# Thinking of a sorority?



## Kalari32 (Jan 10, 2013)

I have a ten gallon tank, and I think it looks empty with just one fish in the tank. I'm not interested in creating dividers to house more male bettas in the tank. I have a side 2 gallon tank that my male can be moved to, so I can start a sorority.

The tank is planted, but will need a couple of more plants to fill out the area (which I'm getting next week).

How do I go about having a sorority, and what is everything I need?

How many female bettas can I house in the ten gallon?
(I have red ramshorn snails, and 2 cory cats in the tank, but I'm willing to make more water changes if needed  Right now I'm making a 25% water change twice weekly, and one 50% water change weekly.) 

I do have separate cups if needed for hospital tanks. I also have IAL.


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## Kalari32 (Jan 10, 2013)

??


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## Saber (Jul 13, 2013)

For a ten gallon tank, I think the optimal amount of females is 6-8. I have read that it always best to have more than four, and to always have an even number of females. However, you already have other critters in the tank, so you may want to go with 6.

Make sure you have enough places for them to hide. If you post a photo of your tank, more people can probably come forward with advice on how to better improve the plant set up.


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## shellieca (Jul 12, 2012)

Sounds like you have everything you need . . . lots of plants & some caves for hiding in. Most advise on 5 females for a 10g. If you have the right amount of filtration & your tank is fully cycled you only need to do one weekly 50% +\- water change. I keep a 5g tank for a hospital tank. I suggest checking an LFS for the females rather than Petsmart or Petco. My LFS has some beautiful females & they're kept in tanks rather than cups so my last two batches came from them. QTing them is advised since you have other fish in the tank but that's really up to you. I don't do what a lot of people advise as far as removing the existing females & re-arranging the tank, I typically QT them for a while then add them. The last 5 I didn't QT because I needed my QT tank for 3 bloated females I already had. I've just been keeping a close eye on everyone for any signs of illness or problems. Hope this helps at least a little.


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## Kalari32 (Jan 10, 2013)

This is my tank setup. I also have duckweed at the top, but you can't really see it because it's a very little amount. (Started with 4 duckweed and in just a week I now have 15!!!) 

I can get the pots too, and maybe order more plants online. But I was thinking of getting a large anubia from petco. 

I don't have any lfs around me that carry bettas, so ill be buying them from
Petsmart and petco.


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## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

More plants!!! Get tons more plants if you're planning on turning this into a sorority. There WILL be chasing and nipping and such as your girls establish dominance, so you'll need a lot of things that break the line of sight and prevent any real damage from being done.

Sororities are a blast, I also have a ten gallon with six females currently. I have another two in quarantine, though I am still deciding whether they will go in, or if they will stay in their own tanks permanently. I think you'll enjoy having the girls, though... they're so much fun to watch! 

I agree, get the girls from a LFS if you can. I actually got five of my females from the same tank at my LFS so it was helpful in that I got to put them in sooner (because they had already been living together so I didn't really need to quarantine... they were the first fish in the tank) and they had already been living together so they didn't spazz quite as much. Get a better variety of color than I did hahaha. I have almost all red fish in my tank! Just added little Hime for a splash of blue~

PM lilnaugrim if you want advice on sororities. She's the one I run to every time I have a question and she's super helpful!


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## AltheaGlyndwr (May 12, 2012)

+1 about lilnaugrim. And a variety of color! I took care to find different colors of females for mine and we are set to be done with QT an releasing in 1 more week!  Also, plants, plants, plants.... And if you can't find all real ones at first or you don't want to care for them then you can go with silk plants too~


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## wish4coner (Mar 22, 2013)

I agree with above. Plant that sucker heavy! The more plants, the better. Stay away from real mossy types as, they bring in algae. My sorority is called the jungle and I have 7 in a 30 G. I can't even see the aquarium because I have so many plants.


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## Kalari32 (Jan 10, 2013)

Well I'm sure the plants will fill out too. I can't create the sorority until August 8, because I'm going out of town on the 30th. 

When I come back, I will definitely invest in some more plants  And get some young females of different colors for the tank.

I read online to put the least aggressive ones in the tank first before releasing the others. How will I know which ones are the least aggressive when I just got them?


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## wish4coner (Mar 22, 2013)

The reason I say heavily planted is that, females also will be dominant and claim territory. They can beat up on another female or two. Heavily planted makes sure there is plenty of hiding spaces and territories. Just from my experience with 6 sorority tanks..the more plants, the better. No injuries


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## Kalari32 (Jan 10, 2013)

What are some other things I can create or put in the tank?

Where can I get those little planting pots?


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## wish4coner (Mar 22, 2013)

I got all my terra cotta pots at walmart. They have them in the garden area. They have every size, but I got the size that I could put into a 3 gallon glass bowl (which I get from the craft area for less than 3.00), and put one good plant in the middle. It not only works for planting but, you can put them sideways, like the plant is spilling out or, upright. Either way, the females can hide inside and it's safe. There is a big hole in the ones that I bought so, if you get smaller, you might want to plug the hole if it is small. They will get stuck in it and die. I used a piece of moss to plug one of my smaller ones. It's nice and I don't have to worry.

