minimum requirement.....

[squirt_12]

what is the minimum tank size i could have for 2 female bettas????

Curtis

[gm72]

I would treat them as any other small fish. 5 gallons or so?

[Kaga's Kritters]

i agree, nothing smaller than 5 gal.

[squirt_12]

ok...thats what i thought but i wasn't sure because of their aggression and such.

thanks.

[Kaga's Kritters]

female bettas aren't aggressive, at least not that i have ever heard of. only the males will kill each other.

[gm72]

Agreed that female bettas are not aggressive.

[squirt_12]

o...well i thought that females were a little aggressive???
cause like i heard that they will gang up on the male and kill him?

[Kaga's Kritters]

you cannot leave the male with the females. someone will end up dead. you can only put them together to mate and then seperate them. but just females in a tank or even them with some tetras or something is just fine, no aggression there.

[squirt_12]

you cannot leave the male with the females. someone will end up dead. you can only put them together to mate and then seperate them. but just females in a tank or even them with some tetras or something is just fine, no aggression there.
yeah i knew all of that but i was just saying.....and yes i knew that you could put them with tetras and stuff....so i can put 2 in a 5g?

[Kaga's Kritters]

2 in a 5 gal will work just fine.

[blu]

You can keep females in a 5 gal but I would do atleast 3 because you cant have a hierarchy w/ only 2. One female will become dominate and terrorize the other. Thats why you need three or more b/c they have a very stricked and clear(you will be able to see what rank each fish holds)hierarchy. And dont be fooled females can be just as aggresive as the males so be careful..and most females will show some level of aggression. The one that showns no aggression to the others isnt necessarily not aggresive but the bottom ranked female.

And be careful separating one female from the group especially the dominate female b/c the lower rank females could start fighting for that position or kill her on reintroduction

[squirt_12]

You can keep females in a 5 gal but I would do atleast 3 because you cant have a hierarchy w/ only 2. One female will become dominate and terrorize the other. Thats why you need three or more b/c they have a very stricked and clear(you will be able to see what rank each fish holds)hierarchy. And dont be fooled females can be just as aggresive as the males so be careful..and most females will show some level of aggression. The one that showns no aggression to the others isnt necessarily not aggresive but the bottom ranked female.

And be careful separating one female from the group especially the dominate female b/c the lower rank females could start fighting for that position or kill her on reintroduction
o...wow...thanks for all of that good information....it makes me now want to just leave them in their own tank. hmmm...thanks so much.

[blu]

I didnt mean to totally discourage you from doing it a tank with female bettas can be very nice to have. I have three in a 10 gal and so far they have done well except when I removed one to condition and returned her but even then there wasnt a huge fight(you have to rearange the tank before reintroductions)....sorry to have sounded so serious..well it is but is very easy to do with the right combination of females...just a lot of caution needs to be taken to ensure the safety of your fish. And all bettas have their own personality so you may end up with very peacefull ones and you may not its hard to tell you what to do with your individual fish.

[squirt_12]

no i didn't mean to make you feel bad in anyway...its just i don't want to sit there and know that they could be fighting and killing each other.....so i think thay i will keep them in their own tanks for now.
Thanks for all of the info though blu...very helpful.

[blu]

Dont worry you didnt make me feel bad or anything lol I just didnt want you to totally get rid of that idea...I really like having female bettas together.Its understandable that you dont want to worry about you bettas hurting eachother...I know I worryed when I put mine together..stayed in my room for hours just to make sure they didnt kill eachother.

[squirt_12]

well i am actually thinking of getting a 10g ( i can get one from my friend for free) and heavily planting it and then adding 3 female bettas. WOuld that be alright??

also i would have hiding spots and such.
Thanks.

[blu]

That should be alright although it really depends on how aggressive they are as long as no serious damage and fighting is done they should be fine.You will learn when to separate them and when they are not actually causing serious damage.And if you decide to do this and no damage is done give them about a week to work out their hierarchy and things should settle down .Having it heavily planted will help a lot to break up the sight lines too.

[squirt_12]

yeah i would def. heavily plant it and have LOTS of hiding places for them. So but i am still not sure if my parents will let me so i will have to wait and see.

thanks for all of the help blu.

[Hailey]

is there a special way in telling females from males? I know when I go to my LFS they wount know anything.

[squirt_12]

well males have the long fins and females don't....females have 'white tubes' (where the egs come from) and males don't. Males can 'flare' out at you and the females can't...well the female shave small ones but the males look like a 'beard'
i will post pics in a sec. to show you a difference.

[squirt_12]

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
that is a male...note: the flaring and long fins.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
female betta...note: smaller than the male and smaller fins.

P.S.
That female looks something like mine. lol.