# New Sorority Already Falling Apart



## ajhammer (Feb 5, 2012)

I have a 20 Gallon Tank and 3 betta females. Yes it's heated. Yes it's filtered. Yes it has been cycled. Yes there are many places to hide (plastic plants, tunnels, etc) They were introduced at the same time. It has only been 24 hours. 

Unfortunately one of my girls, Isobel, was a bit of a brute and keeps chasing one of the other girls, Sparkle, and constantly flaring. Sparkle does not fare but does not back down, either. Isobel does not like it and keeps nipping at her. My third girl, It Zwibble, keeps to herself. 

I have removed Isobel and placed her into the container we got from the store. It was stressing me out to see what was happening and I"m sure stressing the other's out more. Now I"m left with two and I'm debating on whether I should leave the two (which I"ve read is not a good thing) or trying another female (and hoping it's not aggressive). Or adding even more? 

I'm fraid if I add even more like many sites suggest that the flaring will continue. 
What do you think? 


P.S. My 2.5 year old named the fish. " It Zwibble" is a name of a dinosaur fairy in an obscure 90's children's book (that we found in my old stash and now read to my kids)


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## xXGalaxyXx (Oct 17, 2011)

I would definitely add more females - you should have at the very least 5 or 6 (but more is always better as long as you don't overstock your tank). Female betta's establish a sort of pecking order among themselves, and the more females you have, the chance of a single fish being singled out and picked on by the others is greatly lowered. You should also make sure that your tank is very heavily planted/decorated to give the girls plenty of places to hide from the more aggressive fish.
And this thread may help you - it tells about the basics of sororities and how to help the girls thrive together.~ :3 http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=29402


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## GunsABlazin (Jun 1, 2011)

+1 to Galaxy.
i never have less then 5 girls in my 20 at a time.


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

I would say 10 females for such a larger space would be a great number, but no less than 5 or 6. That should fix this for you. Make sure to take all out, change the tank up and then add all your new females and old females back together into the tank at once. Having female tanks isn't easy lol Good Luck!


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## ajhammer (Feb 5, 2012)

Thanks guys! I was hoping to get away with not rearranging since they have been in a short time. I have no idea how short a time it takes to establish territory. 

It Zwibble and Sparkle are hanging out together right now and it seems they are happy. No Nibbles, chase, bumping, or flaring. That Isobel is a fiesty one. I plan to keep her isolated until I can get some more girls. 

My worst fear is that it'll be a major fail and I'll have to return/rehome the fish. I'm already so darn attached and I feel terrible for putting them in a bad situation.


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## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

I had 9 or 10 in my 20 gallon but I had to ban 2 of the original inhabitants and replace them with other females. You may find out that you have a female that just cant be with other females but the only way to know is to give it a try. I would add a few more and see how it goes - just keep an eye on them for a while incase someone gets too rough. Luckily for me, "Most" of my females were mellow.


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## Jrf456 (Jun 23, 2011)

OH MY! Listen to the other posters. Sorry you've got a feisty one. ):


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## ajhammer (Feb 5, 2012)

Galaxy- I read all the pages of the forum and am feeling a bit more confident. Thank you for the link! 

Also learned about "stress stripes"? Little sparkle has those, maybe from being bullied. 

Anyhow, I look forward to hanging out on here and posting some pics!


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

I have one little one, Suki, that is usually nice and dark but the moment she sees me, she stripes right up lol


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

My littlest girl has been stripey since I got her a couple of months ago. I suppose she thinks she's pretty that way. Or maybe she thinks that if she goes dark, I won't be able to tell her apart from Hera, since they are the same colour. Whatever her reasons, I can't seem to persuade her otherwise.


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## GunsABlazin (Jun 1, 2011)

i just added a little CT girl to my group a few weeks ago, and she is the ONLY one who stripes. My Purple Comb-Tail used to be the one who was always stripey, but now its the little black and red CT lol.


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## ajhammer (Feb 5, 2012)

So the original 3 were removed and I rearranged my entire tank. I purchased 4 more girls, slowly replaced their water with the tank water and floated them all in the tank for 1hr just to avoid any stress with temp change. 


I released them one after the other and WOW... I thought Isobel was aggressive?!?! One of the newbies was down right insane! She would swim underneath the other girls and push them up, non stopped flared, chased, bit, etc... She actively pursued them all, including Isobel. Isobel and her went round at round, taking turns taking nips.. it was extremely uncomfortable to watch. I removed the aggressive newbie after only 5 minutes. She flares at even the site of my fingers when I try to feed her! I'm strangely attached to her but avoided giving her a name as hubby won't let me keep her (would involve buying/putting together another set-up.) Le sigh... 

Isobel has also been removed as she would not stop biting, either. Both the aggressors will be returned and until them will stay in their cups. 


