# Beginning a sorority



## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

Hi, I've been reading through here for a few days an decided to register and get my own advice So let me start by saying I'm not a complete Newb to fish keeping(no seasoned expert) but I do have a planted 55 community, and a very happy male betta in his own heated 5.5. So here's what I've got, a 38 gallon currently fishless cycling. I would really like to turn it into a sorority, so I need lots if advise. I know I need lots of hiding spots, but I feel I have the space to pull it off. My boyfriend says and I quote,"that's lame to have just one kind of fish." So I'd like some options there, I already have neons, black skirts, guppies, kuhli loaches in my 55 so I'm looking for a different variety I know this seems lengthy but I want all my bases covered. If I left anything out, or you have any input I would love to hear about it. I'm only a week in my cycle so I've got time, just preparing


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## shinybetta (Jul 3, 2010)

I don't advise sororities, but if you really want one then you need to buy the females as sisters at the same age that have never been apart. Don't get frustrated if it doesn't work out, some females are just very anti-social....


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

I am prepared to seperate, return as needed. I forgot to ask what would be a good number of bettas, I don't want anything huge like 25 lol, but a good solid number to go with other fish.


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## vilmarisv (Apr 17, 2010)

I succesfully set up my sorority with no problems.
I had them all in separate containers with constant water changes and then it all came to me in a dream :roll: SOOO much easier if I had them all as a sorority DUH!
I placed them in beanie baby boxes all next to eachother for a week so they could see eachother and interact. Then I placed them all at once in the tank. Mine aren't sisters and had been living on their own for a while at my place. Once the chasing stopped they all get along just fine. There was no nipping and no one is running for their lives.


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## shinybetta (Jul 3, 2010)

Yes, but you still have to be very careful. My females were fine for months, then fighting broke out, they got stressed, and then got diseased and died. OFL said the same thing in reply to my thread. However, you could do 13 or so if you want.


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## shinybetta (Jul 3, 2010)

Also, as for other fish many of the smaller plecos will do great. Corydoras catfish as well. These are some of my favorite fish and I wouldn't set up a tank without them. Don't get a common pleco, they grow huge. I would recommend Bristlenose for first time pleco keepers. You can any corydoras, so long as their are at least 4. Hatchetfish are great too! Shrimp are definitely good. You could also do glass catfish, if the betta is gentle with them. Glass catfish are clear!:shock:


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Welcome to the forum...so true, sororities can be a challenge especially in smaller tanks, however, I see you have a 38gal-this will work much better and increase your chances for success

I would get tall plants and plant them in several different places-back, sides, middle-this will help to break the line of sight-since Bettas are more top dwelling fish-by having tall items to allow them to get to the surface without being seen can sometimes help with aggression issues...true they need lot of hiding places-but most of these hiding places need to be at the surface as much as the bottom and mid section-low growing plants work well for this too....someplace for them to run and hide behind.....

Since you have time-you may want to look around for local fish club and/or Betta clubs-this is a great place to get your females....then you can get a young group of sisters-this will really increase your chance of success and they may be cheaper to get 12-15 females.

In a heavy planted 38gal-I agree with shinnybetta-you could also add 6-8 corydoras and either a BN pleco or 5-6 ottos to give more interest/movement to the tank and a little help with algae and clean up of left over food, however, mixed species with Bettas can sometimes be a feeding challenge...lol.......


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

Ohk, so 12-15 will be my magic number? And I basically watch my aquariums like tv so a constant eye will be there I really like hatchets and glass catfish, I know one school will end up in my 55, now the other can be in my 38, best of both worlds! I'll look into some taller decorations like plants, maybe driftwood. Thanks so much, this is all very helpful!


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

That's a nice size tank, you will be fine. I have a 5 female sorority going in my 14, frankly am surprised with some negativeness towards sorority tanks as I am real pleased with the direction mine is going. Yes there are some give me elbow room moments during feeding time but it's never a constant thing. One female may chase another for a second or two but then ignore em for hours on end.


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

*live bearers bad*

Don't have any fertile live-bearing fish larger than guppies in your sorority, I ran into a near apocalyptic event with a female molly dropping babies. My girls swarmed the babies and stuffed themselves on toxic new fry. Live bearer babies have exceptionally high toxicity when they first come out and I lost quite a bit of social continuity because I had to replace half the sorority wherever I could get girls. Ended up getting from four different stores.

