A female betta?

[HeatherB]

I have the 20g. with all the fish in my sig- plus I added 2 more female mollies. (I had one and she was being harrassed- trying to even out the numbers a bit)

I was just given a VERY TINY female betta. She is little. Much smaller then the males they sell at the store, proley under an inch long. I don't have anywhere to put her- except the 20g. which has a male betta already. Do you think I could do that? It's planted, got some hidey holes etc...

In second thought, I've got the 5g. at work, but it still has the 2 goldfish (hasn't gotten warm enough yet) and the one big female- but she is mean.

What to do??

[annageckos]

You could always pick up another five gallon. It may work out in the 20, but then it may not. It all really depends on the temperment of both the male and female. I have 10-12 females and a male in my 55. They do not bother eachother at all. When I first added the male he flared a little at the girls, but now they eat side by side. But I have another male that would try to kill the girls. He hates all other fish and attacks me too.

[Sarkazmo]

Most breeders say to keep females and males separate except when mating and then only in a tank that neither live in. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. I had a male with three females and all was fine for a couple months, then he tried to mate with one of 'em and she killed him.

If you can't supply her with her own tank then it's best to keep her in the cup for now or another small tank. I get these half gallon critter keepers at WalMart for like $5 and those are great for temp homes for Betta. She's VERY young, probably only about 3-4 months old and she needs to grow a bit before putting her in with any other fish.

Sark

[HeatherB]

I cannot at the moment get any more tanks. Darn. I am worried about heating. She is small, so she has space to move around in the cup etc...but it is not heated, and room temp right now at my house is about 70. Don't have any other heaters, and even the smallest heater I can think of, a hydor, is too big for her cup and too pricey right now!

[CGY_Betta_Guy]

You could always float the cup in the tank that has the heater until you work out something more permanent. I recently put 2 of my 3 month old fry into my main tank that has 4 large female bettas in it. The fry get chased once in a while but have lots of places to hide and they dont seem to have an issue getting around so I dont think I will have an issue with them being in there.

[Sarkazmo]

This is one of the $5 tanks I was talking about. I cut slots in the ends and bottom to promote water flow. Please ignore the algae as it's been getting a lot of light. You could also do the same thing with a breeding net.

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Sark

[Zilla]

^ Is that a snail on the right side of your Betta container? If so, it looks it should be saying "Knock! Knock! Let me in! There's algae in there to be cleaned!"

:hmm3grin2orange:

[HeatherB]

HAHAHA

Thanks guys. I do have a breeder trap...it is not the net, but the plastic one- has the two sides and a bottom for the fry to drop down into... Guess I could use that- at least she would have filtered/heated water. Worth a try anyway! Thanks all!

Once she grows a bit think I could get her in the 20?

[Sarkazmo]

^ Is that a snail on the right side of your Betta container? If so, it looks it should be saying "Knock! Knock! Let me in! There's algae in there to be cleaned!"

:hmm3grin2orange:

Yeah, it's a little Ram's Horn. I put three in with Mithril my other new Betta and he promptly killed and ate them. He's now completely OCD looking for more snails. My Betta all seem to have something against snails!

Sark

[wolf_eyes]

My Betta all seem to have something against snails!

Sark
Awww your bettas and I would get along so well.

On the matter at hand, If you put her in a breeder, check to watch everyone's reaction with her, especially the male betta's. If he is constantly flaring or trying to get at her, I wouldn't add her to the tank. If everyone ignores her while she is in the breeder than she may be fine to go in after a bit. With bettas it's always a gamble, some work and some don't

[HeatherB]

Thanks all! I'll put her in the breeder today and see how she goes for a couple weeks.

I'll try to get some pics, the camera is with my brother on a trip- so I may have to wait until say... Tuesday to do it!

[tortuga]

Awww your bettas and I would get along so well.

I like that little lady. The blue on her top fin looks good on her.

And if someone reading this has a snail issue, I always need the little snails that come with plants and stuff. It's a bit of a pain traveling around looking for pet stores that have them in the tanks. If you have an excess and have a minute to pluck em out alive, I'll accept COD packages from the post office any time :)

Another quirky betta, my gf's red betta kills and eats ghost shrimp. Put em in to have cleanup duty since the tank is too small for an oto. Woke up the next day to a slaughter and a smiling betta.

[Sarkazmo]

I like that little lady. The blue on her top fin looks good on her.

And if someone reading this has a snail issue, I always need the little snails that come with plants and stuff. It's a bit of a pain traveling around looking for pet stores that have them in the tanks. If you have an excess and have a minute to pluck em out alive, I'll accept COD packages from the post office any time :)

Another quirky betta, my gf's red betta kills and eats ghost shrimp. Put em in to have cleanup duty since the tank is too small for an oto. Woke up the next day to a slaughter and a smiling betta.

Actually, the Betta in the pic above, is a male. His name is Opal. Here's a better pic of him. He's a Double Tail Betta and as you can see he's eyeing a snail... heh.

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My dearly missed Betta, Sancho, HATED Ghost Shrimp. Well, actually he got along with them fine until a new addition GS decided it liked the taste of Betta tail. In less than a day Sancho killed every GS in the tank.

Sark