female betta hierarchy problem

[anna0219]

Hello - a couple months ago I got three female bettas for a little betta sorority. I have them in a 5-gallon tank, and since I bought them they have grown and flourished into beautiful girls. They seem to be really happy and comfortable in their home. However, I had one that was being picked on by the others, so I made a divider and split off a third of the tank for her. It worked just fine and the other two got along splendidly without her around to bully.

Since all of that happened, I came home for the summer from college on Wednesday and brought my fish with me. I decided now that the isolated one had grown to be as big (if not bigger than the others) I would try to reintroduce her.

At first it seemed to be going really well, but the next day I noticed that my blue crowntail female, Aquaneesha (don't judge me, my roommate named her), who had lived peacefully with Gwen, a yellow female, once Piper, a red female, had been isolated, was looking torn up.

To clarify, Piper was originally separated while Gwen and Aqua lived together. With Piper reintroduced (and after the move, so they lost their established 'territories' by being taken out of the tank) Aqua was looking shabby. So I separated her, as I thought Piper was nipping at her.

So now it has been rearranged, and Aqua is behind the divider with Piper and Gwen together. Well, I fed them this morning and notied that Piper's bottom fin has split in a couple different places - chunks aren't missing though. I don't think she's snagging on anything in the tank because that never has happened before - the plants all seem soft enough.

What should I do? Should I divide the tank three ways? I haven't actually seen Gwen bite Piper when I watch them, but it seems like she must be, since Piper's bottom fin is split. I could try to go back to the original arrangement, but I couldn't tell who was picking on Aqua, and I'm worried that will continue if I put Gwen and Aqua back together.

Sorry this was so long - I wanted to explain it all decently. It just seems like their hierarchy has changed since they have all grown and been removed from the tank and put back in. Should I wait before doing anything? Or should I separate? Or should I put Piper alone like it was before?

These girls are complicated! I thought the betta sorority would be fun, but their unreliable personalities make it touger than I expected. Maybe next time I will stick with a male...

 

[Asbestos]

I have similar problems, the only thing that i think will be brought up is 5 gallons for 3 potentially aggressive fish is, going to be problematic. I have 2 female bettas in a 27 gal and they still fight each other, i keep one in a little floating breeder and switch them out every week until i know what to do with them. Really tho there is not anything you can do, even putting them in a bigger tank will only result in the same problems.

 

[logansmomma1228]

You might have to take one or two of them back. I don't know if switching a female for a male would be beneficial or not, but something that popped in my head. You could try and add more plants to give them room to hide. Might not work out too well but it is worth a try. Good luck!

 

[DragonFish71]

I agree that first off the tank is too small for the 3 of them. Since it's close quarters they don't have much room for establishing territories or to just get away. Now that being said we keep 3 females and 2 males in a divided 20Long. The females have the middle portion which is maybe 10g and the males have 5g each on either end. 10g is still not enough but I balance that out with having hiding places and moving the decor around once a week when cleaning. For the most part there aren't issues unless one of the girls decides she wants to show off for a male. When that happens I net the troublemaker in a brine shrimp net (softer on bettas) and hold her against the front glass for a few minutes. Once released she leaves the others alone. A betta time out These girls have been together for about a year now and slowly that problem is fading.

 

[anna0219]

okay, thanks for the advice. Yeah, I might consider getting them a slightly bigger tank, although I have to say, I've been spending a lot of time camping out watching them and they don't seem to be fighting anymore. I have one plastic plant in the tank with them that I was worried might snag their fins, and honestly, the split fins on Piper look more like a snag problem than nipped fins, at least in my opinion.

I am going to replace that plastic plant with a silk one (it will look better even if it isn't the problem) and see if that helps. Maybe she got caught on that plant.

They don't seem to be fighting really at all - occassionally flaring at each other, but no fighting, and not even really any chasing. Maybe I overreacted and need to let them settle back down after the move. I will also make sure to move stuff around a bit when I clean to keep them from getting too territorial.

 

[jestes]

IMHO, sorority tanks are more of an "it depends" rather than an "it's ok". A lot of it depends on the personality of the individual fish too. I've got a sorority tank, but I ended up having to give one of my fish to my girlfriend. That one had an attitude you wouldn't believe. She'd actually flare at people when they walked by. She's now in a smaller tank all by herself at my girlfriend's place. When I'm over there, I remind her of the nicer tank she could have had if she had been more friendly.

 

[BigJim]

I'd blame the problems on the tank only being a 5g. The bettas need some space to get away from one another. I have four bettas, three females and a male, in my 29g community with minimal problems. If a chase ensues, one betta just hides for a little while.