Two of those baby males are in the tank half grown with my sorority and they're fine happy tankmates, constantly chasing each other around. I also have a pair of bloodfins or you can go with roberti bloodfins "green fire" NEVER any trouble between the bloodfins and the girls.

The "magic number" for a sorority is how many you can give attention to about three times a day. They can get just as depressive or scared as males.


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## Theraggy1 (Jan 30, 2011)

^^ I have a sorority with 7 girls 3 corydoras and 2 snails in a 20 gal, Your gonna need a hide for each girl to claim and TONSSSS of plants for them to hide in. plus places for any other fish you want to add with them. BUt you will always need tons and tons and tons of plants. These girls are evill when they are mad, and often times they will chase and nip each other. Nips and Tares in the fins are common however as long as you keep Aqua salt in the tank your girls should be fine. As long as no one is stress striping your good. Some will have bad days though :{ and go on a rampage and lash out at the others. The key to a good sorority is Plants plants plants plants plants.


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

Well I will definitely get the plants, I'm trying to avoid real. I'm always worried about lights, ferts, etc in my 55 gallon so I don't want too much hassle there. Especially if i have to rearrange lots if theres too much aggression. But I will get nice silk, I just have to get a nice set up so it doesnt look like a hodge podge of things lol


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

jespenguin said:


> Well I will definitely get the plants, I'm trying to avoid real. I'm always worried about lights, ferts, etc in my 55 gallon so I don't want too much hassle there. Especially if i have to rearrange lots if theres too much aggression. But I will get nice silk, I just have to get a nice set up so it doesnt look like a hodge podge of things lol



Apnogoten bulbs are a nice one even if the rest are silk, they're easy to keep, don't need tons of light and you can trim off leaves when they take a little damage without worry of harming the plant. They're also the easiest ones to get to reproduce, they'll toss out shoots that turn into floating bulbs. when the leaves on the bulblet are about inch and half long, just pinch the stem leading to it and plant or throw out the bulblet. Soft long leaves and lots of gentle shade underneath they're commonly called betta bulbs. If you buy them as bulbs, don't buy any that have white fuzz on them in the packet.


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

I bought a pack of those a couple days ago, and I have them in an old fish bowl with a root tab under a light to see if they'll grow. If it works out and does well in my planted I'll definitely buy more for the 38 gallon, have you ever tried the Lilly bulbs. Also, do you think banana plants would be ohk, with the low light I don't think they'll make it to the top of the tank, but I think it would me decent mid coverage?


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Thunderloon said:


> Don't have any fertile live-bearing fish larger than guppies in your sorority, I ran into a near apocalyptic event with a female molly dropping babies. My girls swarmed the babies and stuffed themselves on toxic new fry. Live bearer babies have exceptionally high toxicity when they first come out


I have never heard this before.....I keep livebearer with my Bettas to free range feed off the newborn fry for at least the past 10 years now and have never had any problems....do you have a link I would love to read it....

Long term aquarium salt is not recommended- when used in the wrong dosage, duration, reason- it can create resistance issues and long term high dosage can cause kidney damage not to mention a lot of the aquatic plants and other species of fish can be sensitive...

Its a great product to use for short term controlled treatments when used in the correct amount, duration and reason....


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

I know I have time before I can add my fish, but should I start purchasing bettas now, so I can watch their behavior and make sure they are healthy? I would keep them in they're containers and do daily PWC's. Then when everything is ready add 3 at a time 3 days apart till I hit all 12. I know you should add together, but that's a lot for one time. Any other suggestions? Oh and if theyre tails are ratty should I get somethinglike bettafix to add to they're containers?


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

As a fyi one of the main issues in sorority setups as you will soon find out is how to control their feeding. A single male betta setup, the fishkeeper may drop 2-3 a pellets twice a day etc. A sorority community it's not so easy as the faster more alert female(s) are gonna end up getting the brunt of the pellets.

I do recommend you purchase Daphnia as this sort of food type will spread out atop the water and the slower less alert females will get equal share this way.


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

Bettafix is bad, and it damages their labryinth organ.


