Splitting A Tank

Would you split a ten gallon tank into four 2.5 gallons with two females split up and two males split up or would you do one five gallon with three females and a 2.5 on both sides with a male in each? Do dividers work well?

Personally I'd only divide it a maximum of in half 5 gallons each side but that is my own opinion. Dividers work very well aslong as you make sure they are secured into place with no gaps for the bettas to swim through.

Hi
The only issue with females in a smaller environment is that they can be just as aggressive as males You only need 1 out the 3 females to be over dominant, and there will be permanent stress for all of them. There could also be lots of fin damage
3 isn't really a good number of females to keep together. They are better kept in groups of 5 or more in at least a 10 gallon.
If your tank is the regular 18"x12"x12" which is around 10g, i would probably just divide into 2 and have 2 males :D

Shop bought dividers are good for ease of fitting and allow water flow through :D

I agree with the above post, if you're going to keep girls together, you need to set yourself up for success by giving them enough room to establish their own territories, hide from each other, and generally keep enough together to disperse the aggression across more individuals. If you put two girls together, the more dominant of the two would keep attacking the less dominant, and if you kept three, the two dominant ones would likely gang up on the least dominant. Both situations would likely result in casualties. Two boys in 5 gallons seems like your best bet.

I was talking to a breeder and he said just to try it and see how it goes! So I am just gonna give it a go. I mean I have had 3 females together in a six gallon with no problems so a five gallon is only one gallon less. I will just try it. I really want some males that's why I want to split it like that. I will post pics when it is done. One male will be named Odyssey! I just hope the one I saw and liked is still at the store! Thanks guys!

ReptileLuver729 wrote:I was talking to a breeder and he said just to try it and see how it goes! So I am just gonna give it a go. I mean I have had 3 females together in a six gallon with no problems so a five gallon is only one gallon less. I will just try it. I really want some males that's why I want to split it like that. I will post pics when it is done. One male will be named Odyssey! I just hope the one I saw and liked is still at the store! Thanks guys!

If you are going to ask for advice and then ignore the advice given to you by experienced fish keepers/breeders what is the point of asking. Keeping 3 females in 5 gals is just asking for trouble which is what people have advised!! I would personally not risk the lives of my fish by experimenting with unsuitable living environments!

But what's really the difference between a 5 gallon and a 6 gallon? I am not trying to be rude I was just told to try it out and see what happens. If they are fine in the 6 gallon I would think they would be fine in a 5. The breeder said that he usually does 1 fish per gallon. I was just looking for a second opinion from this forum. Besides they are very small bettas. No hate please.

The difference of a gallon is quite big IMHO its like saying keeping in a 1 gal is just the same as keeping in a 2 gal its a big difference to the fish!!

By the time you have added a filter, heater, gravel and enough plants/hidy holes for the girls there wont be a big enough swimming space IMO! Its not hate its common sense!

The thing is ReptileLuver......3 experienced people took the time to give you pretty much the same advice and then you take one person's word over theirs.

No one is meaning to attack or be mean but it is frustrating to them when their advice is ignored and at the end of the day, we all have the fishes best interest at heart and don't want you to have any problems or lose any of your fish if it can be avoided :D .

You have to remember that females can be just as aggressive as males and I'm sure you wouldn't consider putting 3 males in a 5 gal, so why 3 females.

Obviously they are your fish and the choice of what to do is ultimately down to you. Just please take the time to consider their well being over your desire to fit as many as possible into the one tank

ReptileLuver729 wrote:The breeder said that he usually does 1 fish per gallon. I was just looking for a second opinion from this forum. Besides they are very small bettas. No hate please.

I have a 3 foot 21 gallon with 11 females. No way would I use the 1 fish per gallon that the breeder told you. There is just enough space in mine for them all to have their own space. 21 females would be WAY over crowded.

I would never own less than 5 females together also.

BTW very small Bettas grow into bigger Bettas

i agree with mel, i think that people in the past have gotten away with keeping small groups of females togther but this only happens accasionally with large tanks with lots and lots of cover and hiding places for them to hide. 5 gal would simply mean that each female wouldnt feel safe and secure as everytime they would want to swim about they would be attacked by the more dominent female therefore it probs would be best to increase your tank size and numbers of females

Usually the one inch of fish per gallon rule is for schooling fish between 1-4 inches, and it's more of a stocking guideline than anything else.. this isn't really a question of bio load as much as it is a question of curbing aggressive behavior. It's great that your 3 girls per 6 gallons worked, I wouldn't expect that to go well at all, but keep in mind that even in the most ideal of situations, a sorority can be peaceful for months, and then one girl will have a bad day and everything could erupt into chaos. For that reason, many people do not do it at all, but if you do, it merely makes sense to try to do it right. Fish that are comfortable in their surroundings will be much more beautifully colored and active, a couple of males would probably do wonderfully and look great. I find solitary fish are much more interactive responsive to people anyway.

