betta alone?

[Vivo]

Would my betta girl be happier in a 5 gallon alone, 15 gallon with 2 other betta girls or a 33 gal hex. with neons and rasboras?

[Daniel]

Back in a previous life when I was a member of the International Betta Congress I raised a lot of bettas and in my experience both males and females would prefer to be apart from other bettas unless it was breeding time. So I wouldn't put her in an aquarium with 2 other girl bettas.

Can you put bettas together? Sure. There times when I had 50 young male bettas in a 10 gallon tank. They didn't fight because there was no point in fighting given there was no territory to defend. They were nippy with each other, but never battles.

Unless you have an enormous amount of space where completely separate very far apart territories can be defended, I would stick to 1 betta per aquarium.

Edited August 13, 2020 by Daniel

[shkote]

I think when people add other fish with Bettas or keep sororities, they do it for their own happiness. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it works for awhile, and goes south. Really your choice and depends on the individual personality of the fish. I have 2 very different Bettas. One could probably peacefully coexist with anything I decided to put him, though I chose to just stick with snails, the other I'm about 99% sure would make sure to dispose of all evidence that anything or anyone ever existed with him. He can't even coexist with snails, but I have caught him trying to bury the shells. I'm trying to be careful with wording here. He's hateful and aggressive. Very different personalities. 

[Brandy]

Lol, +1 for them all being individuals. I have one I originally named Satan. Then he promptly mellowed (or became excessively lazy) and even allowed shrimp. Still, even in a 55g I think multiple bettas together is asking for issues. They are territorial predators. Everything is either a meal or a rival.

I think Satan doesn't care about the snails and shrimps for "enrichment", they are simply too difficult for snacks. He cares a lot about me with a handful of pellets, and is a fan of live foods too, so he gets fed multiple tiny meals a day to keep him from getting bored. The snails and shrimps are there for my benefit, and that of the live plants I like in the tank.

[Vivo]

do betta sororities need to be in 5's?