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

I don't think I've ever noticed daphnia, where exactly is it sold? I will check my LFS, but I have petsmart and petco around here. And for the ratty fins (which I think is almost always in the ones I've seen around here) just good water quality and PWC to do the trick?


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

jespenguin said:


> I don't think I've ever noticed daphnia, where exactly is it sold? I will check my LFS, but I have petsmart and petco around here. And for the ratty fins (which I think is almost always in the ones I've seen around here) just good water quality and PWC to do the trick?


I get mine at Pet Supplies Plus. Our local Petco / Petsmart does not carry Daphnia, maybe yours will ....


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

bettafish15 said:


> Bettafix is bad, and it damages their labryinth organ.


Am not familiar with this product but unless my Betta's condition is really dire (not eating long term or swimming erratically) I stay away from any/all off the counter medications. If your water quality is good (by doing partial water changes as a preventive maintenance) the few issues my Male betta has run into has healed naturally. 

As an example, came home one day to find a huge chunk of scale, flesh missing atop my boys head. Most likely he was ready to pounce on a ghost shrimp and smacked his head full speed. Since he was otherwise swimming fine and still had his voracious appetite I let it slide. Within 2 days he showed signs of growing new flesh and was completely healed in a week.


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

The molly fry killed five girls, don't have to quote an article. Even a girl who only ate two died.

Hm, my medicine cabinet for sorority includes Erythromycin, T.C. Tetracycline, Jungle Fungus Cure, J. Ick cure, J. Parasite cure, Lifeguard, magnesium sulfate, kosher salt/aquarium salt, pimafix, melafix, prime, stress zyme, stress guard from seachem, triple-sulfa and Jungle makes both antibacterial and antifungal foods.

I keep a bottle of isopropyl alcohol at 50/50 concentration, gel hand sanitizer, bottle of distilled drinking water at salt saturation, triple antibacterial cream, tube of Mupirocin (perscription), scentless alcohol free baby wipes, jungle dip strips, a 4"x8" filter bag of pre-rinsed carbon and a pack of nitrile gloves (small like surgical, walmart) all within quick reach of the tank.

For tank operation I keep Discus Buffer, baking soda, TLC buffered pond pH reducer, aqueon plant food, algaefix, aquarisol and a spare fully functional filter who's bio-wheel I wake up every four months. (the bacteria can tolerate LONG durations dry at low temp)

If you don't know what all of these are for, that's fine. In three years I've used each at least once and some too often to count. 

I tell people that keeping an aquarium costs fifty dollars for their first pet before they even put fish in it. Keep this statement in mind when you consider the cost of a sorority.

I feed using Omega One flake, dry bloodworm, dry tubifex worm, Omega One's betta pellets and Hikkari Fancy Guppy.

Daunting. Get pimafix, melafix, seachem's stress guard, a small breeder trap, second small net and the trio Ick/Parasite/Fungus clear from jungle. The seachem's stress guard will be the most expensive but penny for pickle its been my best performer, it is a tissue balm for injured fish and doesn't take much dose for little tanks.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Wow..you use a lot of chemicals...my meds are Epsom salt, aquarium salt, oak leaves, fresh garlic...lot of fresh water......

It cost me about $10.00 to set up my last 10g aquarium-fully planted...I guess you can spend as much as you want or go low cost.......to each their own....lol...lots of different ways to set an aquarium up and stock, plant, filter, lights, heaters...etc......that is what make this hobby so great....more than one right way to do it.....


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

Thunderloon said:


> Hm, my medicine cabinet for sorority includes Erythromycin, T.C. Tetracycline, Jungle Fungus Cure, J. Ick cure, J. Parasite cure, Lifeguard, magnesium sulfate, kosher salt/aquarium salt, pimafix, melafix, prime, stress zyme, stress guard from seachem, triple-sulfa and Jungle makes both antibacterial and antifungal foods.
> .


Holy Cow Batman! Have had some experience with sickness in your tanks, eh? :shock:


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

scootshoot said:


> Holy Cow Batman! Have had some experience with sickness in your tanks, eh? :shock:


Cats fishing, black mold, reverse nitrification, bad food, ick, parasites, white fuz outbreak, you name it. I live in a thirty two year old single-wide down in florida, everything from ants to spiders have gotten in the water. All insects carry a fungus or bacteria of one form or another. I've learned to hit anything with two attacks and have even serilized a planted tank once while the girls were on support in a bare ten with fully pre-treated 20% changes daily. Have even thrown out a ten gallon tank because bacteria got into the edges.

