short finned male or aggressive female?

[winterangel608]

i purchased 3 "female" bettas for the first time a couple months ago, since they were all sold to me as females i thought putting them in the tank together wouldn't be a problem. and it wasn't, up until a couple weeks ago when one of the bettas began harassing the other two. "she" flares, makes her body stiff, and nips and chases the other two. is this an aggressive female, perhaps being territorial or is this a male displaying courting habits? the fish in question is bright red, fairly short finned, and has a slightly thinner, smaller body than the other two. for now the fish is removed from the other two, but i feel awful making her/him live by her/himself. but i don't want the other fish stressing out or having the fins nipped and left susceptible to infection. is it normal for a female betta to display this behavior to other female bettas? help!!!!!!!!

[wolf_eyes]

Sounds like she's trying to assert her dominance to me. Females kinda have a wolf mentality where they have an alpha, beta, omega of the group. This article should help you out

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Gemstone]

two or three females will always end up inna fight..with one trying to be the boss...and another one trying to apease number one...with both then picking mercilessly on numbr three...4 or more is a better number...as they can then stick together for protection..also make sure you have lots of plants and other hidy-holes for your girls..

[Kayla-Bug]

Yes the bigger the group the better...

[winterangel608]

thanks for the reply, it was great help!!!!!