# can female bettas live alone?



## sainthogan (Sep 27, 2012)

Now that I'm almost positive my supposedly male betta is in fact a female, do I need to get her another fish to live with or will she be fine alone? I have a 5 gallon set-up. I was considering getting a frog or a large snail as a tank mate before, but now that I'm sure she's a girl, I might consider getting another fish.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

A 5 gallon can not support a second fish, you need at least 10 gallons for that and Sororities need a 20 gallon because when keeping female you have to have at least 6 of them together. However females can live alone and do just fine by themselves. You could however get a frog or snail if you still want though your female may kill and eat a snail. it depend on the fish.


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## EllaFish (Apr 26, 2012)

No, female Bettas are pretty good alone. They can usually live together, but there is almost always a few days of getting used to the other females in which fins will tear. If you get more, you should have a clear division between them for a few days so that they can get used to each other before contact. Also, the one that you currently have might fight any females new to her tank over territory. 

So you can keep her alone, and if you want to add more females, be cautious.


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## sainthogan (Sep 27, 2012)

Thank you, I'll just stick with the one then. Besides, my son is adamant that she is a he and he knows 2 males can't live together. He does want a frog, and I would like a snail. We are looking at moving to somewhere bigger in the near future, so at that point, I may consider getting a bigger tank and more fish.


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## Kenny G (Jun 9, 2012)

Depending on the temperment of the betta a cory would be a good idea.


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## sainthogan (Sep 27, 2012)

She's a very active fish and utilizes the entire tank, and prefers to sleep under her pineapple decoration my son got her. She's definitely a feisty one, though doesn't appear to be aggressive. She's already jumped out of her tank once (I've got every tiny little hole covered now) and jumps for water droplets on the lid of her tank because she thinks they're food(yes, she loves to eat). I would have to get an additional hiding spot for the cory if I went that way. I'm leaning towards a snail at this point, because I'm not sure how a frog would do with her feisty temperament and the snail would help keep the algae down too, so....


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