Female Betta Behavior?

Question

I just bought 3 female bettas from walmart. They were labeled female and look like female vieltaies anyway. I put them in a tank together and two are really aggressive. All 3 flare at each other but it is the 2 I am worried about. Besides flaring they are attacking each other and they almost look like they are cuping each other at times. I read that when introducing them they would establish a pecking order but I also heard if they were attacking each other that's cause for concern. The have plenty of places to hide. but the 2 just keep going at it. So my question is should I wait it out, separate them, or be concerned that they are not female at all? Any help would be great!
p.s. at one time they locked "lips" and would not go, what is that all about? please help!

Answer 1

You got 3 which is already a good start and the minimum you need anyway

They don't really fight, they choose their pecking order

the 3rd one which is not involved in it, is already the lowest one, and will be left alone

now the remaining to will "fight" it out, but they won't kill each other

Since you have already plants in there, I would just watch them, and only separate them if one of them get's hurt and her fins ripped or something



Hope that helps
Good luck



EB

Answer 2

What size is the tank,it should be at least 10 gallons for them to live in peace.You should also have 5 probably instead of 3 to help spread out aggression if your tank is big enough,I have 7 in my 20 gallon tank and while they flare at each other sometimes and chase each other around they don't actually do any harm,it seems to be mostly for show.. Sometime you will get a female that is very aggressive and won't tolerate others but if there doesn't seem to be much damage being done I would leave them for a while and see if they don't settle down,if either of them start to lose alot of fins though you may need to separate them. Some varieties of males do have short fins but I am not really familar with them.

Answer 3

Female bettas are territorial too and need to be mixed carefully, and only in large tanks to give each some space. You can try the trick of packing in more females to distribute aggression, but this just tends to force them into an unnatural truce and doesn't provide the stress free environment that keeps fish healthy for the long term. I would seperate them, but if it meant keeping 2 of them in little bowls I would take two back and concentrate on giving one of them a good home. If you have a tank of at least 5 gallons you can keep some peaceful and calm tank mates with her.

Answer 4

What kind of tank do you have them in?? Since you have 3 I would say each needs a seperate tank at about 3-5 gallons of water since bettas DO grow 3 inches. They wont grow that full length if they are in a crowded space which makes them more at risk for developing problems. NEVER put bettas together here are the charts:
Male + Male = Fight
Female + Male = Fight
Female + Female = Fight
Female from same litter as other + Female from same litter as other = MAY not be fight you have to monitor.
The only real way to know if they are from the same litter is if in the petstore they are all being kept together in a tank and not fighting each other (yes this does happen sometimes).
Seperate them if you dont want them to die! Also you cycled your tank and everything right? Please email me and tell me more about your tank and everything thanks! good luck :]

Answer 5

Check if they are really indeed females, females veiltail bettas do not support long finnage like males, they have rounded tail fins and should vental and anal fins. Sometimes petshops unknowingly mislabel them, females are usually sent to the petshops earlier than the males, and some of the late developing males may have been mistakenly included with them.
If you are sure that they are female, you have an option of either housing them in a bigger tank 10-15 gallon with lots of vegetation and hiding places, or housing them separately. Personally i prefer separating them.

Answer 6

Female betta fish can be just as territorial as males. I had a very aggressive female betta who killed my male when I attempted to breed them.

In general they don't get along with others. I would suggest separating them or you will end up with a bunch of injured fish. Most likely they ARE female. If they were male, it would very obvious (really flashy and long fins).

(When they "locked lips" it was kind of like fighting to the death.)

Good luck! ^_^