Ok so what about splitting the tank into four 2.5 gallons and having two males and separating my two existing females? Sorry about this, but I just had a really good picture of the tank in my mind and when the breeder said it was fine I ran with it and didn't want anyone to mess it up. LoL. P.S. I am 12, so don't be too harsh LoL. Thanks guys!

I think one of the main issues here, is the differing views of UK betta keepers to that of many betta keepers in the USA. I think it is common knowledge that standard guidelines for the minimum tank size for bettas is somewhat different, depending which side of the pond you live. A quick search for betta on ebay.co.uk will, at present, show only one business seller having small tanks for sale. By small i mean less than 2 UK gallons. Where as on ebay.com there are lots of sellers with bowls down to a quarter of a gallon, sometimes even smaller. So if the sellers of bowls and bettas in the USA are informing the prospective buyers that half a gallon is perfect, then its no wonder that most bettas are kept in smaller environments. This is also true of Canada and Australia.

With regards to this topic, 5 US gallons = 4.2 UK gallons, which is about the size of tank that most people in the UK would house a single male in. As Etcetera says, the 1 inch per gallon rule is flawed, as it does not take into account aggresive, territorial or particularly dirty fish. Females can be very aggressive as can be seen in the picture below. This damage was caused within a very short period of time.
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I think the reason you had the replies you did today, is that a number of members who are betta keepers/breeders advised you against trying it in a 5g, and you have said that one person has said to try it, so you have chosen to take the advice of 1 person over 3 or 4. I know that i advised against this based upon my own experience, not through here say, hence why we do not have a sorority tank at present.

The original advice given on this thread was given for yours , and your fishes best interests in mind. No one wants people to set something up, only to have problems in the future.

4 x 2.5g sounds absolutely fine, and it will be less stressful to you and your fishes :D

That IMO would be fine they would own have their own space. We aren't being nasty its just we all care about all fishes welfare!! Its great that your asking for the advice as long as you listen to what people tell you :lol!:

Thanks, but one more question. I try to rescue scraggly bettas and I was wondering if I put fin medicine in one bettas divided part of the tank if it was ok to have it go into the other bettas' parts even if they don't have ripped fins.

Hi again :D
If the fins are just ripped through fin nippers and not through fin rot, then just nice clean water will do it the world of good. Some people add a small amount of aquarium salt which appears to aid healing (i'll try and remember how much aquarium salt it is) But it does have to be Aquarium salt NOT regular salt.

Aquarium salt can be added at a rate of 1 tablespoon per 5 USG of water. Just dissolve it a jug of tank water, then pour it in.

Thanks! Ok this is my FINAL plan...I think. 10 US Gallon tank split into four 2.5 gallons using three dividers. The far left 2.5 will house Zylia, my biggest female. She is green! Her side will have the filter which is a Marineland for a 20 gallon tank. The next 2.5 will house Rainee my smaller female. She is a beautiful navy blue! The next 2.5 will house one of the two new males I pick out. And the next 2.5 will house the other male I pick out. I only have a name for one of the males, Odyssey. I saw this really pretty white male CT with a blue-ish green sheen to it with like blue-ish green fins and the local LFS. I just hope he's still there! All of the 2.5's will have white Aqua Terra brand sand. Each of the 2.5's will have a decoration that is like the second thing that catches your eye in that section. The first being the betta itself. I am going for a Mayan/Buddha/Ruins theme, so the decoration for each section will be something along those lines. Each 2.5 will also have several fake plants with the taller plants near the divider, so they can't see each other. Sound good? This will happen towards the end of July, so pics will be up then! :D

Hi
The set-up sounds good
I've tried looking at the Marineland filters, but cant get a clear image of them. Is it possible to attach a piece of tubing to the outley on them? I ask, as the water flow to the other sections will be quite low. If you can attach a piece of tubing, then get a piece long enough to go from the filter to the opposite end of the tank. This way you will have really good circulation:) But you may have to put a female in the section where the outlet is.

If you cant attach a piece of tubing the maybe have the filter in one of the middle sections:)

If you can see in the picture, i have done the tube thing. It can also go over the top of the dividers:)
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