can i put beta fish together if there are more than 2?

Question

I know that if i put 2 together they'll fight, but what if i put like six of them together? Rainbow Sharks will fight each other....but not if you put 6 or more together. Is it the same situation?.......Has anyone tried to put more than 2 beta fish together?

Answer 1

In general males can't be kept together. There are exceptions, but most of these were raised together from birth. Even then these are 2-3 with females. It's possible with really mild mannered males to get them use to seeing together, and gradually introduce them together. These tend to end in a death match when a betta is added or removed and the pecking order dissolves into a blood bath.

Females can be kept together in large tank with plenty of cover. One per 5-10 gallons is a good rule of thumb. Females are still aggressive, and will fight for about a week before working out a pecking order. Most betta owners don't recommend pair of bettas as the alpha often picks on the other betta to much. In my betta tank the tank alpha, and beta female actually were the ones who took the brunt of the damage. (The smallest actually took no fin damage as she just spent the week hiding.) Note that adding or removing betta will generally force a violent reordering of the pecking order.

Male and females in general can't be kept together. Betta mating is tied into betta aggression. The best you can hope for is a relatively peaceful mating followed by the male chasing her into a corner. (Note mating is often proceeded by the male beating the **** of the female.) The last I tried to add a guy to my girls tank the tank alpha nearly killed him.

Note that bettas generally don't fight with non betta in 10 gallon or larger tanks. Males may stake out a territory, or chase after other fish for a week or so. But males are poor swimmers so most fish can outrun and hide from a male betta. Male guppies are a bad idea as they fail the looks like a betta test, and are pretty slow swimmers. Honestly most male betta are more at risk of being fin nipped than hurting their tank mates.

My females have never bothered their molly tank mates. Other than my old tank alpha who on occassion chased my male lyretailed molly out of her area. (Which was funny as he was 4 inches long and outmassed her by x3-4.) Of course she was fearly, beat up male bettas, and would boldly come up my hand/arm, while I was cleaning the tank, and see if I was good to eat. (Bettas while carnivores tickle when they bite.)

Answer 2

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RE:
can i put beta fish together if there are more than 2?
I know that if i put 2 together they'll fight, but what if i put like six of them together? Rainbow Sharks will fight each other....but not if you put 6 or more together. Is it the same situation?.......Has anyone tried to put more than 2 beta fish together?

Answer 3

Betta Fish Together

Answer 4

Put as many females together as you wish, but only include ONE male. Should the male build a bubble nest and reproduce with the females seperate the male fry from him and each other as soon as you recognize them as being male.
The males are the pretty ones with the long flowing fins and the gorgeous colors. Females are a lot less showy.
And to jeff d: Males don't mate with each other, females and males do. Some male bettas may even attack their own reflection. That's how breeders in Thailand test for aggressivesness to see if the fish in question would make a good fighter.

Answer 5

You can put more than one beta in the same tank as long as the tank has enough space to allow the suboordinate betas to hide from the "alpha" beta. You will also need lots of plants and hiding places.

They won't fight to the death. But they will fight, and until they establish a pecking order amongst themselves, they will be looking pretty rough. The female betas also will fight each other, and the males will pick on the females whenever they ar3e not engaged in breeding activity.

When betas fight, they chew at each others fins until one flees from the winner. The fins will grow back in time, but after the fight they run a high risk of infection and disease, so you may need to add some antibiotics to their water. Sometimes, they may go head to head and lock on each others' jaws. In this case, they will just sink to the bottom and then let go of each other, come to the top to breath, and after the mutual truce to catch their breath, resume fighting. The fight is highly unlikely to result in death unless one manages to get a good attack on the gills of the other. The fights can last over eight hours, and aren't very exciting to watch. At least not after the first hour.

More than two betas in the same tank will wind up as a free for all. It is best managed if you have one male in a tank with some females. Maybey you want to put a bunch of males in the same tank, but I can't imagine why you would do that, unless you get off on carnage. If you have six betas in one tank, each one will wind up fighting each of the other five fish, and they will likely all be fighting at the same time; they won't sit back and wait their turn to make things fair. If you take one out for a while and reintroduce him to the tank with the rest, they will fight again as if nothing had been settled. With that kind of stress, they will likely not survive and will succomb to infection or disease.

The females will most likely flee from the males, and the fights between females aren't nearly as violent or long lasting. But they will still confront each other, and if there aren't any places for them to get away from the alpha female, they will be continually harrassed and chased around by whichever females have established dominance over them.

If you plan to breed them, you need to have some floating plants in the cage, and your filter must be one that doesn't disturb the surface too much. Beta breeding is easy. The female pumps out the egs and the male makes a nest of bubbles that are affixed to floating plants or weeds that stick out of the water's surface. The male takes the egs into his mouth and spits them into the bubbles. He will then guard them and will attack any fish that comes close to the nest, including the female whose eggs are in it.

Answer 6

Dont put two bettas together, two males will fight to death, and a male and female MIGHT. but, two females can go together. My male betta lives with gourami, algae eater, and glass catfish. They get along fine. My others live with ghost shrimp, and african dwarf frogs. Good luck!! just try not to keep bettas in small bowls, or vases.

Answer 7

You can put a male with multiple females in a large aquarium. Only the males fight each other. Even in a community tank 2 male bettas will fight If the see each other.

Answer 8

all beta fish get along, if they didnt then beta's couln't mate. Put as many as you want in, jsut amke sure it's a big enough tank. The rule is 2 gallons per 1 fish.

Answer 9

beta fish are supremely territorial and will attempt to murder all other fish in their tank. They are especially hostile with other betas.

Answer 10

you cannot put two male bettas in the same tank they will kill each other but you can put 2 or more females in the same tank just remember that male and females do not go together either the male will kill the female .