Hornwort will float and also drape down, giving cover. Anacharis (which is thick and only needs a led weight...it will grow roots on it's own), Cabomba plant which is thick, soft and gives lots of cover, Java Moss (just beware that this can also add algae if you don't have a lot of snails or, dont do a lot of water changes), and many more. My sorority for wilds, I call the jungle. I even got some freshwater Mangrove as, they are hardier than bamboo, natural to the habititat and grow big!


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## Kalari32 (Jan 10, 2013)

Well I got a pot  an one pretty good size anubia! Should I attach it to the pot (the pot will be on it's side and the anubia would be on the side facing up toward the light) or should I attach it to a rock?


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## Kalari32 (Jan 10, 2013)

I also have a couple of fake plants to put in the take also


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## Kalari32 (Jan 10, 2013)

Also, I think I want five or six female bettas.

What colors should I get?

I know I want a red, and a blue one.

Also, how will i know which is the alpha, beta, and so on?


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## Viva (Oct 18, 2012)

You can attach the anubias to anything, the pot is a good idea. They can even free float.


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## Viva (Oct 18, 2012)

Usually the larger females are alpha so getting similar sized females is best (if possible). Colors are up to you...yellow, red, blue, black, white, orange, green, turquoise, copper, gold, and then all the multi-colored fancy females


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## Namialus (Jul 9, 2013)

I think you should some more shelters as well, such as caves.


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## 10asartin (Mar 28, 2013)

With deciding on who's most/least aggressive it really can't be decided until they are all in the tank together. Size doesn't really help you determine either, because my girl Lily who is by far the largest girl is at the bottom of the totem pole right now with tattered fins. Also, the girl I pegged to be least aggressive before releasing them is the most aggressive at the moment.
I feel like it is easiest just to release them all together and not worry about least or most aggressive.


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## Kalari32 (Jan 10, 2013)

Here is the new setup. How is it looking so far? I decided to attach the anubia to the pot with a rubberband. 

I think that moving the plants around on the right made it more not so open! 

What else should I add?


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## 10asartin (Mar 28, 2013)

I would still say you need many more tall plants and hiding caves


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## 10asartin (Mar 28, 2013)

Think "jungle" or "wilderness" when adding plants. It should be dense and tall


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## Kalari32 (Jan 10, 2013)

Should I get those pots that are smaller than the one I got? Like two of them and have them in the tank also? 
What are some other tall plants I can have?


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## Elsewhere (Dec 30, 2012)

10asartin said:


> With deciding on who's most/least aggressive it really can't be decided until they are all in the tank together. Size doesn't really help you determine either, because my girl Lily who is by far the largest girl is at the bottom of the totem pole right now with tattered fins. Also, the girl I pegged to be least aggressive before releasing them is the most aggressive at the moment.
> I feel like it is easiest just to release them all together and not worry about least or most aggressive.


+1

Exact same thing happened with my tank- the girl I thought was "least aggressive" was the alpha for a few days, then got pegged down my "second least aggressive" who now happily resides at the top of the food chain XD


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## Kalari32 (Jan 10, 2013)

Can you plant hornwort?


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## Viva (Oct 18, 2012)

You can plant hornwort but the bottom pines will fall off if they don't get enough light. I've had terrible luck with hornwort. Supposedly its easy to keep alive but mine always dies and makes a huge piney mess in the tank. I just got some cabomba which is nice and bushy and tall.


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## Kalari32 (Jan 10, 2013)

I will try some cambomba. How do I treat them to kill the snails?


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## 10asartin (Mar 28, 2013)

I highly recommend cabomba and wisteria. I absolutely abhor hornwort, it makes a huge mess and I don't feel it is that pretty. Of course, there are many people that love it, so it is up to you.


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## 10asartin (Mar 28, 2013)

As for killing the snails, I'm not too sure about that. I've never had any issues with plants being infested with them.


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## Viva (Oct 18, 2012)

I heard 19 parts water 1 part bleach solution and dip the plants in for no more than a minute. It should kill any eggs on the plants. I've never had a problem with snails and when I had a little too many for my liking I bought a few assassin snails and they ate every single pond/ramshorn snail within a few weeks O_O M y assassins have now started breeding, lol. Only problem is now I need to feed them blood worms which isn't easy because my betta loves to find them before the snails get to them


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## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

I agree with the others, put more plants in!! Really plant heavily so that your fish will have a LOT breaking their line of sight and preventing some of the chases that are inevitable. If it helps you, this is my ten gallon sorority. It's a freaking forest in there hahaha. The girls LOVE it.










I'm a brown thumb, so I only have some java fern and an anubias. Other than that, everything is silk. My fish don't care, as long as they can hide in it... it's fine by them. 

As for dominance and such, I have read in various places that red fish tend to be more dominant, and that crowntails can be very dominant as well. You really won't be able to tell until you get your girls in there, though... they'll work it out by themselves. The fish I thought was going to be on the bottom of the totem pole is the alpha of my tank and she keeps all the others in line despite being the smallest. We'll see if my crowntail dethrones her when she's released in a couple days, though.


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## Kalari32 (Jan 10, 2013)

Wow that tank looks great!  
I believe I would like just real plants, but camboda. Do you float it, or plant it?


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## Viva (Oct 18, 2012)

It's a stem plant so it can be planted or float


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## Kalari32 (Jan 10, 2013)

Okay thank you 

I know I can't set up my sorority yet, but yesterday I went to petsmart and fell in love with a female blue betta... I'm going back today to get her


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