# 2 female Bettas in a 5 gallon tank?



## Galina (Nov 6, 2021)

Can I put two female bettas in a 5 gallon tank? 

My another question is If I did get a male betta, can I put other fish types are male in the tank?


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## betta4ever! (Oct 5, 2021)

I was thinking about the same... I'd love to have two females in my 6 gallon


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## NoodleTheMysteryBetta (Mar 22, 2020)

I would not recommend it, females can be volatile together and that space would be too small. And a male in a 5 gallon would only allow for snails or shrimps as tank mates from what I have heard.


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

You need 20 gallons or more to house females together. I personally keep mine in 30 and 40 gallon tanks and there is still the occasional nipping even with much more space.


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## Bubbl3s (Nov 4, 2021)

Galina said:


> Can I put two female bettas in a 5 gallon tank?
> 
> My another question is If I did get a male betta, can I put other fish types are male in the tank?


I think 2 females would be just about fine in a 5 gallon, though ideally they'd be in more like a ten gallon. If you did decide to go for the 5 gallon you would have to monitor your water very carefully as ammonia could build up very quickly in such a small tank.


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## SammiDraco (Mar 24, 2021)

I believe you'll want a minimum of 6 females together. As @NoodleTheMysteryBetta said, they can be volatile together. Female Bettas will nip at each other to establish a hierarchy, or a "pecking order". With two females, you'll likely have an aggressor and one who's more submissive. This means all of the aggression will be focused on just the one other betta. If both are more dominant, there will be a lot of fighting between the two and it could end badly. A larger number of females will split up this aggression and a more stable hierarchy can be established. Which means you'll want a minimum of a 10 gallon, though even that can be touchy with a female betta sorority. 20 and up is preferred.


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## betta4ever! (Oct 5, 2021)

I am not going to try then!! 🤣


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

It’s hard sometimes! Even with people who have had bettas for years have a hard time keeping females together long term. Female bettas are fantastic though! They’re not picky eaters and easy to keep happy if you have 1 in a tank. My favorite betta is my female that I keep alone 😆


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## SammiDraco (Mar 24, 2021)

X skully X said:


> It’s hard sometimes! Even with people who have had bettas for years have a hard time keeping females together long term. Female bettas are fantastic though! They’re not picky eaters and easy to keep happy if you have 1 in a tank. My favorite betta is my female that I keep alone 😆


Really? I guess I have bad luck with the ladies. They never seem to like me very much. 😋 It's always the males that get super attached to me. For the females, if I don't have food for them, I don't exist!


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

@SammiDraco Yeah all my girls are little piggies. They always beg for food and constantly scavenge the tank for any morsel they may have missed. Even food not meant for them. Like algae wafers or shrimp/snail sticks. I really adore all my bettas male or female. Just seems like people don’t give the girls a chance very often unless attempting a sorority


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## emiily (Nov 7, 2021)

I was recently at a specialty fish store and asked about having two females in a tank. Females don’t have an issue like two males do. If you were to do a male and female I suggest a larger tank and a lot, I mean a lot! Of coverage so they can hide and be separated from one another.


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## SammiDraco (Mar 24, 2021)

X skully X said:


> @SammiDraco Yeah all my girls are little piggies. They always beg for food and constantly scavenge the tank for any morsel they may have missed. Even food not meant for them. Like algae wafers or shrimp/snail sticks. I really adore all my bettas male or female. Just seems like people don’t give the girls a chance very often unless attempting a sorority


This is true. In my case all my females were singular in their own tanks. They just didn't like me very much even though I thought they were beautiful girls. I'd love to try again in the future though but we'll see.


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## NoodleTheMysteryBetta (Mar 22, 2020)

emiily said:


> I was recently at a specialty fish store and asked about having two females in a tank. Females don’t have an issue like two males do. If you were to do a male and female I suggest a larger tank and a lot, I mean a lot! Of coverage so they can hide and be separated from one another.


Yeahhhhhh. People say that a lot but many, and I mean MANY, females can just just as aggressive as the males. And even if they don’t outright attack each other, they likely will be extremely stressed and exhibit stress stripes & nipped fins. I think if you were to try it you would need multiple females and a much bigger space as well as manyyy plants and hiding spaces, plus a well as a plan to separate them if there is any trouble. I’ve heard too many horror stories and just personally don’t get why you would attempt it in the first place. So even if you did want to keep multiple females, a 5 gallon with 2 would be an absolute disaster and deeply irresponsible.

And _please_ do not try to keep a male and female together outside of breeding. That would not be good for either of them.



X skully X said:


> @SammiDraco Yeah all my girls are little piggies. They always beg for food and constantly scavenge the tank for any morsel they may have missed. Even food not meant for them. Like algae wafers or shrimp/snail sticks. I really adore all my bettas male or female. Just seems like people don’t give the girls a chance very often unless attempting a sorority


I agree that people don’t give the girls a chance as much. In my experience, they are equally personable & colorful. Here are 2 of my current girls, the koi always swims to the front and is very good about having her photo taken ☺


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## BettaloverSara (Oct 15, 2020)

You cannot keep two females in a 5 gal. Keeping female sororities is quite a challenge and is rarely successful. I have heard that in order to male it work you need 20 gal minimum , 75% planted and 5 females.


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## Lollipupgirl (Oct 21, 2021)

Galina said:


> Can I put two female bettas in a 5 gallon tank?
> 
> My another question is If I did get a male betta, can I put other fish types are male in the tank?


6 minimum in a 20 gallon


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## S liggett (10 mo ago)

Galina said:


> Can I put two female bettas in a 5 gallon tank?
> 
> My another question is If I did get a male betta, can I put other fish types are male in the tank?


I believe a female betta can live alone better unless in a big tank 10-30 gallons roughly then u can have multiple but unless planning to do that then I don’t recommend it


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## Jefeaquatics (Jan 6, 2022)

My view is that you should have no less than a 20-gallon tank for a betta sorority, and I would go on the side of caution and go for a 29-gallon.


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## Newbie- (9 mo ago)

emiily said:


> I was recently at a specialty fish store and asked about having two females in a tank. Females don’t have an issue like two males do. If you were to do a male and female I suggest a larger tank and a lot, I mean a lot! Of coverage so they can hide and be separated from one another.


Females do have a issue. Definitely not as bad as males but they will attack and kill each other sadly. It sucks tho I do wish they didn’t. I never trust stores so take it with a grain of salt is my advice


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## FishandBirdLover (May 5, 2021)

Yes, I have had issues with 2 females together. Even a soroity was hard. I'm just sticking with 1 betta in each tank.


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