Betta Sororities
What is a sorority?
Simply put, a sorority is a group of female bettas living together in the same tank. Many fish keepers do not support the making or keeping of sororities, because they can very easily go wrong. And as such, keeping sororities should only be attempted by people with a good deal of Betta keeping experience, not just fish keeping experience.
Simply put, a sorority is a group of female bettas living together in the same tank. Many fish keepers do not support the making or keeping of sororities, because they can very easily go wrong. And as such, keeping sororities should only be attempted by people with a good deal of Betta keeping experience, not just fish keeping experience.
How can I keep a sorority safely?
Rather than simply telling you not to keep a sorority, like others, and leaving you to make it up for yourself (which would likely end badly), I'd rather share my experience and give you tips to do it as safely as possible.
Rather than simply telling you not to keep a sorority, like others, and leaving you to make it up for yourself (which would likely end badly), I'd rather share my experience and give you tips to do it as safely as possible.
The first thing to consider is your setup. As you can see on the "Our Bettas" page, I list my 10 gallon sorority as experimental. After setting up several sororities, trust me when I recommend the minimum tank size for a sorority to be a 20 gallon long tank. This will give them enough room set up their own territories, and gives you enough water volume to safely manage your bioload. It also greatly opens up your possibilities for ditherfish! (We'll get to those later) The 10 gallon was incredibly hard to get balanced and get the females just right, and as such, use at least a 20 long (not tall), or more.
For your actual set up, the more plants and other decor you have in the tank, the better. Plants and hides will break up sightlines, which will allow the females to hide from each other, and help minimize aggression. Lots of plants and hides are a must. One of the best thing you can add are floating plants with dangling roots. Bettas love these regardless, but the roots will also help break up sightlines. |
The next thing to think about, is how many fish you need for your sorority - you want 4 to 6 fish minimum. More is better. The reason for this is: if you have 2 fish, one will bully the other [to death]. If you have three, two will bully the third [to death] and then you will only have two. With four, the aggression is more equally distributed, and this is why more is better. (I did come across someone who had been told that they should only be kept in even numbers. I do not know where they heard this, but even or odd has no bearing on anything other than your personal preferences.)
When you're selecting females, there are several things you can do to ensure success. Elephant Ear ("Dumbo") females can often not fare well in sororities. Their pectoral fins are somewhat more delicate then normal, and can be targeted by other females. I'm not saying they can't be kept in sororities, I'm just saying they might not fare as well. For example, some other females find the large pectoral fins offensive and may target those fish. I have one female who will specifically target elephant ear females and hunt them down, latching onto the pectoral fins when she gets a chance (And as such, is not kept in a sorority with them). As well, after discussion with some other fish keepers, we have noticed that many elephant ears end up being the biggest bully in the tank and need to be removed. Not all are like that, but it's just something to consider.
Once you have your chosen fish, you're still not ready to put them in your tank. Place them in cups (like the ones at petco) or in something like jars. Set them directly next to each other, so that they can easily see each other. Leave them like this for 24 hours or so. Change their water every 6-12 hours to ensure none die of ammonia poisoning. After changing their water, move them around to see other fish, if you have a lot. This step is crucial - it teaches the fish that aggression is fruitless.
You will likely have the best success with fish that are related, as they will likely have been raised together for some period of time. If you are buying from a pet store (whether local or a chain), females that are similar tail types and arrived at the same time are more likely to be related. Also, if you are buying in person at a store, you will want to choose the most docile fish. You can potentially determine this by holding their cups next to each other, and choose the ones that react less (flaring/lunging/etc). |
After completing this step, you can then add them to your tank. Some places recommend adding one at a time, 15 minutes apart and most docile to most aggressive. The theory behind this is solid, but isn't actually a great idea. The thought is that it allows the most docile to establish her territory first, and the most aggressive is entering the territory of the others, making her more accepting. However, the 15 minute gap is too much, the most docile that is added first will qualify the whole tank as hers, and become much more aggressive. It is much better to add them all at once, after temperature acclimating. This gives each a fairer chance to claim territory, a more equal playing field.
It will be up to you to watch the fish attentively for the first few days after establishing your tank. If the aggression is too much, you can remove the issue female. Some have had success with putting aggressive fish in "time outs" and releasing them later. I find this only works some of the time. Because of this aggression, you will likely see a few diseases pop up - be ready. It seems ich is the most common, followed by popeye (the kind caused by injury, not infection). |
What are ditherfish? This is an important step that many ignore. Ditherfish are fish that break up aggression (likely because they swim "hither and dither" if I had to guess). My personal favorite are platys, they are smaller than mollies, are more peaceful than barbs, and look a little like female bettas themselves. Some people say that this similarity is bad, but it's actual a good thing. My females often try flaring at platys as if they are another betta, but when they don't return the aggression, the bettas, again, learn that the aggression is fruitless. Platys are also active enough that they frequently wander through bettas being aggressive to each other, which breaks it up. Barbs are also good for similar reasons, but the downside is that they may nip fins. Those are my two top options because they are pretty, as well. Bettas are very pretty, so having a pretty ditherfish, for me, is also a must. Small, peaceful fish like chili rasboras or celestial pearl danios will not be effective ditherfish. |