to buy or not to buy a betta!?

Question

I'm thinking about buying a five gallon filtered tank for a betta fish to put in my office at work. Five gallon is the MAX i'm alloud to have here. I have a 29 gallon and 10 gallon tank at home, so I'm not a complete newbie to fish. My question is, would two females and a male get along... is that too small of a tank for that many fish, and would one male be okay by himself with maybe a few ottos in the tank to help keep things clean if I didn't get the three bettas? Any other betta advice? thanks!

so one male betta and some plants and deco! ;) thanks for the advice!

Answer 1

You should really NEVER put two bettas together, even two females. If they don't fight and harm/kill each other, at the very least, they will both be miserable.
The only time it would be acceptable is if you put them in a 100gallon tank, with enough room for each to establish their own territory and/or escape from the other.
Your only other choice is to get tank dividers and put one betta on either side of it. But I don't why you'd want to do that; one small tank divided into two tiny parts with a fish on either side doesn't look very good.

So, get one male.
Do not get otos. Otos should be kept in groups of 4 or more (less than 4 and they will be very shy - more than 4 and they become very outgoing), and they are very delicate.
If you want tank makes for your betta, get a few dwarf african frogs. That's about the only thing that can live with a betta in a tank that small, except maybe a mystery snail (NOT an apple snail - those get baseball sized ;))

So, one male by himself would be happy as a clam. If you wanted to get 2 or 3 african dwarf frogs, that would be juts fine, too, the betta wouldn't notice them. Just make sure you read up on them, they are not the easiest tank animals to take care of, and they can easily succomb to poor water conditions.

If you don't want african dwarf frogs (don't get clawed frogs! they grow huge), then you could get a tank with a fluorescent light, and get lots of plants. That always looks nice with a nice betta.

Also, if anyone tells you a betta is fine in a bowl, that is completely UNTRUE. There is a misconception that bettas from from tiny, muddy, dirty rice paddy puddles, which isn't really true. They come from areas with open water, with rocks, wood, plants, other fish, etc. Any betta stuck in a tiny puddle would die. Aside from the fact that the fish can barely swim, a small bowl comes dirty very rapidly. And because cycling is impossible, it is necessary to replace 100% of the water several times a week, which causes unnecessary stress for the betta, which has to be netted and dumped back in on a regular basis. And if you DON'T frequently replace the water, the bowl will rapidly foul up and your fish will suffer ammonia burn and poisoning. People stick their bettas in bowls and wonder why they only live a few months.
In a larger tank, cycling is possible, and so are small, weekly water changes.
It is true that in a very large tank, a betta may be anxious, but that only lasts until he finds his own territory.

All in all, your betta will be much, much happier in a nice 5 gallon tank, all to himself, than in a bowl, or in a 5 gallon with other fish.

Answer 2

Unless the male betta was raised from birth with the females it will end badly. With males it's hard to tell. Some will happily hang out with platty, molly, and swordtails. Others will kill everything including snails. With males it's always best to put them into other fishes tanks than put other fish in their tank. Generally snails, sucker fish, and bottom feeders work well.

Females are less aggressive than males, but still fight with other females. Generally they'll beat each other up for a week as a pecking order is worked out. Then live happily together until you add a new one, remove one, or let them see a male betta. Then you get a violent reordering of the pecking order. I tend to say one female per 5 gallons, and provide lots of cover. 2 is generally bad as one is always picking on the other.

Of course it depends on the temperament of the females in question. In my girls tank the 2 toughest females have spent the last 5 months fighting on and off. (The others are fine.) Nothing I've done from adding larger female to a month of time out looking at each has helped. Prior to this the tank was ruled by an aggressive female who was known to on occasion chase about large sailfin molly, bite my arm (tickled), and beat up her prospective mates.

Answer 3

I have two tanks with 3 female bettas in one and 2 in the other. The females may fight for a little bit just to build a pecking order but they will easily learn to live fine together with no problem. Adding a male will cause major problems though. I would stick with a male (and possibly other fish as was stated earlier) or go with a few females, which are still very nice to look at.

Answer 4

I had a 5 gallon minibow with 4 female bettas and it was fine. HOwever, you will need to get a 25 watt heater becaus most office buildings turn off the heat and bettas are warmwater fish, they need the temp to 78-80. Definatly do not mix females with males.

Answer 5

Take out one of the males right away. They will eventually fight unless you have a large enough tank to allow both of them a territory. Do not purchase a female until you learn about breeding Bettas. It is time consuming and complicated. They need specific conditions. And most be conditioned. You need to keep the male and female separate in pristine conditions and keep them well fed on quality foods (preferably live). Then release the male into your set up tank. I suggest a 10 Gallon with no rocks or gravel and a lot of live plants (for the female to hide in). Temperature of 80 degrees F (can be between 78-82). The filter should be a sponge covered air stone type. You need to limit surface movement and ensure the fry once hatched will not be sucked up in a filter. After a day or so get a breeding floating tank (clear acrylic, inexpensive $4) and put the female in side so that the two can see each other and without touching (or hurting each other). This will get them both in the mood. The male should start building a bubble nest and the female will become swollen with eggs and have a distinctive horizontal stripe running the length of her body. After the nest is done and the male only has eyes for his lady. let her out. Keep a close eye to ensure her safety. He will chase her around. Then wrap his body around hers to cause her to drop her eggs. He will fertilize them and then carry them up to the bubble nest. after she has dropped her eggs the male will chase off the female and typically kill her to keep her from eating them. So REMOVE her immediately. The male Betta should maintain the nest of bubbles and keep the eggs safely in their place until they hatch. In some cases the male will eat them too if this should happen remove him too and hope for the best. About two weeks later you will have fry. Once they hatch remove Daddy to keep him from eating them! Now comes the tricky part! Keeping the water parameters where they should be, the temperature especially. Feed the fry with liquid fry food and later live baby brine shrimp. Breeding Bettas is NOT something you do on a whim. You have to read and learn a lot then get everything needed for the set up. The most important part to insure the safety of the fish.

Answer 6

male bettas are fine with other species of fish as long as they don't resemble another betta too much. I have seen some males show aggression to females but it depends on the fish. I think 5 gallons would be plenty adequate for three bettas. The more surface area the tank provides the better.

Answer 7

Unless you want to breed the betas I wouldn't put 2 females and a male together. I would say one male by himself or with an alagae fish would be fine.

Answer 8

i had a betta and it lived 3 years and got to mate with a another betta, a betta is a good first fish besides a goldfish it loves to have a small bowl, and mabye one fake plant. it very cheap and cool fish. but you cant have two togetherNO MALES CAN BE TOGETHER>

Answer 9

You'll get best results if you keep your Betta in a small bowl.Only one fish/bowl.You don't need to get a filtered tank.( it is recommended).They get their air from the surface.If you keep them like this you'll have a betta with superb fins(large and very coloured fins)

Answer 10

He`ll eat good if they don`t.