So I'm left with a Sorority of 5. Sparkle and It Zwibble, my originals, Isobel (#2, but my 2 year old doesn't realize), Flower and Baby (who I just call Little Red). They are all getting a long quite well. There is an occasional flare and a chase but no thrashing of tails or nipping. I think they are too busy exploring their new digs. It's really cute to see them hanging out in the different spots I made for them or resting in plants. 

I have to admit that I have gotten up several times during the night to "count," but I realize that I'm probably stressing them out by turning the tank light on and off. 

Do you ever feel at ease with a sorority?


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## GunsABlazin (Jun 1, 2011)

You can still have the aggressive ones join.

Place them in a cup or net they can see through, and float them in the tank. After about a week or so, you can try re-introducing them. If they are still aggressive, repeat.
The fact that they can SEE the other girls, but cant attack them, sometimes stops the aggression. Iv had to do this with a couple girls.


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## ajhammer (Feb 5, 2012)

Thanks Guns! Is it possible to over stress them? Say... they are just flaring non stop... is this a health issue?


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

the more females the merrier


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## GunsABlazin (Jun 1, 2011)

ajhammer said:


> Thanks Guns! Is it possible to over stress them? Say... they are just flaring non stop... is this a health issue?


Well they wont be able to just flair at one fish, they will likely get a group built up around them, and no matter how much they flair, the group should remain mostly unaffected. After time they should stop flaring. They may get a little stressed, but feed them well and keep the water clean and they will get over it.

Also, with this method, DO NOT re-arrange the tank decor or remove the other girls when you put the aggressive ones back in. That will allow them to get aggressive again. Leaving it as it is will put them on the defense.


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## ajhammer (Feb 5, 2012)

*sighs* This is a lot more difficult than I thought. Seems like every time I turn around someone's tail is not intact. I removed 2 this morning because their tails looked like they had been shredded! I'm going to take care of them in their cups. I can't believe the damage to these poor girls. 

I feel like a terrible mother and may just give them up.


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## GunsABlazin (Jun 1, 2011)

Dont give up, the sorority may end up with some shredded tails. 
Its bound to happen. My girls have been together for months, and at times they still bicker and rip a tail or two.As long as the water is kept clean, and they eat will, the tails will regrow without problem. What you need to worry about is if you end up with body bites.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Yeah it's normal that not every female is going to have perfectly intact fins in a sorority. Some of mine still nip each other every now and then, and they've been living together for almost a year.

Bettas are an aggressive species and are never going to live together peacefully 100% of the time.


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## GunsABlazin (Jun 1, 2011)

exaclty, just like women in the human world, they bicker sometimes.


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## fraviz (Jan 29, 2012)

GunsABlazin said:


> exaclty, just like women in the human world, they bicker sometimes.


LOL you are going to start trouble.... 

ajhammer, I hope everything works.... I will start my sorority on Saturday.... 20 gallons is ready... was used by my tetra community.... so a little clean up and let's see if they can get along... I m a little worried about specially one big crazy red.. who even nip at my finger when I feed her... lol I think that's how she shows her love


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## GunsABlazin (Jun 1, 2011)

how would i start trouble? I am a woman lol


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

GunsABlazin said:


> how would i start trouble? I am a woman lol




i LOVE IT!!!! haha......sooo funny.lol.....


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## GunsABlazin (Jun 1, 2011)

i know, we bicker when we get forced together sometimes...but once the pecking order is worked out we get along...and the hair that was pulled out grows back in lol.


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## Shirleythebetta (Jan 9, 2012)

hmmm similar to a betta sorority.... we women are fickle funny creatures of many forms.


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

Can you upload a picture of your tank please?


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

lol... ^^^changes the subject.... who's tank?


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

Oh lol, the op.

I didn't even see what was being said before me. I do agree, *ducks* (I am a guy)


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

lol. is your sorority doing better yet?


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## GunsABlazin (Jun 1, 2011)

*Chases fry man*

Yes, how are they doing and can we see the tank?


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

It looks like I missed out on a great convo. lol


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## ajhammer (Feb 5, 2012)

I actually gave up. It was stressing me out. I guess I'm not use to agressive fish. I ended up returning all but 1. 

She does have new friends though: 

3 mollie's
1 platty

and a bamboo shrimp! (I had a lot of drama this week with him, but I think he's finally happy) I stayed up for hours reading about these little critters. he was an impulse buy. I wish I wouldn't have trusted the petco guy's information. 


Anyhow, little It Zwibble seems pretty happy. I haven't seen one sign of agression. She actually swims around with the mollies, even.


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## fraviz (Jan 29, 2012)

ajhammer said:


> I actually gave up. It was stressing me out. I guess I'm not use to agressive fish. I ended up returning all but 1.
> 
> She does have new friends though:
> 
> ...


Sorry to hear that... but sometimes it is for the best ..... :-D
Bamboo Shrimp ???? OMG that's not that easy as other shrimps....


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## GunsABlazin (Jun 1, 2011)

well im sorry that it didnt work out 

im actually experiencing a crash with my sorority atm...but its due to sickness.


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