I used to be on Kokos like a long time back, if any of you remember me as MariahM, I had some goldies and such. Sadly they have died, they got terrible finrot But anyway, this is my new account.

So I am planning to get some betta females, for a 5 gallon tank. I am going to clean up the tank soon and the gravel ext, but I was wondering how I should introduce the fish and if I would be able to have 2 in there. I would definately want to add one at a time so as not to stress the filter, and I will probably let the tank run on its own for a while until I get a chance to go to nnnn. But any information would be greatly appreciated.

I will have a bunch of time on my hands this summer, so I was planning to try breeding bettas if I get bored. I know I will need to get a male, and I have a 2.5 gallon I will put one in if I decide to breed. Thanks for all of your help guys!

Mariah

http://www.squidoo.com/FemaleBettaCare

Hi, welcome back! Found this link to an excellent article on keeping female bettas. It says you should get at least 3 or more if you want to keep girls together or they will pick on each other. Also says you should put them all in the tank at the same time so one doesn't think it's her territory and fight off all the newcomers. You know betta girls are feisty, too! Anyway, if you read the whole thing, I think it will answer your questions really well.

From my own experience I can tell you that I have one betta female in a 5 gal by herself and she is fine with that. I clean it every weekend and there is LOTS of waste matter from just one betta. I feed her once a day and she eats it all so it's just her poo! So if you have 3 in a 5 gal you will probably need to clean it 2-3 times a week.

Dang! Yeah, I knew it couldn't handle three, but I had heard to get three too, on here forever ago. so I am stumped! Aah! I wanted to get more than one, and I can't get two males for one tank obviously. I will figure something out. I have a 10gallon, but it has my 3 platies in it. Could I put a betta in there? (female, unless a male would be *friendly*). Whatever would work! If I could get like one female for my tropical platy tank and then a male for my 5 gal I would be happy!

That sounds like a great idea--one male for the 5 and a female for the 10. I have 1 female betta in my 20 gal community tank with 2 platies, a guppy and some small catfish. She doesn't bother any of them. Well, except when I put in a sinking pellet treat for the cats--then sometimes she'll push them with her nose so she can get in there and grab a bite! It's really funny.

With males in a community tank it just depends on their individual personality. I had one that kept chasing a swordtail but left the other fish alone. Of course I had to separate them. I think the girl in your 10 would be best.

Be sure to show pictures when you can! I got myself a little girl, she is all stressed right now, but as soon as I can I will get some good photos. It must be betta season.. it seems everyone wants one.

You can put a divider in your 5 gallon and put 2 males in there, they will still get 2-1/2 gallon each. I have my bettas in individual tanks (I have six). I had tried putting a female in my guppy tank once but she harassed the poor male guppies and nipped their tails to shreds. She was put back to her own tank! I find the girls to be much more curious and bolder than the boys. Whenever I do a water change, the boys tend to run away and hide but the girls will be right up against the hose to see what's going on!

Aww, that is cute haha. Yeah, I would do that but I dont want to stress them out by having them flare at eachother a lot. I also have a 2.5 gallon that I have that I may use later on for something or another. =P

I have a 5 gallon with my Clifford in it and a male guppy. It's really heavily planted though. The java ferns just took over. There's a bit of grass and umbrella in there too somewhere.....

But anyways...They get along just fine. I had problems with a female beta and my mosquito fish though. The mosquitos killed her. They nipped off all of her fins overnight and she was dead by morning. On an off note, she made good fertilizer water for some seedlings once her body dissolved. Circle of life.