# New to BettaFish :)



## Pixierella (Jul 15, 2010)

Hello, I recently joined this site after going through and seeing lots of beautiful Betta's  I do not have pictures to post yet but I have 4 males, a half-moon, a normal one, a double-tail half-moon, and a dragon scale. I am hoping to get a crowntail again soon as I have had them before but not at this time. I also have a 5 gallon Hex tank with 10 females of all different colors including one, I have named Duchess which is probably the biggest female I have ever seen. Pictures of all my lovelies to come later ;-)


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## Alexanderismylife (Jun 14, 2010)

Sounds like your a real betta lover :] Can't wait to see some pics! 10 females in a 5 gallon is a little too much I think though! I do think that bettas need a gallon per inch. So you might want to get a larger tank for your females so your 5 gallon isn't overstocked :] Welcome to the forum!


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## Adastra (Jun 18, 2010)

Bettas really are like potato chips, huh?  I hope we can get to see some pictures soon.

Do you really have 10 females in a 5 gallon hex, or was that a typo? I would never advise putting multiple females in anything smaller than a 10 gallon. Unfortunately, with this setup you are asking for injured or dead fish--not only because the tank is quite overstocked, because of the unique challenge posed by keeping such species-aggressive fish. Keep in mind that bettas were selectively bred to fight long before they were ever selectively bred for their looks. All bettas have an innate instinct to fight, even females--some females are just as aggressive as males. The aggression you'll witness in a sorority depends on the individual personality of the fish, as well as environmental factors, such as space and amount of decorations. The more of both, the better.

Because of this, even if the tank only had 2 females in it, it would still be a disaster waiting to happen. These fish need space to be able to run and hide from each other during territorial disputes, and a 5 gallon tank is simply too small. Please do more research on keeping a stable sorority and please please please consider separating out some of your girls until you can get a larger tank.

Rubbermaid/Sterilite plastic storage bins make excellent temporary containers, they're safe for fish, safe for heaters, and very easy to clean. In order to save on individual heaters you might want to set aside a room in your house to keep at 78-80 degrees until you can get a larger setup. For 10 females.. I would really consider getting a 20 gallon long tank. In a 10G they would probably still be a bit cramped, and in a 20 long you could even get a few dither fish. If you look on craigslist or kijiji you can find really good deals on used tanks.


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## Pixierella (Jul 15, 2010)

*Not a typo*

yes, I have 10 females all in the same 5 gallon hex tank with a large plant behind a castle with cubby holes. The first night before I got the decorations was kinda rough they were establishing heirarchy and there was nowhere for any of them to hide so one of them, her name is Queen B (for obvious reasons, she's my "Alpha" female) took a chunk out of Bitte's tale so getting some cover was imperative, now that it's in their all doing very well, they do have ones more aggressive than others but the less aggressive simply move out of the way. Before I got the added "cover" so to speak I would have been worried, but really, they are doing fine. If they weren't I would be more apt to get a larger tank. I got 7 to start with, lost 1 crowntail female that was small and sickly to begin with and then added 4 more, they've been doing great. I do understand your concern but really, they are doing quite well.


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## Adastra (Jun 18, 2010)

Don't expect that to last--I'm sorry if I sound critical, but I'm really just trying to help you out. A sorority can be fine for weeks, months even, and then suddenly erupt into chaos. I have heard of it happening even in the most ideal of situations--but in this case, the tank is 350% overstocked from a biological standpoint, not only from a behavioral standpoint. You should seriously be doing at least two 50% changes a week. If the tank were properly stocked you should be doing maybe one 30% change a week. You're putting a lot of pressure on this setup in many ways--I seriously advise you to at least upgrade to a ten gallon, if not a 20. This is really not a good idea.

If you need more evidence of this fact, I suggest putting your information into this website form: http://aqadvisor.com/


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## kuklachica (Dec 23, 2009)

The 5 gallon tank with 10 fish is overstocked. Even regardless of the behavior issues (which are a definite problem on the horizon) that tank cannot safely hold that many fish. Please seriously consider putting them in a larger (at least 15 gallon) tank.


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

Welcome! Can't wait to see pics of your boys and girls. Regarding your girls in the 5 gallon;
I have one male betta in a hex 5 sitting on my desk and I'm just looking at it trying to imagine 10 fish in it. Those tanks don't have much room. Their odd shape and 35gph filters don't provide the best water conditions and room for exploring for one fish. 10 territorial and aggressive fish is a disaster waiting to happen from both a behavioral and a bio-load standpoint. For everyone's sake (meaning yours and theirs) try to get them into a suitable tank as soon as you can.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Hello and welcome to the forum.


