# 3 female bettas in a 5 gallon tank?



## JennaLee (Aug 2, 2013)

I recently aquired a beautiful light pink female betta, I named her Luna. She is in a 0.5 gallon tank right now but I'm hoping to upgrade soon to a 5 gallon. My question is, can 3 female bettas live together in a 5 gallon tank? I'm prepared to provide 3 separate hiding places as well as a few plants to try to minimize aggression. 

This is the tank I'm thinking of getting: http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/tetra-5-gallon-led-aquarium-kit/6000127078870

I also have a 10 gallon tank, but my male betta calls it his home. I know it seems silly, but I'd feel bad downgrading him to a smaller tank :$

I'd be glad to hear your opinions, especially from those of you who have experience with keeping several female bettas together. 


Thanks!


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## LizzyP (Jun 21, 2012)

I wouldn't.

1. 5 gallons isn't enough room for 3 fish waste wise. It'd be too much waste.
http://www.aqadvisor.com/
Good site on tank stocking.

2. More females the more the aggression is spread out. One of them is going to get picked on and possibly killed.

If you want a sorority, you need a bigger tank with more females. Good luck.


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## LizzyP (Jun 21, 2012)

I wouldn't.

1. 5 gallons isn't enough room for 3 fish waste wise. It'd be too much waste.
http://www.aqadvisor.com/
Good site on tank stocking.

2. More females the more the aggression is spread out. One of them is going to get picked on and possibly killed.

If you want a sorority, you need a bigger tank with more females. Good luck.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Honestly, three females in a 5 gallon tank is more than likely going to end in disaster. Generally, you want a group of at least 5 or more females to spread aggression out. Furthermore, five gallons is too small to house a sorority. 

There is a thread I wrote about sororities at the top of this forum. I suggest you read through it and some of the other threads on this forum as a sorority is something that takes quite a bit of work and preparation to avoid problems further down the road.


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## clementchee (Nov 26, 2013)

They may fight in the beginning though.

I went to an aqua store the other day and I saw one tank having some 20 female bettas. Some of them were still chasing one another but they were not fighting, though.


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## JennaLee (Aug 2, 2013)

Thanks for the help guys! I've decided to move Tilly (my male betta) to the 5 gallon and use the 10 gallon for a sorority. How many females should I get? I was think 4-6 but I really don't know how many would be ideal in that size of a tank.


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## Crowntails (Feb 12, 2013)

I would get 5-6 females.


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## tiinykat (Oct 22, 2013)

I have six females in a sixteen gallon, and I still have occasional flare-ups between the alpha and a two other females (one a very young fish, the other is the same size as the alpha) and BOTH get occasional fin nips. 

What I'm saying is that my tank is three times as big as a five gallon and sometimes two of my females will have little nips taken out of their tales.

Would not risk it /:

Edit: Just read you're going to use the 10 gal. I would get six. Good luck! [:


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## JennaLee (Aug 2, 2013)

Thanks again for the help guys!
So I have 5 females in the 10 gallon, but they are being SUPER aggressive towards eachother! I think I may not have enough hiding places (I have a castle with two caves, a "balinese lantern" with two caves, a large fake plant, a small fake plant, a telephone booth and a large shell) so I'm going to go out and get another large plant tomorrow! 
They seem to have stopped trying to tear eachother apart for now, but some of them have sustained injuries to their fins. (I put some melafix in to prevent infection and speed up healing)
Any suggestions on how I can minimize violence?


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## sandybottom (Nov 29, 2012)

lots of plants.you need to break up their line of sight.


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## kyle89 (Mar 1, 2013)

plants and lots of them. sororitys should be heavly planted for plenty of hiding spots


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

In a sorority at any level of the tank, it should be difficult if not impossible to see from one side of the tank to the other. 

Plants whether live or fake are the best at providing cover. I wouldn't bother with purchasing more ornaments such as caves. You want to hinder chasing as much as possible, and in thick plant cover it is very difficult to move fast. 

You also want to be checking your water parameters daily if you just went and added a number of females to your tank. A sorority (particularly a newly established sorority where there are higher levels of aggression) is a much more stressful environment for a betta than solitary life. Stressed fish are more prone to infection by disease, and poor water conditions are only going to add to that stress. There are a number of threads on this board where whole sororities have been wiped out by diseases such as columnaris. 

Finally, it would have been best for you to quarantine your new females for a minimum of 2-4 weeks. Even visibly healthy fish can be harbouring nasty pathogens and a lack of proper quarantine procedure can cause all sorts of problems in existing stock. 

However, since you've already added them in together, I would just advise that you keep a close eye on them to make sure everyone remains healthy.


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## JennaLee (Aug 2, 2013)

Thanks for all the help guys!

I went out and bought another tall plant yesterday, and it seems to have helped quite a bit. The aggression has toned down a lot, and although there is still the occassional flaring match I haven't seen any nipping or chasing since yesterday. 

I'm still treating the water with Melafix to prevent infection as two of the bettas (Storme and Thorn) have nips out of their fins. I nearly considered removing them because they just wouldn't quit fighting eachother, but luckily things have settled down and are looking pretty peaceful at the moment. No other bettas seemed to be particularly targeted by aggression, but I'm going to be monitoring the situation very closely for the next few weeks. 

Besides a few torn fins all of the bettas seem happy and healthy, they are eating normally and their colouring is already improving. I'll keep you all updated and let you know if anything takes a turn for the worse, your advice is always welcome!  
Sophie and Luna: http://www.bettafish.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=254890&stc=1&d=1386024346


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