How to Introduce Multiple Female Bettas Into a Tank

Bettas are beautiful tropical freshwater fish from Asia. Although the male fish are highly territorial and fight bitterly among themselves, female bettas can successfully be housed together. Female bettas, however, do establish a pecking order and one individual will typically be more dominant than the others. Successful aquarists place numerous plants into their aquariums to ensure hiding places for the female bettas, in case they need to take shelter from each other.

Things You'll Need

  • 10-gallon aquarium
  • 1 oz. bottle of chlorine neutralizer
  • Aquarium gravel
  • 6 to 8 broadleaf plants
  • Sponge filter
  • Vibrator pump
  • 1.5-foot-long plastic air tube, 0.75-inch diameter
  • Aquarium heater
  • Plastic pegs
  • High-quality flake food
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Instructions

    • 1

      Place your 10-gallon aquarium onto an appropriate tank stand, or onto a solid piece of furniture. Exposure to full sun will cause the growth of nuisance algae, so position the aquarium away from windows.

    • 2

      Fill the aquarium with tap water and add one teaspoon of chlorine neutralizer.

    • 3

      Add a thin layer of aquarium gravel to the tank and place two pieces of driftwood into the aquarium.

    • 4

      Place the aquatic plants in the aquarium. The plants will offer places to hide and rest for the less-dominant female bettas.

    • 5

      Connect one end of the plastic air tube over the hard plastic inlet tube of the sponge filter and place the filter into a back corner of the aquarium.

    • 6

      Connect the opposite end of the air tube to a small vibrator pump and turn the pump on. Adjust the control on the vibrator pump so that only a gentle flow of bubbles leaves the filter.

    • 7

      Set an aquarium heater to 82 degrees Fahrenheit and use the suction cups to secure the heater to the inside aquarium glass pane.

    • 8

      Purchase four to six female bettas. The more fish there are, the less chance that any one female will be singled out by the dominant female, who may become aggressive during the initial introduction period.

    • 9

      Float the plastic bags in which the females arrive in their aquarium. Use a plastic peg to secure the plastic bags to the rim of the tank.

    • 10

      Add one fifth of a cup of aquarium water to each bag, every 15 minutes, to slowly acclimate the bettas to their new water.

    • 11

      Release all of the bettas into the aquarium after an hour. Introduce them at the same time, so that the aquarium is equally strange to each fish.

    • 12

      Feed the bettas well within a half hour of being introduced, to focus their attention on feeding as opposed to aggression.