Feeding and Nutrition :: One betta down

[PcBuilder14]

The only fish I've ever put in my turtle tank, are 2 Rosy Red Minnows. Which lasted only like 5 minutes. I forgot to set the bag in the tank and let the water temp even out.

[powerofvoodoo]

*Some* betta females can live in a sorority tank together. I will stress that it's only some though because from what I've read, you can't just buy a couple female bettas in petsmart and throw them in one tank. The tank has to be big enough and properly maintained at all times. Also, there's certain numbers that are recommended to have at a time to reduce aggression (I can't remember if it's even or odd numbered fish). And finally, it's best to buy them after they've already lived together so that you know they will probably be okay in your tank.
Story: I walked into a Wal-Mart one day (about 2 weeks ago) and saw that someone put two betta females in one small bowl. The smaller female ripped the bigger female's tail apart (although the bigger female did put up a fight and did damage to the smaller female) and the bigger female had scales missing from her body (that looked like they would do pretty significant scarring if she didn't die from an infection from the injuries). Yes, I did carry the jar around until I found a Wal-Mart employee who would put the females into separate containers for me.

[taylor_a]

I've had my betta for just over 2 years. He's not doing too well...but he seems to cycle, probably from stress when I get the bright idea to change his habitat.

I put him in the tank with my turtle and I swear he was going to die from it, but after a week or two back in his old little plastic tank, he was up and running good as new.

Now, I had to get him a new tank because there was a big crack in his old one, and he's back to being on death row. He's no longer eating, and he just lays on his side at the bottom of the tank. Poor guy.

[meltedspork]

Do you guys put more than one betta in a bowl/tank, i thought that was unheard of.

You just can't keep 2 or more males together, those are the ones that fight.

[ilcapo21]

Ahh i see, i thought they all just fought no watter what.

[powerofvoodoo]

Females will fight too. The key is to keep a large number of them so there's less of a chance they'll gang up on each other and to have a lot of hiding spots for them to be able to get away from the other fish if they want/need to. Again, it is extremely difficult to maintain a sorority tank.

[TheComputerGremlin]

I've also heard that you can keep males together as long as the tank is large enough that they won't come into contact with each other. Bettas are very protective of their space, but they can only patrol like a gallon or two of water, so "supposingly" if you have like a massive tank, they will keep to each of their corners and live together. I think it'd be pretty cool to try out, though I would have to be quick on my feet to get them out if they found each other!

Females can be kept together, and with other fish too. But just like RES, they need their own personal space.

[powerofvoodoo]

From what I've read (and I'm as obsessed about my betta knowledge as I am about my turtle knowledge), you can't have a tank too big for males (or females for that matter). A lot of betta keepers recommend a 2.5 gallon minimum for one male and a lot of them have 5 or 10 gallon tanks for a single male. I haven't read anything about keeping males together successfully.