Cat scratch is the worst to get, kitties pick up tons of stuff on their paws and when they inject it into fish you get near biblical results. Emmy was euthanized with four clearly different infections. The meds and dosages I'd have had to use to be sure of cure would have been lethal. 

Love my little ones a lot and it chews me up when one passes on me against my will. So I try harder and as its my hobby other than computers I can spend a fair penny on it. I do lawn spray and pest control for work each day as well and live in fear that I'll forget to clean a fingernail or something.  Everything I use says "Warning: Kills Fish".


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## coolcucumber (Jan 16, 2011)

I've got 2 in my community tank. I know it is unadvisable, however, i have been monitoring them for almost a month now. They are doing fine, they sometimes swim up to each other, or collide during feeding times, but these are the only interactions i see between them and there is no nipping whatsoever. I'd love to turn the tank into a sorority, but the other fish make it impossible right now.

So, good luck! If you do get one running, i'd love to see some photos!


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

Theraggy1 said:


> ^^ I have a sorority with 7 girls 3 corydoras and 2 snails in a 20 gal, Your gonna need a hide for each girl to claim and TONSSSS of plants for them to hide in. .


Good advice. Agreed planted tanks are great for shy fish and just overall beneficial in a closed system of living organisms. Having said that, while my 14 gallon is decently planted (want to add more) as evidenced by the pic, aside from the first day or so of a couple females using the plants as refuge getting acclimated to a new tank they rarely if ever retreat to them as their hide or hangout areas anymore. They all kind of hang together now like schooling fish so it's been great to see them get along :lol:


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

I'm going to shoot for a few low maintenance low light plants, just for the natural benefits. But i don't want to upgrade lighting. Plus my bf really likes this dragon decoration, so Im shooting for an "asian" theme (keeping him involved makes him complain less when I spend). I was also thinking oh adding a divider to each side sectioning off 4 gallons each to keep 2 more males. Any opinions there? It leaves the center with 26" & 30 gallons of water just about.


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## tsoto80 (Nov 26, 2010)

Oldfishlady said:


> Wow..you use a lot of chemicals...my meds are Epsom salt, aquarium salt, oak leaves, fresh garlic...lot of fresh water......
> 
> It cost me about $10.00 to set up my last 10g aquarium-fully planted...I guess you can spend as much as you want or go low cost.......to each their own....lol...lots of different ways to set an aquarium up and stock, plant, filter, lights, heaters...etc......that is what make this hobby so great....more than one right way to do it.....


I like OFL natural remedy better lol why spend tons of money on chemicals when nature will do the trick


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

tsoto80 said:


> I like OFL natural remedy better lol why spend tons of money on chemicals when nature will do the trick


~shrugs~ snake oil gets rid of muscle cramps if you rub it in... don't get me wrong, what works does work but we're talking sorority here, not just a bowl.

Remember that I'm treating betta, tetra, molly, herbivore and guppy any time I treat one fish. The dosages I deal with make the "natural" remedies exceptionally uneconomical in the volume I have. I do use mela and pimafix regularly, best treatments for external but if you get ick or parasites a "natural" usually doesn't solve the problem.

I don't have a week to wait for little girl to heal because every minute is another minute that fourteen other fish are exposed and I'm loathe to risk my sorority to the whims of something that relies on the fish's own healing capacity.


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

Haha this thread has shifted quite a bit, lol. But thank you to everyone for all of the suggestions! I think I'm going to divide 4 gallons on the left and right for males, leaving 30 gallons in the middle for 9 girls, transfer my loaches, and probably 12 head and light tetras. I'm gonna do coconut huts for the boys with a real plant and several silk. And in the middle LOTS of plant coverage from top to bottom including real low light plants, maybe some coconut huts to, that goofy dragon and whatever else catches my fancy. Loaches will pry go in first seeing as how I own them. Then I'm not too sure whether to add the girls first or the tetras, advise?


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

Remember to make the dividers for the males stick up some so they can see they extend above the surface. Males will jump pond just to see whats on the other side and they'll certainly jump pond to be with the girls or get to the other boy!