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## Pixierella (Jul 15, 2010)

*My Bettas *

Hmm, not sure how to put wording in between photos so here's the rundown from top to bottom, Hope you can tell who is who from the others that may be in the pics with them...Ladies first: QueenB (My Alpha female), Danke, Bitte (named so partially because she looks like a smaller version of Danke but also because on the first night she got a chunk taken out of her tail by QueenB), Valentine, Pearl, Sumomo, Kotoko, Flare, Princess, and Duchess (My largest female, she's as big as my males). They all seem to be pretty good with each other, before I got the cover they were working on heirarchy but now they just kind of go towards each other a little aggressive but no more fights :-D The only time they even get ancy with each other is during feeding time. The last 4 pics are my guys, Aries (Dragonscale) he wouldn't eat when I first got him for like 5 days, he didn't swim around much but he didn't seem to lose any weight and has perked up, he seems to be a pretty calm male although he does occasionally flare ;-) next is Dumbass (DT Half Moon), although I love my fish this guy did something not very smart when I first got him resulting in a vicious injury which thankfully is healing, I will rename him once I forgive him for his *sighs* brief mistake that caused me unneccessary worry, next is Gimpy (Standard Male), he's named this because he's my little crippled boy, he doesn't seem to be in any pain but he doesn't swim quite right but he's perked up since I got him, I couldn't resist cause he looked like he needed someone caring to give him a lil TLC and he's been doin great other than not swimming what I would consider normal. Finally there's Poseidon (ST Half Moon), he's been awesome since the first day, eating regularly and quite the active little boy


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## Pixierella (Jul 15, 2010)

*The New Guy*

So yeah, it took me forever to get pics of all 10 females...oi yi yi, but I got em, that was before a 50% water change yesterday and you should have seen them, oh my goodness, they perked up and were having a blast (no fighting yay!) they were swimming all around and all of them wanted me to see them several of them got their black side stripes. The males pics were taken around dinner time yesterday afternoon/evening before I got this new guy (CT)  He is yet to be named and unfortunately I hope to get a better pic but this is the one I have so far. He's really quite pretty, he has a dark body with hints of light purple in it, he has bright red tendrils that end in just the tiniest bit of black , then white at the tips on some but not all and then where they meet his body he has the same light purple with some black dotting like what I have seen on any "wild" bettas that I have seen so far. I almost got a Black Orchid, he was really dark blue and small, I may get him later, he was the last one they had so I may have to go rescue him :-?


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## Pixierella (Jul 15, 2010)

*Good news for those concerned*

Even though I had no real issues with having my females in the smaller tank if all goes well I will be the owner of a 20G tank with all the fixins by the end of the day. It will need to be cleaned and setup since it is a used tank and since it is a larger tank I'm going to run it for a bit until I feel it is ready for my girls so they will still be in the 5 for awhile but they are going to be getting a bigger home soon  The other wonderful thing about having a bigger tank is that I can always rescue more girls :-D I'm also going back to the pet store to get that poor sad little Black Orchid Male today, will post picks as soon as he's comfy in his new home :-D


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## Adastra (Jun 18, 2010)

I'm glad that you've decided to upgrade. You might want to do a fishless cycle on the tank before you put your girls in it because when one transfers a sorority, it's usually best to do it all at once. If you do a fishless cycle first, there will be enough bacteria to handle all your fish at the same time, otherwise you'll be doing water changes until your arms fall off trying to fight the ammonia and nitrite spikes. Luckily you have other tanks, so you can transfer some of the mulm and filter media you have into the new tank while you're feeding it with ammonia--if this is done right, your tank will be fully cycled in about a week. 

Also, please remember that sometimes we all reach a point when we have to ask ourselves: "Am I helping, or am I hoarding?" I know how hard it is to pass up fish that look needy, but you need to draw the line before it gets to the point that getting more fish is a detriment to the fish you already have. Don't overstock this tank too, ok?  You won't be helping your fish if you put them in overcrowded conditions.


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## frogipoi (Jul 3, 2010)

How are the fishies now? Doing fine?


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## Pixierella (Jul 15, 2010)

*Another Death*



frogipoi said:


> How are the fishies now? Doing fine?


I went away for a week leaving the bf to feed the girls and unfortunately about a day and a half after I got back one of them died. Valentine. I think she might have just ate too much. It could have happened to me too so I know it wasn't from neglect on my bf's part. My male from Thailand is suppose to be here I would say probably tomorrow along with the cultures for live foods. Other than that everone seems to be doing alright.


