Male and Female Betta

[marge02144]

I have had a male betta in a 5.5 gallon tank for about a year now. Would it be okay to add a female?

 

[Rivercats]

No, you can have a sorority of females but you can't keep a male and female together or he will kill her.

 

[marge02144]

how large is a sorority?

 

[Rivercats]

I always kept 3-5 but they need to be added all at the same time as I found it seemed to keep aggression down a bit but remember you can still have aggression issues even with all females.

 

[marge02144]

so do you think my 5.5 could hold 3 females and a male if i did large water changes frequently?

 

[marge02144]

if not, would they be okay in a 10 gal?

 

[Coursair]

if not, would they be okay in a 10 gal?

No. You can't keep a male in with females. A true Sorority is females that are sisters that are raised together. Throwing strange adult females together can end badly as well. Larger tanks work best for that.

You can try Ghost Shrimp in with your male. Add hiding places. Try some live plants as well.

 

[Rivercats]

I've done sororities with unrelated females many times. Having plants in the tank helps a lot and I found they all have to be added at the same time. A 5.5g is rather small and if you have a male already are you going to get another tank for females? When working with betta's there is always a chance it may or may not work out. If you wanted to get another tank a 10g, which is what I used would work. I never could keep any shrimp, even large ones with my Betta's as they eventually would end up a snack. But there are fancy shelled nerite snails that you can add and I've always been able to keep dwarf or pygmy cory cats with my Betta's without issue.

 

[BBouchard]

I know allot if people are saying no, but in my 55 gallon I have a male and female together with no issues.

 

[Coursair]

I know allot if people are saying no, but in my 55 gallon I have a male and female together with no issues.

You can get away with a heck of a lot in a 55g that you cannot do in a 10g.

 

[Oohitsae]

Yeah, I keep unrelated females in all of mine, no issues. But it should be in 10+ gallons.


But no, never, under any circumstance other than the 2-3 days it takes to breed, put a male and female together. (Unless they are wild and were raised together, which Bettas you buy at petstores aren't)

You can make a divider and put them on opposite sides in the same tank, but that's the only way you should do it in a long term situation.

I don't know which poster said that try keep a male and female together in a 55, but In a 55 just because you haven't had problems yet doesn't mean that you won't. Even in a 55 they barely have enough room to have their own territories and are bound do cross at the wrong time occasionally. Usually it results in chasing and flaring, but them occasionally it will result in a fight, and maybe even a fight to the death. Bettas Splenden males are vicious animals, captive bred more than wild, and should be kept separate males, and males and females. Females can be kept together in groups of 3+ but you have to have multiple and be careful because even they are aggressive and without multiple to spread it out one will eventually kill the other from either stress or a fight.

 

[Coursair]

I've done sororities with unrelated females many times. Having plants in the tank helps a lot and I found they all have to be added at the same time. A 5.5g is rather small and if you have a male already are you going to get another tank for females? When working with betta's there is always a chance it may or may not work out. If you wanted to get another tank a 10g, which is what I used would work. I never could keep any shrimp, even large ones with my Betta's as they eventually would end up a snack. But there are fancy shelled nerite snails that you can add and I've always been able to keep dwarf or pygmy cory cats with my Betta's without issue.

At my store we tried community females in a 10g.
Heavily planted, may work. But we also lost 6 females in one day.

A true Sorority is related females that have NEVER been separated. But unrelated community females may work or not. Just have spare tanks or bowls as plan B.

You can order a female group from some breeders if you want highest chance of success.

 

[ZCNY]

I have a male and female in a 10g but a 5 seems to small and they get along great but every betta is different and I bought them at different times (well my wife did with my daughter bc Unger the betta needed a girlfriend and that's how I got into the hobbie )