Pecking order is important with the girls, have any fish you want in as community in the tank BEFORE the betta go in, the boys will consider them rocks that move but the girls will harass any later editions and even bump them to get them to respond to flaring.


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## Littlecloud (Dec 24, 2010)

Here's what we did, it's really not as hard as everyone makes it out to be (in our case.) 
Our betta girls weren't sisters, they weren't even from the same store. We went around until we got 6, got our net ready, and then quickly dumped them in. Luckily, none of ours were that aggressive, but thief was some fighting. We have a 10 gallon. Correct me if I'm wrong but you need quite a lot for a large tank. Also, ours really don't use the hiding spots that much. We went to our local michaels and picked up the fallen fake plants of the floor, washed them, and dropped them in, they luv it. Good luck, and be sure to have a net!


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

Quite a lot of girls or decor? I plan on 9-12 girls depending on what I find and if they look healthy. I'm also adding 5 black kuhlis and 12 head and light tetras (or whatever smaller tetra catches my fancy), maybe even some shrimp or a netrite snail or 2. I need a good clean up crew for the sand bottom. I plan on adding the girls last. And to add them every 15 minutes or so.


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

Oh and lots of plants from top to bottom, I just ordered more anacharis, java moss, and guppy grass. I'll probably get some anubis and java fern too. With lots of taller silk plants to break line of sight. Even debating cocOnutbhuts. I think they look cool! Already have terra cotta in my other tank, this will be a nice change of pace


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

jespenguin said:


> Quite a lot of girls or decor? I plan on 9-12 girls depending on what I find and if they look healthy. I'm also adding 5 black kuhlis and 12 head and light tetras (or whatever smaller tetra catches my fancy), maybe even some shrimp or a netrite snail or 2. I need a good clean up crew for the sand bottom. I plan on adding the girls last. And to add them every 15 minutes or so.


Nice! With your size tank should do well. It's sort of good to have other compatible species next to a sorority to draw attention. We have two sort of factions building in ours particularly at feeding time now, 5 betta female schooling together and the 3 platy's. The 3 platy's are real fast with food, a couple get bloated cause they pigs and steal the betta food. The sorority has kind of formed a little clique at feeding time to chase the platy's away (don't worry based on the bloatness of my platy's they are still finding ways to get a decent meal)


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

Littlecloud said:


> Here's what we did, it's really not as hard as everyone makes it out to be (in our case.)
> Our betta girls weren't sisters, they weren't even from the same store. We went around until we got 6, got our net ready, and then quickly dumped them in. Luckily, none of ours were that aggressive, but thief was some fighting. We have a 10 gallon. Correct me if I'm wrong but you need quite a lot for a large tank.* Also, ours really don't use the hiding spots that much. *We went to our local michaels and picked up the fallen fake plants of the floor, washed them, and dropped them in, they luv it. Good luck, and be sure to have a net!


Agreed on the hiding spots. From my perspective fish only hide if they are *constantly* harrassed. My sorority on the oft chance they do chase one another lasts for a second or two but ends with endless hours of peace which is why none of them ever use the plants and in fact just hangs out together. On the other hand I used to have a Red Tail Shark in my 14. Wow this guy was so annoying. He would chase one of the platy's endlessly from one side of the tank to the other, he pretty much did this all day. Platy would have no choice but to hide in the corner and her gills were going cause she was so stressed and energy burned from being chased all day. Luckily the 14 day return fish policy at petsmart was still in effect so he went back to the store real quick :evil:.


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

I'm gonna have some caves just in case. My main focus is heavily planted


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

Betta females have so much personality, really enjoying my sorority setup. It's interesting how different betta's react compared to other species. As an example when I am near the tank the whole community, 5 female bettas alongside a few platy and guppy are all over the front of the tank excited to see me (ooh food!). 

Now when I need to do maintenance like cleaning the inside front of the tank for algae removal is another story. The guppy and platy's who were once so happy to see me start freaking out. The betta's don't react any differently, swarm around my hand and and start taking nibbles. Sometimes I have to nudge them away from the algae sponge cause they keep getting in the way.