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## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

Alright, just dont add 10 more females to your 20 gallon. You dont want to overcrowd that one either. And in your pics i notices that some of your females looked very sickly (pics #2, 3 and 7) they were too thin. probably because of the overcrowding - and they were bullied alot.


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## Pixierella (Jul 15, 2010)

Alex09 said:


> Alright, just dont add 10 more females to your 20 gallon. You dont want to overcrowd that one either. And in your pics i notices that some of your females looked very sickly (pics #2, 3 and 7) they were too thin. probably because of the overcrowding - and they were bullied alot.


 
All of my fish were healthy when the pics were taken
#2 is one of the largest and healthiest fish I have, #3 is also healthy, just a smaller fish. #7 has had some issues with constipation and overeating but is doing great now. She's healthy, just a smaller fish overall. She's been growing though. #4 is the one that recently died. I was away for a week so I'm not sure exactly what caused it. My bf was feeding them. I don't think it was anything he did wrong just that maybe she may have gotten too many pellets. She was perfectly healthy before I left. My new male from Thailand arrived today. He's a little stressed but doing alright and is already eating. When I called my transshipper to let him know he arrived and I told him how he was acting he said to put in aquarium salt and feed him and he should be fine.


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## bettablaze (Aug 13, 2010)

they look cool


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## Oxitius (Feb 12, 2013)

My Betta Fish

Sorry guys I just joined this community today and don't know how to post a thread and so I'm just going to explain my betta as everyone is doing it and would like so help please...

So...I just bought my dragon scale crown tail male betta yesterday (2/11/13 Sunday). It was very active and wasn't scare of me at all when I put my hand in the water and on the container. As I was preparing my 10 gallon tank for him and getting everything ready (the aquarium gravel/filter/heater/water (used dechlorinator)), I then put him and his container on the 10 gallon tank for 10 minutes to balance the temperature before releasing him. I didn't have any decoration or anything. He swam out okay and was still active. As I was putting my decoration in he was more active and was happy, but then... When I later put a big decoration in ( it was a big rock that was a aquarium decoration), I think it scared him... It might've hitted him idk but for sure the water push him to the side of the tank. Thats when I took it out. He then got scared and probably stressed out and was hiding behind one of my decoration and wasn't active anymore. He only went up for air but then he went back to the same place. I went to sleep and woke up scared that the decoration might've scratched him when he was hiding and stress/scared. He's not the same as when I got him. He won't eat anything and just come up for air and then act dead. Please I need help... I don't know what to do and and I don't want him to die... Help me please anyone.


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## fleetfish (Jun 29, 2010)

You might want to start a new thread for this in Betta Chat or the Disease section.


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## Oxitius (Feb 12, 2013)

fleetfish said:


> You might want to start a new thread for this in Betta Chat or the Disease section.


Thank you, will do sorry I didn't saw the new thread awhile ago and read that it is a privilege, now I got it thanks a lot.


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## SageMyster (Jul 13, 2011)

Welcome to the site!


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## sushiisaboss75 (May 19, 2013)

wow that ct is beutiful


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## LucidSong (Mar 21, 2013)

Welcome to the fourm!
WARNING though WATCH THAT CASTLE CAREFULLY. Its made by a company valled Pen Plax and they have been known to put metal in thier decor. I myself bought two of those things not knowing anybetter and 2 months after I bought them the paint inside started bubbling off. Keep an eye on it and if yours does it too take it out. You can re seal it with aquarium safe paints (I forget what exactly at the moment its on the fourm someplace.)


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## Saphira101 (Nov 14, 2012)

Hi Pixierella, welcome to the forum! You have some really beautiful and unique fish. I'm very sorry about Valentine, she was very pretty. 

I hope you enjoy it here! If you need any help using the forum, you can send me a visitor message by visiting my profile and typing in the box provided. 

Again, welcome! 
Saphira


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## crowntaillove3 (Dec 26, 2012)

LOL not to burst anyone's bubble, but Pixierella has been a member sense 2010! LOL, welcome to the forum anyway!


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## peachii (Jan 6, 2013)

crowntaillove3 said:


> LOL not to burst anyone's bubble, but Pixierella has been a member sense 2010! LOL, welcome to the forum anyway!



LOL I've posted that 3 times that this thread is 3 years old on this thread and my post keeps getting deleted.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

*Hey guys, if you see spam, please refrain from replying or quoting. Use the report button underneath the user's avatar picture. 

Thank you for your cooperation.*

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