My first female bettas - Suzy the bully...

[Iggy]

I just picked up my first set of female bettas - Suzy, a blue/black with red tips, and Reena, a virtual rainbow of silver, metallic blue, red, and yellow.

The are both staying my my 3gal acrylic tank. I noticed on the way back from the LFS that they were nipping at each other. I thought it might be because they were in a small bag at the time....

Anyway, bring them home, do the whole adding them to the tank process, and Suzy still chases Reena around the tank. Every few minutes, she harasses her, and I am concerned about Reena getting to stressed out.

No visible damage on Reena, but I sure hope this clears up. I added more fake plants and a little plastic rock to give Reena more hiding places.

Is this something that is normal, anything I have to worry about. Should I add another female to make it 3, or trade Suzy (who I like)?

Please anyone with Female betta experience chime in here.

 

[PreciousGems]

The more females, the better, and of course you can't add more than 2-3 in a 3 gallon tank. Some people say you have to have 5 to keep peace among female bettas, but I have had 3 and it worked out fine. They have to establish a pecking order (heirarchy) by nipping and showing who is stronger. If the two don't stop in a few days, or have major injuries, get another. If they still are at it, trade them all in for a nice male betta. Or you can keep 1 female with some ADFs or something. But females tend to pick on little critters more than the males because they are more curious.

Alexa

 

[Iggy]

Thanks Alexa... will try 3 in the tank... the females are still quite young and fairly small in size. I will also see if I cannot get a 10gal so I can have at least 5 in the future.

***UPDATE***
I do not think I will add another female to my 3gal... I am already close to the limit (1gal/1") as it is and Suzy seems to be calming down a bit.

Note: My females are quite young still and fairly small. I will try to get my hands on a 5gal tank so I can hold 3 'mature' females, but till then they do not seem to cramped.