Betta Sorority Help

[JustOneTank]

Sooo, I recently got a 30 gallon. Well, I've had tanks for almost three years now, but never a betta sorority, in fact, I just finished cycling and setting up my ten gallon divided male betta tank. So, I need help from people who know what they're doing.. How many girls should I put in there? How should I go about getting them? I have no local fish store, the best I have is Petsmart or online. I know it needs to be densely planted and I want to do a zen theme with all live plants, do you have any plant suggestions for a medium to low light tank that would work well? How about taking care of the girlies if there happens to be a fight? Any added info would be greatly appreciated as well.

 

[KKAY27]

I just started my sorority about 2 weeks ago! I have a 29g and it is moderately planted with Java fern, watersprite, anubias nana, and some other high light plants and water lettuce! I only have 2 females as of now they get along very well! I was told on here I need 5 and they should all be interduced at the same time to establish boundaries! I didn't know that at the time! I got mine from petsmart they are very large halfmoons! I usually only see small females but I really liked these two so I got them! You could purchase some online alot of people get so very beautiful bettas on aqua bid but personally I never bought any online!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[JustOneTank]

Yeah, I've always heard you at least need 5. I was planning maybe around 7 or so for my 30. Do you have any plant suggestions? I'm thinking more medium lighting, but I've never really done much more than the really basic plants.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

I've done well growing watersprite and anubias. Lighting was a bit tricky when I used to use a Marineland corner 5 tank... you had to find the right combination of light brightness (wattage) and duration to keep the plants growing but avoid too much algae growth.

I've been doing great with an LED lighting system that came with my current 13 gallon "Wide Screen" tank.

In addition to the suggestions of a minimum of 5 girls, and introducing them all at the same time... other suggestions include trying to provide some sort of hiding spot for each girl, and try to get them as young as possible. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm currently thinking about trying to get a set of Betta Babies that PetCo sometimes has in stock.

 

[JustOneTank]

So, what I am thinking would be cool would be some black substrate of some kind with a big piece of driftwood and densely planted with some beginner plants. What type (wattage/brand) of lights would work best do you think? I'm using a glass versa hood if that helps.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

I am by no means a plant expert. After all, there are whole forums devoted to plants in aquariums.

But I can say that I've done great at growing various anubis and watersprite under LED lights (yet failed miserably with Myrio - aka FoxTail).

When I tried growing plants under CFLs, I had issues with algae growing ON the plants.

I've also had difficulty with wisteria, moneywart, and ludwigia when I tried those under CFLs.

 

[henningc]

In a 30 up to 8 will work. I house females in most of my tanks as I spawn a lot of Bettas. I would also say introduce them all at once. People are always amazed that my females are 3" +, just a lot of TLC and live food.

 

[JustOneTank]

I am by no means a plant expert. After all, there are whole forums devoted to plants in aquariums.

But I can say that I've done great at growing various anubis and watersprite under LED lights (yet failed miserably with Myrio - aka FoxTail).

When I tried growing plants under CFLs, I had issues with algae growing ON the plants.

I've also had difficulty with wisteria, moneywart, and ludwigia when I tried those under CFLs.

Excuse my ignorance here, but what are CFLs?

Also, how would you go bout introducing them all at once? I'm guessing by letting them all float and do the whole acclimation process and then release them into the tank one by one? How long should I wait between bettas?

 

[HooKooDooKu]

CFL = Compact Florescent Light
If a hood can take an incandescent light, it should be able to take a CFL bulb.