betta sorority. sounds perfect!!
- Thread starter hayer
- Start date
I had a 1gal with a male betta before I got my 18gal tall and started a sorority. Keeping male bettas and keeping female bettas singly is NOTHING like keeping a sorority. Trust me. The people at my LFS know that I have a sorority going at all times and they joke that if I can handle a sorority with no fatalities or serious injuries due to aggression, then I can handle ANYTHING (which is why the never question any purchase I make except to ask which tank of mine the fish I'm buying is going into just so they can imagine what the tank will look like with that particular fish in it). I honestly wouldn't recommend sororities to everyone, especially not the way I do mine, but as I've said, mine have worked well. For the first time since I started keeping community tanks, I'm letting my female betta population dwindle to next to nothing (I only have my pink/purple cambodian female and my blue/red female left...Tristan died today), but I'll probably start adding to it again once the 55gal is back up and running.
No clue. He hadn't looked right since my friend's cat shattered the glass canopy on the 18gal while all the fish were still in there (that was last Tuesday). Everyone else in the tank is fine, including the oto. I think he might have just been old, though, 'cuz he was getting pretty big and I've had him for a while. Kinda sad, but not devastated. I've had so many fish die on me since the 55gal exploded that I'm kind of numb to it now.
The cat tried to jump from the top of my tank to the top of my china hutch and happened to push off from the back of the canopy right in the middle where it's weakest.
Okay, so it's hard how to explain my sororities. I buy my girls haphazardly as I find ones that I like, and they've all come from Petsmart or Petco, and I don't necessarily introduce them slowly. Usually they just get dropped into the tank with the rest of the girls. I've never had this back-fire on me, but I usually watch my girls for at least an hour after adding a new girl to make sure there's no problems. Most people who give recommendations on sororities say to add all the females at once and to make sure they're siblings or else you'll have too much aggression. I've never had that problem and none of my girls have ever been related (that I know of). I've honestly only had one female that immediately asserted herself alpha upon being introduced to the tank, but no aggression or fin-nipping ever resulted from it. Her assertion consisted of her flaring at everyone else when they came up to her. lol
Okay, so it's hard how to explain my sororities. I buy my girls haphazardly as I find ones that I like, and they've all come from Petsmart or Petco, and I don't necessarily introduce them slowly. Usually they just get dropped into the tank with the rest of the girls. I've never had this back-fire on me, but I usually watch my girls for at least an hour after adding a new girl to make sure there's no problems. Most people who give recommendations on sororities say to add all the females at once and to make sure they're siblings or else you'll have too much aggression. I've never had that problem and none of my girls have ever been related (that I know of). I've honestly only had one female that immediately asserted herself alpha upon being introduced to the tank, but no aggression or fin-nipping ever resulted from it. Her assertion consisted of her flaring at everyone else when they came up to her. lol
lol, that is so cool!(and lucky
) my plan would be to add the tetras first. then the cat and the pleco. from there i would find 3 girls that i like and add them at the same time. then, as i find more i like, i will add 2 at a time from there as to spread aggresion. would this work? or, i could add 3 girls first. then, add the cat and pleco. then add 3 more girls. then i would add 4 tetras and the last girl. finally i would add the last 2 tetras. which plan looks like a better one?
thanks for all the help and sorry for the long post and all of the 'thens'.
ps, sucks about the glass.
pps could i bump the number of bettas to 8?
) my plan would be to add the tetras first. then the cat and the pleco. from there i would find 3 girls that i like and add them at the same time. then, as i find more i like, i will add 2 at a time from there as to spread aggresion. would this work? or, i could add 3 girls first. then, add the cat and pleco. then add 3 more girls. then i would add 4 tetras and the last girl. finally i would add the last 2 tetras. which plan looks like a better one?thanks for all the help and sorry for the long post and all of the 'thens'.
ps, sucks about the glass.
pps could i bump the number of bettas to 8?
Add everything but the girls first. If you add the girls first, they'll claim the tank as their territory and will not take kindly to anything else invading it. Your first stocking idea (tetras, then cat and pleco, then girls) is the best.
Yes, you can bump the number of girls up to 8 with no problems. As I said, I kept nine of them in an 18gal with no problems (again, wouldn't recommend it, but that's what I did).
Yes, you can bump the number of girls up to 8 with no problems. As I said, I kept nine of them in an 18gal with no problems (again, wouldn't recommend it, but that's what I did).
Wow, just had an "ACk! Wait!" moment. This is definitely going to be in a 29gal, right? If so, you could definitely add a school of 5 or so Von Rios. The Von Rios and black neons have such a small bio-load that both schools together would be like my one school of tiger barbs in my 29gal. Just make sure you overfilter this tank (mainly because of the pleco), add driftwood (for the pleco) and provide plenty of hiding places for the bumblebee cat. Mine (named Grover) only comes out after I feed and turn out one of the lights (I have a dual bulb T5 fixture on the 29gal). If you can, I'd run a filter rated for a 50gal (like an AquaClear 50 or a Penguin 200).
sweet! i will definately do all of these things. and yes, it is definately going to be a 29 gallon tank. lol
so the stocking stands as: 8 female bettas, 5 black neon tetras, 5 von rio tetras, 1 clown pleco(Charlie), and 1 bumblebee cat. i decided i would just go ahead and name the pleco because i just love that name.
so the stocking stands as: 8 female bettas, 5 black neon tetras, 5 von rio tetras, 1 clown pleco(Charlie), and 1 bumblebee cat. i decided i would just go ahead and name the pleco because i just love that name.
lol! I had a mystery snail named Charlie. My little bristlenose pleco doesn't have a name yet, but my bumblebee cat is named Grover (after the satyr sidekick on Percy Jackson and the Olympians). I need a name for my horseface loach as well. I have a peppered cory named Jaws ('cuz he likes to terrorize the tiger barbs).
I'm pretty sure the pleco is a female (her bristles are shorter and all over her nose...males tend to have fewer and they're longer). I have no idea on the loach. Apparently he's pretty young and you can't tell sex until they're older (females are bigger). I think I'm going to go with Kyron for the loach (the centaur camp host from Percy Jackson).
ok, so the tank is actually going to be a 25 gallon tank. it might have to wait awhile(cost).
stocking wise, i really want a sorority and i really want gold barbs and i really want kuhli loaches. could a combo of these go into this tank? it will be planted and will have sand as substrate.
i have a question about the plants as well. do you have to have nutrient enriched substrate and plant food, or can you just have plant food? thanks again for all your help!
stocking wise, i really want a sorority and i really want gold barbs and i really want kuhli loaches. could a combo of these go into this tank? it will be planted and will have sand as substrate.
i have a question about the plants as well. do you have to have nutrient enriched substrate and plant food, or can you just have plant food? thanks again for all your help!