I was just given two female Bettas and don't know what to do now.

[Kaelinstorm]

Bettas are very easy to take care of. Female bettas can be together. No problem. But you never want to put a male betta with any other male or any females, unless you plan to and know how to mate them. Even during mating you have to do certain procedures that keep them separated until the very moment they will be ready to mate. Otherwise the male betta will over mate her (he will chase her around the tank to the point of exhaustion and death) or even possibly just kill her. Ive actually done the mating thing before with bettas so trust me I know. Also male bettas do not go with other fancy tailed fish: Fantail goldfish, guppies, swordtails, etc. Bettas have what equates to primortial lungs so they can live in shallow water in their native environment. They dont need a filter or anything since they can breath air from the surface. Your girlies will be fine in those cups (as long as you keep them clean) their entire lives... that being said though I still believe fish are much happier with more space (arent we all) and less cleaning will be envolved, if you have any large flower vases on hand this would be the best option until you can get them a tank - a two gallon would be best (Rule is 1 gallon for 1 inch of fish except schoolers and goldfish).

Im sure the heavily planted large tank would work but I agree it would have to be a very large very planted tank. I just dont chance those kinds of things myself. And Id hate to waste a large tank on 3 tiny fish LOL

Congratulations on your new girls.

 

[Stephanie739]

Quote:
Why do they need to be separated? The males fight, not the females. I have had 2 females in with a male before, was hoping for babies (never happened, but they didn't fight)

 

[chicmom]

Two female bettas will be fine together, it's just you can't put two males together, and also, you can only put the males and the females together when they're not ready to breed yet, else the male will kill the female......

At least that's what I've heard.....

 

[annageckos]

You can't keep the male and females together, he will kill them. I use to keep a large group of females in my heavily planted 55 gallon tank and they did well. Keeping females together can be tricky. Some will fight just as bad as the males. It is best to keep either one or five or more together. A 5 1/2 gallon tank is fine for one, or a ten gallon with lots of plants (real or fake)/ rocks and/or wood to house up to six females. The idea behind having many females is that one does not get picked on too much, it is spread between the group. Remember too that bettas are tropical fish. Yes they can survive at room temps, but to be happy and healthy they should be in a heated tank, kept at temps between 78-82F. I use sponge filters on my smaller tanks, they work well. You run them off an air pump, bettas don't like a lot of water movement, but you shouldn't keep them in stagnant water either.

ETA
My females died off over the years. When I did have them they shared the tank with many other fish, mostly a couple schools of tetras, cory cats, otto cats and bristle nose catfish and various apisto (dwarf cichlids). I have kept males with guppies without a problem, but you have to watch to make sure they are getting along. I currently have a half moon male betta in the planted 55 with pencil fish, harlequin rasboras, wrestling halfbeaks, black phantom tetras a Bolivian ram and a pair of cockatoo apistos and they all get along fine. I have another half moon in with some wild type guppies and white clouds without issue. I have a plakat betta alone, but that is because he is in a 5.5 gallon. The reason I say all this is to show that you can keep bettas with other fish, you just need to know your betta. I think it is more likely for the betta to be nipped at then for it to go after other fish. At least that has been my experience.

 

[Stephanie739]

Quote:
That is what we had in that kind of set up for the pair fo Bettas we had. Worked quite well and when they did confront each other, the female ignored him and the male goes Humpfh! and swimmed away from her.

It has been years since I have had betas but I had a 10 gallon aquarium, and many fake plants.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

The females might be ok together but I would keep an eye on them. I would not put the male with the females though. They may be ok together, but it would be a very stressful environment for them to be in.

Honestly, anything works well for a last minute tank for a betta. A friend of mine used one of those large plastic pretzel rod containers you get from sam's club. It was easily two gallons and worked very well. Even buckets work well if that's the only thing you have at hand.

Petsmart does sell critter keepers super cheap and those work very well. I got a 2 gallon one for about $5. That would work perfectly as well.

Also, they sell very cheap dividers you can cut to fit most any tank at Pet Smart. That would work ok in your 6 gallon.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Females can be together. Males cant. A male can be kept with females as long as the tank is not to small.

 

[ChickenAlgebra]

Quote:
Why do they need to be separated? The males fight, not the females. I have had 2 females in with a male before, was hoping for babies (never happened, but they didn't fight)

Females MAY fight. They can be just as nasty as the males. If they've lived together before without war, they should be ok together. But not 100% guarantee on that. Nicholas has a 10 gallon with 3 females and 2 3 gallons with a male in each. They do fine, but the males have to be kept apart, can't sit the tanks side by side or they will spent the entire time trying to start war.

 

[Kickin.Cowgirl]

well I have kept female betta's together with lots of plants/decorations to provide hiding until they get to know each other... but the males have to stay alone unless they are put in with goldfish (mine is in with two oranda's and two nerd fish right now) but def. NO other male betta's... good luck!

 

[Desirai]

without reading anything in the thread so far:

I've kept female betta communities for about 6 years now.
Females DO get along with each other, but they CAN be aggressive as well.
They can not be in the same tank with the male, because there is not adequate space.
If you had a 50 gallon aquarium, that would be different. The tank I use for my female communities is a 30 gallon and I wouldn't risk it.
The females will be perfectly fine together, but they need to have at least a 10 gallon aquarium, otherwise they may fight with each other.
Generally females are very docile and will not attack other fish, but there are some fish such as guppies with long flowing tails that may warrant a fight, simply because they look like male bettas.