# Betta?



## fishlover93 (Feb 25, 2008)

Would two females be aggressive toward my other community tank fish?


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

I doubt they would harm other species of community tank fish.

Just between the females there may be strife.
http://www.better-bettas.com/a/female-betta-fish.shtml


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## planter (Jun 9, 2008)

how large is the tank, and what fish do you have? They should be fine provided they have enough space


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## fishlover93 (Feb 25, 2008)

its a 40 gallon with gouramis(2 pearl and 1 blue) Guppies, 2 swordtails and one male GBR, and 5 cardinal tetras


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## planter (Jun 9, 2008)

fishlover93 said:


> its a 40 gallon with gouramis(2 pearl and 1 blue) Guppies, 2 swordtails and one male GBR, and 5 cardinal tetras


most of those fish are surface dwellers. (including the bettas) They might nip at the other fish or vice versa. Anyone's guess though...


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

they will not get along with male guppy. Usually in my experience they end up mistaking them for male betta. Its 50/50 if the females will get along. And dont mistake those short fins for girls. They could very well be male plakats.


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## fishlover93 (Feb 25, 2008)

ooh wow thanks for the heads up cid. Well i was just thinking of getting females but seems like i'll need an extra tank for them. But what if i just have a male Betta?


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## planter (Jun 9, 2008)

A male will not work. Like Ciddian mentioned, with the females it's a 50/50 chance. A male Betta will more like 90% IMO.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

bettas are really funny... honestly everyone of them has a different personality. I had one melano female that was so laid back she hung out with my guppies. (males and females) When she passed away at around 2 or three (she always had a funny tumor thing) i picked up another girl thinking it would work.

Wrong.... LOL all the male guppies got their fins trimmed down to just about nothing.

I've had community aquariums with tetra and heavily planted. My betta (a CT) ended up totally blanching out and hanging around the top. The tetra's freaked him out big time. As soon as he had his own private tank he was perfectly fine. Some people have betta that seem to do just fine in that situation.

i've had girls (and i was positive it was a girl because i spawned her) that was extremely territorial and would kill anything in the tank. She even took her 2nd spawn mate and trimmed his tail down. (and his ego..LOL) Then i have also had girls that get along fine together.

Even a good working collection of girls in a tank will melt down at times. They make a pecking order and sometimes another female will try to become boss and a big fight breaks out. If you move items around in the tank or add new fish it can cause fights. 
And then some people never ever have any issues at all with keeping girls together. (usually spawn mates)

so if anyone tells you "well it worked for me..." just make sure you have a plan B, C, or even D LOL


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## fishlover93 (Feb 25, 2008)

oo ok well thank you all cid your stories amaze me!!! i decided not to get them way to big of a hassle and i can't get another tank so no Betta for me


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

fishlover93 said:


> oo ok well thank you all cid your stories amaze me!!!


Yeah I found some interesting bits there, thanks Cid
I looked up plakats and I think I may like their looks as much or maybe better than the fancy tails 
http://www.bgsite.net/gallery?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=156


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

They are excellent fish and always seem a lot more hardier to me. We have some nice ones at work atm too calmer.

So sorry you guys, i didnt mean to overwhelm if i did


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

Overwhelming can be good.  I'll have to check them out next time I am over there, thanks


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## Sassybutterfly (Mar 31, 2008)

Just a note about having 2 female bettas in a tank. I would not put two females in a tank. I did that once. Females can be as aggressive as males. I have a female and I cannot put any other fish in the tank.


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## fishlover93 (Feb 25, 2008)

Cid don't worry I'm not overwhelmed i just never kept bettas before and hearing this advice is great!!! Sassy thanks for the advice i will definitely keep them apart if my parents let me have another tanks!!!


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

my betta wont even put up with an otto in the tank. they're all a little different.


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## Katalyst (Jul 29, 2007)

My goofy fellow is currently planning to launch his attack on his neighbors in the 20 gallon next to him. Luckily for them and him he is alone in a 5.5 gallon with a nice tight lid.  I let him see them in the morning and then I put a piece of black poster board in between them the rest of the day. I may have to name this guy Relentless or something.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

The don't call them fighting fish for nothing.  

Rambo?


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## Katalyst (Jul 29, 2007)

Tabatha said:


> The don't call them fighting fish for nothing.
> 
> Rambo?


This isn't the one from Zena, he's pink and purple rescue that seems to have stopped tail biting since his silk plants arrived lol. Not exactly Rambo coloring lol.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

A "_Girly-Man-Fish_" huh? Arnold?


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## Mattsmom (May 21, 2008)

Just caught this post and wanted to add my 2 cents incase you are still thinking of bettas in communities...

Female bettas, to help the harmony (although still not guaranteed)... you need to keep at least 3 together (in a minimum 10gallon - bigger if housing other fish)... that spreads out the agression between them. They also need lots of plants, decs and hidey holes for escape. Male or females cannot be kept with gouramis b/c they're both of the anabantoid family. One male, OR a sorority of females can often peacefully get along with harleys (rasboras), white cloud minnows, cherry barbs (but no other barbs), plecos and often otos, and other non-nippy fish. But like someone said above... they all have different personalities so it may not always work. 

Michele


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## lili (Dec 15, 2007)

Michele gave some good advice here: betta and gourami ... is not a good idea.
Sorority ..... well, I never succeded in 20g .... my girls are fighters.
One of them is the "queen" of the shrimps tank. She is soooo nice. There are countless baby shrimps and a baby platy in there but she is not eating or atacking them. It's amazing. She grew up with shrimps and then she was a comunity fish. Now she has her own tank with the shrimps. BUT, if I put her with the other 2 girls ..... I cannot look. Betta are very interesting fishes.
L


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## Mattsmom (May 21, 2008)

Thanks Lili! ... Keeping a sorority peaceful is an extremely delicate balance from everything I've read and heard. I've had betta friends successful at it... and others that were not despite both following all the "rules". It's really a crap-shoot... it might also help keeping the peace if you choose females sharing a tank at the lfs (some stores sell them in individual cups)... and roughly all the same size. Also... watch their dynamics in the tank at the lfs before choosing which ones you're bringing home... and maybe not choose one that is visibly chasing the others. Also... keeping them well-fed (but not overfed) seems to help keep the peace as well. I'm just too chicken to try one (right now)... but may still one day. You also do need a back-up plan if they don't get along... as you have to be prepared to separate them... and that's something I can't do right now b/c I've already got 7 individual tanks!

Michele


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