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

I'm so excited! I found a breeder on another forum, and he has 5 hm female sisters I'll post pictures when I get them! I still plan on getting 6 more I think, I change my mind everyday about how many! My tanks not cycled yet so I have to prepare for some daily water changes.


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## heythatsme (Oct 12, 2010)

I wouldn't worry too much about them being sisters as long as the tank is heavily planted. They will stress out at first but as long as they CAN hide from one another, they usually won't bother. I now have 13 girls in a 29 gallon and they basically act like schooling fish. My recommendation is lots of floating plants that have roots that extend down, so the girls can hide from each other near the surface and get air or like OFL lots of tall plants. Caves are a little useless as long-term hiding places for a betta because they have to come up for air, so if they're being harassed a cave isn't a good place to hide, but floating plants are.


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

heythatsme said:


> I wouldn't worry too much about them being sisters as long as the tank is heavily planted. They will stress out at first but as long as they CAN hide from one another, they usually won't bother. I now have 13 girls in a 29 gallon and they basically act like schooling fish. My recommendation is lots of floating plants that have roots that extend down, so the girls can hide from each other near the surface and get air or like OFL lots of tall plants. Caves are a little useless as long-term hiding places for a betta because they have to come up for air, so if they're being harassed a cave isn't a good place to hide, but floating plants are.


And the other girls know where the cave is. You'll quickly see them canvas the hideys. Something I often do for aeration is get a couple UGF pipe heads and stick them on both ends with an airstone in the bottom of about 8 inches of pipe... then whap it in a after-market heater clamp and stick it on the side. Goat absolutely adores this; gentle vibration, glass camping, all the tank smells and its a dead spot in the flow to sit on the suction cup/clamp. If the girls fight over camping spots, try getting some of the suction cups and just stick them in the tank so the C looks like that c. If the flow's low enough you'll find them resting there all the time.

The other thing I've noticed they like is ballooning: Going up under the bubbles at the end of my 4-way or staying in the center of the tom's feeder rings where all they have to remember to do is float. You can do this with "tied off" floating fern stuff as well. I even had one girl that liked to get up into the output baffle area of my 350b when the water level was low enough to slow the pump. She'd sit up there and wiggle off when she needed air. That's why I don't use the 350b any more.

I had to put it back in six months later and it wasn't maybe a minute before Emmy was climbing right back up in that slot.

Keep in mind that YOU are the girls' primary entertainment so anything that lets them lounge around while watching you is great... I've seen sections of three inch pvc with a chunk cut out so they hang into the tank, will make a couple. (fresh pvc needs water soaked in salted tap water for two days, vinyl chloride hurts the labyrinth)


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

So I got my sisters today and they are HUGE! Like a good 2-3inches, and very very fat! Could they be preggers? I have no idea how to tell, and will this decease my success chances, because females from pets stores are tiny compared to these hosses!


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

jespenguin said:


> So I got my sisters today and they are HUGE! Like a good 2-3inches, and very very fat! Could they be preggers? I have no idea how to tell, and will this decease my success chances, because females from pets stores are tiny compared to these hosses!



YOU are the biggest fish in the tank. Assert yourself.

I use a salt cured willow switch and a salt cured live-oak wand wiggled while calling their names. Also netting-up can handle bad aggression.

If betta liked little bowls then snagging them to the surface with a 3 inch net wouldn't modify their behavior XD


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

jespenguin said:


> So I got my sisters today and they are HUGE! Like a good 2-3inches, and very very fat! Could they be preggers? I have no idea how to tell, and will this decease my success chances, because females from pets stores are tiny compared to these hosses!


Bettas don't get pregnant lol.


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

Yeah, I googled it after that. They're like fat thumb size. But my original question, if I get smll ones now will they be harrassed (or eaten as an afternoon snack, they're that big lol).


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

it varies muchly

one of my indispensable tools is a 4-way breeder basket

I use the center divider when I bring home two tinys (I have a nine way if I bring home 3) and put them in there, I then feed the main tank a little and put food in the breeder.

I've put girls under an inch long in the main tank before AND had new girls almost two inches long attacked. The primary trick to not having problems is simply to not duplicate colors, its the only thing I've seen the girls truly get jealous over outside of males.


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## BlueLacee (Dec 8, 2013)

So much info for if I make a sorority. Thanks, diffidently bookmarking


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