I'm never getting another betta.....

Didn't last long. In fact, I'm back up to 9

A rescued female betta was getting beaten up in my dad's tank, and I couldn't leave her. So I set my 60 ltr back up. And then I couldn't just leave her without company so I bought 4 more. And then they were squabbling so I couldn't really leave it at 5, so I've just bought another 4 XD They're all so tiny compared to the original rescued female.

60ltrs might be a little crowded for 9 females, but it'll be ok whilst they grow out. And I'm only keeping shrimp with them, so I think it'll be alright for a while.

I have one who I think is potentially a male- very bright, vivid colours, flares a lot at the others and has pretty long fins already. Guess I'll just have to wait and see, and if it turns out "he" is actually a he, I'll have to set up one of the small tanks again.

And so yeah.... It made me realise how much I've missed having betta, especially a group of females.

Photos to come later once the new guys have settled in

Can't wait for pics!

Especially of the possible males.

Sam

Never say never lol

You'd think I'd know by now, wouldn't you?

PICTOOR TIME!

Their tank at the moment (I'll probably re-scape it in a week or two once they've all settled in).





Crappy photo, but it gives you a rough size as to how large the rescued female is compared to the new ones.











Fat belly after being fed bloodworm. Peas for dinner tomorrow night methinks!



This one roughly shows how damaged the rescue female's fins are. These are a big improvement from when I put her in the 60ltr.



Group shot.



And the potential male. I hope I'm wrong, but this one flares so much at the others and it's reflection. Plus how brightly coloured it is. Any guesses?









The colourations on this one change depending on the lighting. Very pretty betta either way though

And I'll stop spamming now XD *is chuffed with them all* XD

Very pretty betta's!

is it just me though or do they have their sex stripes on?? lol

Considering they're only run of the mill fish shop betta, I'm very, very pleased with them

lol, I thought they were stress stripes?

They all look great.

There's quite a size difference between the rescue and the new ones but they'll soon catch up.

My guess for the unknown is male. Reason; the dorsal fin is large and the fins look slightly too long for a female. Also, it's not showing any stress strips in the pics and what you've mentioned about his behaviour. He'll be a very happy chap with all those ladies around.

Sam

The rescue is pretty large for a female anyway; quite a bit larger than the females I've had in the past. Hopefully the poor old girl will recover quickly.

That's exactly what made me think he could be male too It'll be interesting to see what tail type he'd be (probably a good old veil tail )

For now I'll keep them together. You never know, if he grows up with them, he might not want to rip them apart. I've got several spare tanks that I could set up within minutes if things go wrong at any time, so I'm not too worried.

I think he will be a traditional plakat. This is the shortfin version on the veiltail and can be quite stunning. My first betta breeding was with a traditional plakat.

This link should help:
http://www.bettas4all.nl/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=192

I'd imagine with that many females he'll be too distracted to cause any damage to one specifically.

Sam

Ooh plakats are my favourite, so it'd be lovely if he turned out to be one
Methinks I'll post photo updates every once in a while. It'll be cool to see how he grows, and also might be useful to anyone else who isn't sure if they have a female or juvi male.

I hope they'll be alright together, it'd be a cool little experiment to see if male and females can get on long term. My only concern will be as they grow, the 60 ltr will be too small. Oh well, I'm sure I can upgrade to a 90ltr or 125ltr later on

Tank looks beautiful as it is, a very pretty group

Star wrote:Tank looks beautiful as it is, a very pretty group

+1

they are indeed lovely, tank is fantastic.

Edit: spelling

Thanks guys

I'm not completely happy with the tank yet, but they all seem to be enjoying it so I'll leave it be for the moment. I'm never really happy with my tank layouts >.<
I want to try and get some moss growing in there for the shrimp, and maybe I'll attempt a grass carpet too :3

Oh, and I got some aquarium silicone the other week, so I might give making some natural looking caves a go, so that if anyone is being picked on, there'll be plenty of places to hide