Confusion about sorority

Well, I suppose all I can do is try it. If something goes wrong, I have a spare mini tank ready to take any troublemaker(s) quickly. I don't plan on having any other fish in the tank. So wish me luck. I suppose I was lucky with my two girls before, who were so used to each other that they got along fine with just the two of them in a 2.5 gallon. It gave me the wrong idea about a sorority.

Two more days of medication for my two new little girls (Minty and Chocolate) and then all five will be going into the tank. I'll be watching them carefully for any signs of undue stress, although I'm expecting bickering for the first couple days and that'll be really tough for me to wait out.

Good luck!

if your going the wait and see route just make sure you kinda over load the tank with plants and hiding spaces. almost to the point of guady looking. reducing line of site and creating more hiding places may help reduce agression.

How can you tell if a female is calm? I am also considering starting a sorority and dont want to just throw all the females in together and hope for the best

You can't really tell, I don't think. A female might seem quite docile by herself. Then you put her in a group and she might end up being the most aggressive one. Or she might be the dominant female in one group and the lowest on the totem pole in another group. At least that's my understanding.

Just to give an update on my sorority:
I've had four of my girls together in my 10-gallon tank for nearly two weeks now. (The fifth girl, with the swim bladder problem, never got added and I don't want to add her now that the pecking order has already been established and fins are nearly healed.) The first two or three days, there would be new fins torn every morning when I woke up. One girl actually had a scale pulled partially up, which alarmed me. I did a 50% water change for two days, added trace minerals to the water, added vitamins to their food and watched closely for signs of fungus or other infection. So far so good. Knock on wood.

Now they are all getting along...swimmingly. There is sometimes a little accidental damage when I feed them and some aggression stripes, but those go away soon after mealtime. Fins and tails that were damaged in the initial bickering are either healed or are in the process.

I've never seen anybody use the cave or hide from the others at all. Three of them are almost constantly together in a group, swimming around in the same front-left corner of the tank. The fourth girl seems to like it in the back of the tank, where there's current from the filter.

Back to elli's question, I'm actually surprised by the established pecking order. Rhubarb, the most feisty one, seems to be at the bottom and was quite pale for the first few days. She yields to the top two girls if they give her "the look" (some of you will know what I'm talking about). The girl who stays in the back puzzles me a little. She almost seems to be neutral. If she gets "the look," she moves out of the way. But otherwise she seems unconcerned and the other girls seem indifferent whether she's there or not.