'll never cease to understand why people want to push the limits with bettas. If you want a community tank.. get COMMUNITY fish.

I don't think this will work out... but I hope for the poor fish's sake it does.


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## Chicklet (Feb 9, 2009)

Dead male bett'sa to come shortly,
They'll very quickly learn theirs no dividers anymore,

Let the death matches begin!


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

doggyhog said:


> here is my question though. Why not just divide it?


Exactly, why not? You can use clear dividers(with the clear dividers, its less noticeable, creating more of an illusion that they aren't separated)and separate the tank into four sections, and each section will be a little under 20 gallons still I believe....enough to have a small community with each betta. You could have corys in one section, neons in another....ect. You get the beauty and space efficiency of having all your males in one tank, but there isn't the risk of them tearing one another to shreds AND its like having four little tanks in one!


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## 2brown347 (Feb 2, 2010)

I gotta play devils advocate but I'll repeat that you shouldn't do it.


But people tend to think more than one is a instant dead/ unhappy betta. With a large tank with lots of plants, caves, rocks, barriers, wood, etc. it is perfectly possible. That being said it shouldn't be done just because you've had bettas for a while. I think its a cool idea but I wouldn't try in even. 

In the wild there are multiple males, and they see each other. Males don't fight to the death to fight to the death, they fight for territory. If a tank is large enough that they have seperate territories and all lines of sight between the males is possible and should result in fighting because the male intruding will most likely retreat not fight. 

Now that I'm done with that, do not put 4 in a 75. A 75 would be the absolute minimum for 2 IMO and you'd need more experience than just keeping betta. You need to know how to set up a biotope properly so they have territories and broken lines of sight. You need to know what else can go in there, etc. 

It's possible for someone to fly a huge jet over the ocean, but that doesn't mean you can because you've flown a small plane.


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## Chicklet (Feb 9, 2009)

That's just it their not in the wild where one can get permanently away from the other!,
These guys are contained!

Have fun, It's just your male betta's thats gonna pay for these crazy whims people seem to think they gotta do.


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## 2brown347 (Feb 2, 2010)

I'm not advocating it, but I think it is important to give true advice. It is possible, not I wouldn't recommend it. 

Your 100% right chicklet, they are contained but at a point they can get away. A male will defend his territory, they aren't a fish that will chase down and kill a fish to eat it, they will defend their territory but once they feel it is safe they will stop, and usually it won't go any farther than flairing.

Like I said it's not something 99.9% of betta keepers should ever do, but you shouldn't right it off as crazy.

If you are really set on it I would strongly recommend one of the type of wild betta that can live together. If you aren't willing to spend the money to get some of them then you probably aren't willing to put the type of money required to make a 75 acceptible for undivided males.

I understand the appeal of a natural looking tank that has muliple males, just like I understand the appeal of trying to build a home made jet pack. But just because its appealing doesn't mean its worth trying.


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## iheartmyfishies (Sep 14, 2009)

Please don't do this. Unless you feel like cleaning the dead remains of your bettas from your tank and treating the wounds that will inevitably come.


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

I agree with pretty much everyone. I don't know why you'd even want to risk it knowing that it _could_ end in death or a bad wounding. Put fish in your tank that won't run the risk of killing eachother. The fish have no choice in the matter so we're the ones that have to make responsible choices.


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## hilevij (Feb 16, 2010)

I'm normaly keeping two males and eight females together in a 200litre tank (think it is about 50 gallons) and that have never been a problem. But I wouldn't let any betta into the group without "knowing" him/her a little bit, that's to risky. For example there is gonna be a fight about status if you choose two dominant males, and that is certainly not anything you want. And If you choose to keep several males together, always have a backup plan, and be careful to watch them constantly atleast an hour when you let them together, and go check on them often, minimum once every half hour the first days. You can't be sure that they won't fight until you see them swimming near each other whitout flaring even a little bit. In the beginning there may be a little fight(you know, flaring and looking mean), but If they start attacking each other then you have to separate them directly.
I'm a little sceptical to this idea, but you seems to have your mind set up. At least you're not jaring them up for a life time. Please just be really careful, and choose your bettas wisely. Pretty obviously it's a bad idea to chose bettas who flares at their own reflection. And keep the tank full of plants, atleast 50% of the tank should be full of different plants and there should be lots of hiding places built of rocks and roots. One great tip is to have pistia stratiotes, I would never have bettas together if it wasn't for the good hiding space the roots gives.


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## vixie1600 (Feb 15, 2010)

Just to update everyone, we have introduced the two we've decided to place in the tank successfully. We're keeping a very close eye on them, they've decided where their territory is now that they've explored a little. There was a little flaring at first when they were establishing boundaries, but they're ignoring each other now. We'll monitor them for the next few days to be sure there won't be any issues. We've also decided that two is enough in the tank, they seem to have a pretty good boundary line set up, they each get a side of the tank and that seems ok. We get the feeling that four would be too many in the tank. We'll be adding community fish to the tank here soon so our plants have enough CO2 to live! 

Thanks for all the advice from everyone, even the ones telling us not to!


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## Chicklet (Feb 9, 2009)

To soon, I wouldn't bet on it,
I've had them go for days thinking all was fine,
Then you get the results in


I even had one pr go for several weeks great, then the mood hit them and all hell broke loose.


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## 2brown347 (Feb 2, 2010)

Can you post pics of the tank?


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## vixie1600 (Feb 15, 2010)

Chicklet said:


> To soon, I wouldn't bet on it,
> I've had them go for days thinking all was fine,
> Then you get the results in
> 
> ...


That's good to know. We'll keep an eye on them for longer than a few days then. So far so good still. We've still got our backup tanks at the ready. If they can't live together one of the boys is going to be one lucky fish and live in the big tank, and the others will have to deal with the divided ten gallon tanks. I'm hoping we won't have to resort to that, I'd like for our boys to have as big of a home as possible if we can manage it. If I could I'd have four 75 gallon tanks!

As for pictures, I'll see what I can do! I'd prefer to post pics of a more...established...set of tanks rather than the 'just started' tanks we have going! We added the first round of community fish to our tanks. Don't want to add too many new fish at a time and shock the tank. Mostly we just added the 'base' fish. Bottom feeders and algae eaters and the like. We did get 6 hardy schooling fish though I forget what they're called at the moment. We've been testing water conditions every few hours to see how the tank is adjusting. We found our ammonia was a bit high, so we added some treatment for that. Our Ph is a little on the alkaline side as well, so we're slowly adding treatment for that (Don't want to go too fast! Might end up with dead fish otherwise!) Go figure, the smaller tanks are fine on all counts, same water source! We also added our decorations to the big tank. I still want one more smallish decoration for the big tank, and some cave type decorations for the smaller tanks. The small tanks just have a few plants in them right now. 

The bettas are quite curious about their new tank mates! So far I haven't seen any fin nibbling or nipping. A few displays here and there. Mostly at the schooling fish, silly bettas! Our lab mix likes to watch the fish too. He's been trying to lick and sniff the fish all evening. He really likes the catfish (probably cause they're at eye level for him most of the time)


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