# Rana's 10g Sorority



## Rana (Apr 27, 2013)

I finally made the plunge and set up my sorority today! Five girls, plus one to be added later when she's recovered from an illness.

No live plants yet, I will be adding in some lucky bamboo though once I know it's snail-free. I have too much of a brown thumb for anything else, plus I move in and out of a dorm so it'd be just too much work.

The Tank:










*The Girls:*

Viola (Marble VT) & Holly (Red VT)








Holly is floating in a cup because she and Viola seem to want to fight to the death, so I'm letting them flare it out for a while.

Claire (Blue CT) & Baby Rosaline (Blue/Red VT?)








Rosaline is in a cup because she's still young, and was getting picked on more than I was comfortable with. I'll probably either release her tonight or let her stay in a "time out box" for a few more days.

Eleanor (Orange CT)








So far the least aggressive, she mostly zooms around the tank.

And still in quarantine: Gail ("Wild-color" HMDbT)









I'm so nervous but excited! I got all the girls at completely different times and places, since I could only quarantine one or two at a time, so it's nerve-wracking. Viola I raised from a baby over the summer, I'm pretty sure she's the oldest and is definitely the biggest. The rest are from various stores, bought as adults- except baby Rosaline. There's been lots of chasing, some nipping, but already they seemed to have settled down.


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## Rana (Apr 27, 2013)

*Mon 2/10 Update*

Don't worry, I won't spam updates every day. 

So far it looks like Holly is top dog- or should I say fish? She's calmed down since yesterday, but she's still the most aggressive. Viola looks like she's second in rank, she's only scared of Holly and while not aggressive, she'll chase the others away. Claire follows Holly around like a lost puppy! It's pretty funny to watch, since Holly takes absolutely no notice of Claire. No one is ganging up on anyone so far, it's just been one-on-one scuffles, and since yesterday there hasn't been any actual fighting either- that I can see, anyway.

Baby Rosaline is in a time-out cube, she is missing the most scales and was very stripey, so I want to keep her separate for while while she heals and grows a bit bigger. And poor Viola, her fins are shredded the worst. She had such lovely fins before this, I hope they heal up well.

Picture time!









It's very hard to get everyone in one shot... Here's four of the five, anyway.









Holly looking fierce and grumpy. She's the only "big girl" with no fin damage, but she is missing some scales.









Her poor fins! Her tail was twice as long before, I hope it regrows quickly.









Fish jail! Less stripey, but still not at ease. I need to rinse off a few little plants to put into the box and give her some coverage, I think.


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## Rana (Apr 27, 2013)

*Thurs 2/13*

Trouble in Paradise!

Holly is a bit of a bully, and she was really going at Viola, so I floated Vi in a cup most of yesterday to give her a break. I let her back in last night at lights-out, and this morning Holly was beat up and Viola was no longer afraid of her! I guess Viola's "vacation" really built up her confidence. Holly is definitely the most aggressive of the group, I hope she calms down soon or I might need to switch her into the net and put baby Rosaline back into the main tank.

Right now Holly is in a jar so I can keep an eye on her, it looks like she hurt her jaw a bit so I want to make sure it's nothing serious. Claire somehow scraped up her head, it doesn't look like a fighting injury, more like she ran into one of the caves too hard. This is the girl that nearly blinded herself trying to get under a divider, so I can't say I'm too surprised.

And now the part people actually care about: Pictures!









Everyone but Rosaline! And Holly in her time-out jar.









Mortal enemies, apparently. Viola has mastered the art of glaring while Holly prefers a more direct approach.









Ghost fish? Fancy effects? Nope, just too fast for my camera to actually photograph. :3


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## Rana (Apr 27, 2013)

*Tues 2/18*

A whole week has gone by, I can't believe it!

I had to put Holly into the time-out box, she was being too aggressive even when jarred. She's been in there since Friday I think, so I'll probably give her a few more days and see how she behaves. Rosaline goes from stripey to colored at the drop of a hat, I'm not sure if she's stressed or still young enough for it to be camouflage. Her tail looks like it might be getting secondary branches, but she hardly ever holds still for me to see clearly! Probably she'll be a VT, but who knows~

Someone on Craigslist was giving away three girls, I contacted them and they're going to give one to me! Still working out the details, and I haven't even seen a photo yet, so who knows I might end up with a plakat male or something. :3

Picture time!









Food? Food!?









Holly in fish-jail, she's not very happy about it. She seems less frantic to kill everyone now, so hopefully in a few more days she'll even play nicely!









Viola was off sulking because I wasn't feeding them, the others were playing in the filter current.


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

I enjoy reading about your adventures in having a sorority!


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## Rana (Apr 27, 2013)

BettaLover1313 said:


> I enjoy reading about your adventures in having a sorority!


Thanks! It's stressful but exciting, and I love seeing them all interact.


