# Female bettas in community tank?



## puppyrjjkm (Aug 2, 2009)

I currently have 6 female bettas in a 29 gallon tank with 10 neon tetras and some cories. I was wondering if I could put my female bettas in a community fish tank. It is a 50 or 55 gallon with 2 angelfish (medium size), 2 gold gouramis, 1 pearl gourami, 3 platies, some tetras, and a pleco. Is there anyway my 6 girls would get along in here? I've had male bettas in communities with very similar fish (including gouramis and angelfish) and have never had a problem... what do you guys think?


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## Kelso (Oct 28, 2009)

I personally wouldn't...I'd be too worried about the risk of a labyrinth fight...as well, IDK how the bettas would see the angelfish...or vice versa..


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Bettas and gouramis are in the same family and both are territorial. I don't know how it would be with females, though.


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## nessa1554 (Dec 28, 2009)

I have a 100 gallon tank with 3 angelfish, a discus, 11 cories, a pleco, a botia, 4 ram chiclids, a dwarf gourami, 2 blue gouramis, 3 albino paradise fish, 2 algae eaters, and 10 neons, and I have 3 female bettas in with them without any problems. So maybe try 1 at a time?


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## rrcoolj (Dec 5, 2009)

Here's some insight for your. I am no expert on betas but I want to put in my 2 cents.

There are studies that show bettas actaully do better in a smaller volume of water by themselves. Now alot of inexperienced fish keeper will say that's cruel but there have been reports of bettas withering away in large tanks. They are well designed for lvivng in small amounts of water. You can very well keep your fish in the community tank but laberinth fish can be nasty to eachother so I personally wouldn't do it.


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Any links to these studies? In nature, bettas are often found in very shallow water but the waterways in which they're found are quite large in area, so they live in very large volumes of water. Being hardy fish capable of breathing air from the surface, they're capable of surviving in small containers but do much better in larger tanks. I don't quite understand how a fish would "wither away" in a larger volume of water.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I would also be interested in reading any articles on these studies.


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## beetlebz (Aug 2, 2007)

ive owned female bettas from the start. now i have 13 female bettas in a 20L. At the end of the day i was much happier having them in a species tank than a community. when they were with dwarf gouramis they fought constantly, but i think that had more to do with the gourami being jerks than the bettas. i also had them for a while in my 29g community (RIP) before i started the species tank, with all shapes forms and sizes of fish over time, and they were always hiding. in their planted 20L they are extremely active and not shy at all  even when I had 8 in a 10g they were happy as could be. with the other fish they just tended to be shy is all. really, any fish CAN live in a tiny tank, but no fish is happy like that. unless they are nuts. which is possible. I even had a male betta in a 20L by himself and he was happy as could be... extremely active swimmer, and spent alot of time playing in the filter out flow. weak swimmers indeed...


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## beetlebz (Aug 2, 2007)

i should point out, that i moved my 2 german blue rams in with my 20L sorority, and it didnt change my female bettas behavior in the least!


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## Lynda B (Jan 26, 2010)

I've had my female bettas only in a betta sorority tank..... I'm sorry I have no experience with them with other fish. They did beautifully as a sorority though. No aggression issues whatsoever.


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## rrcoolj (Dec 5, 2009)

Well i can't find the article right now. I know whats an argument with no proof right? The best i could find for right now is reviews from people who have kept them.

Read the reviews at the bottom of this page How to keep your Betta splendens with pictures. And I want to point out that im not saying bettas can't ever be kept in large populated community tanks, it's just that i've read they often fare better in a sparsely stocked tank or on thier own.


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Yikes. A few years ago I used to frequent that site on a regular basis for their fish profiles but I had never looked at the betta pages. The guy comes across as a total jerk. Posting dissenting opinions and making fun of the people who think bettas need adequately sized tanks while posting "after seeing this page, I put my betta in a shot glass and he started a family, works 9-5 at the hospital and wrote MacBeth!" types of comments and praising them. I'll no longer be using his website.


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## rrcoolj (Dec 5, 2009)

I always thaught the guy was pretty "descent" with his info. Now I wouldn't base all my info off his pages, but it's a nice little generaliztion of what certain animals need. IDK about the betta fish page but there are a LOT of people who leave comments on his page that have no idea what thier talking about. So yeah I would be a little agitated when people leave false information on my page thinking they ctually know what thier talking about. Plus if he finds something he's made a mistake on he's usually willing to fix it.


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