And now for today's updates:

Friday I let Holly back into the main tank, right before lights-out. The second she was out she immediately began flaring at Viola and chasing everyone in sight. I let them sort it out overnight since I figured they would be mostly asleep. Woke up to ripped fins galore, Holly dominating the front of the tank and all the others hiding. So she's back in the box for another week, I really hope she calms down because otherwise I'll have to rehome her. :c

Last night I finally added Gail into the tank! Her funny patch hadn't changed at all during her quarantine, it didn't react to salt or Triple Sulfa or hydrogen peroxide, and her behavior was perfectly fine, so I decided that it was probably nothing to worry about. I let her float for the day in a jar, and then let her loose at lights-out. There was some minor fin rips this morning, and she's not very confident with the others, but overall I think it was a success!

Also yesterday I made what is probably a dumb decision. I had been thinking about and researching tankmates for a while, ones that would work well with a sorority and a 10g tank. I have plenty of filtration so that wasn't my main concern, and eventually I found glowlight tetras- small, peaceful, swim near the bottom, like acid and tannins, etc. I went to Petco just to look, but since they were having their sale (And since they were so cute in person!) I ended up walking out with six of the little guys. I'm quarantining them right now, and so far they've huddled in the corner looking scared out of their poor little minds whenever I go near them.









Oh dear, looks like Claire turned into a tea bag! Or maybe she's just feeling camera shy today.









Gail and Eleanor! Gail can't swim very well, so she tends to run into the others more than she would probably prefer. Sorry for the wonky flash, my camera decide to act up.









One of the tetras, the container they're in is cloudy so it's so hard to get a good photo.


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## BlueLacee (Dec 8, 2013)

they are all so beautiful. I wish I had room for a sorority. maybe once my exchange student leaves I can get one


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## Rana (Apr 27, 2013)

BlueLacee said:


> they are all so beautiful. I wish I had room for a sorority. maybe once my exchange student leaves I can get one


Thanks! I tried to pick out unique girls, and luckily only one turned out brown. :3

Good luck for if you start your own, it's daunting but I think worth it.


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## Rana (Apr 27, 2013)

Terrible news today, and no pictures. I realized that I hadn't seen Gail all day even for meal-time so, heart in mouth, I decided to pull apart the tank. I was sure I would find her body wedged in one of the plants, which thankfully was not the case. She was hiding in one of the caves and her fins were bitten down so close to her body they're practically gone.

I've separated her back into her own container, and she did eat, so hopefully she'll recover. I feel absolutely horrible, I saw that she was getting her fins nipped but I didn't think it was going to get this bad. I don't think I saw any damage to her body itself; I didn't want to stress her by flashing lights on her for too long so I'm not sure.

Between her and Holly being such a bully, I don't know what to do. The four who are in there now get along fairly well, but such a small number does make me nervous. I guess I'll let Holly back into the main tank tomorrow since it's been a week since the last try, and if she's still as aggressive as she has been I'll start to look for a new home for her.


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

What great variety, and they're all beauties. Your photography is outstanding


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## Fishybitty (Dec 29, 2012)

Your tank looks awesome!



Ughhhhh, I already have a 20 gallon community, whenever I come on this site I want another male betta! It has been three years since I've owned a male. 


Lol ;p


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## Rana (Apr 27, 2013)

Hallyx said:


> What great variety, and they're all beauties. Your photography is outstanding


Thank you! I tried to go for as many different colors as I could, even though they're mostly the same tail types. And you should see my photography folder, I have about a million pics that don't make the cut for every one that's decent!



Fishybitty said:


> Your tank looks awesome!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you! I do miss having a male, but since I really can't have another tank I force myself to not even look when I pass them in the store. Luckily my girls make up for their lack of fins with personality. This website is definitely not helpful for fighting the addiction! :3


Small update: Holly is being removed from the sorority, she's just too aggressive. The second I let her out she started biting the others- not little nips or chasing, but full-on attacking. So she's coming home with me for school break, and my mom will take care of her in a divided tank with her guy.

I'm going to try Gail in the big tank again when she's healed up, I think I didn't give her enough time to get used to the others or to get used to the filter current. I'm also going to buy one or two new girls, from a breeder this time rather than hoping for the best with pet store girls. Hopefully that will give me enough to curb any major fighting, and having grown up with their sisters they should be a little less territorial I hope.


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## KafkaDream (Dec 30, 2013)

Uhho! Drama in the sorority! You know how girls can be haha. I hope the other girls you plan on getting will get along with the others and maybe even act as peacekeepers. 
Is the divider in your moms tank completely opaque? If its not, I wouldn't put Holly in. Seeing a male or the male seeing a female can (and usually will) lead to more stress and accidental conditioning- she can become really eggy.


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## Rana (Apr 27, 2013)

KafkaDream said:


> Uhho! Drama in the sorority! You know how girls can be haha. I hope the other girls you plan on getting will get along with the others and maybe even act as peacekeepers.
> Is the divider in your moms tank completely opaque? If its not, I wouldn't put Holly in. Seeing a male or the male seeing a female can (and usually will) lead to more stress and accidental conditioning- she can become really eggy.


It's like middle school all over again! I'm actually surprised that only two had any real problems, to be honest. Since they were all bought at different times and ages I was half expecting it to never work out. :3

The divider is going to be black craft mesh, probably two layers and definitely with plants breaking up the view. Her male is very laid-back so I don't think he'll get stressed out, and becoming eggy is fine for a female so long as she doesn't get egg-bound. I'm more worried about Holly jumping the divider and showing him who's boss to be honest!


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