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The Sorority Chronicles: 3 - Day Two of Quarantine

So yesterday, I went on a trip to Petsmart to pick up some medicine for Jessie’s popeye. I phoned in beforehand to ask a few questions.

Namely, we had two casualties within the first two days. These two poor ladies weren’t looking too good when we bought them. Their transition wasn’t as smooth and we decided that five was a good number to keep. We froze the bodies just in case. I wasn’t looking forward to a trip to Petsmart with a couple of dead ladies, so I asked if we needed to bring them in. They said no, that wouldn’t be necessary, however it was store policy to bring in a water sample.

That was understandable, however with the possibility of tuberculosis up in the air, I told the employee about the situation (As well as my lack of wanting to give myself or any employees TB while interacting with it more than strictly necessary for every other day water changes. It’s a slim chance of getting it (along with the slim chance that she may have it.), but not one I’m willing to take.). He said that would be fine, in that case, and we wouldn’t need to bring in a water sample.

A friend and I go to the store with our receipt. The lady tells us we need to bring in the bodies. I explain I spoke to an employee about it, and he said that wouldn’t be necessary. Suddenly, it’s a big deal, the manager is brought over, I’m questioned about the employee’s name, all while getting dirty looks, and them saying “Well do you AT LEAST have your water sample?!” Then finally them calling the employee, asking him, debating with me, before begrudgingly saying, “That will be fine, I guess!”

Like, okay, I’m sorry I called ahead and asked about the situation. I know I shouldn’t have been a good customer, but I really didn’t expect to be treated like some kind of criminal. Whatever, get store credit towards the medicine, pause to buy a bristlenose for my main tank, move on.

In those regards, Jessie is doing fine so far. I think she misses the big tank (She’s currently in a ¾ gallon quarantine sitting next to the big tank.), but she is okay for now.

Here she is on the outside looking in. She doesn’t have a lot of hiding places right now, but I may try putting a small plant in with her if the popeye stays longer than a few days. I severely doubt it will, as I’m aggressively treating it with daily water changes (every other day in the big tank, just in case, although none of the other girls are showing signs) and medicine.

Here’s a few shots of the other girls:

Have a great day, guys!

Sorority Chronicles: 1 - Introductions

This is the ten gallon, planted sorority tank. Currently a bit lackluster, but soon we’ll be placing a few new plants in. I’ll probably also need to re-do the substrate… again.

Anyway, it’s currently home to five beautiful betta ladies.

This shy girl is Helen, a blue veiltail.

This beautiful lady is Ruby. I feel bad picking favorites, but she’s just so adorable that I fell in love with her the first day. She’s got a spunky little personality. Even the tank diva, Jessie “Dragma”, doesn’t try to mess with her.

This is Stella, a red and purple delta. Sorry for the bad quality, but she likes the corner of the tank. She got bullied really badly on the second or third day, and so now she tends to stay on her own.

This marbled crowntail is Bessie, she’s a quick little thing! Also greedy, she spent these ten minutes after feeding looking for more food!

This bright blue crowntail lady is the tank diva (See: bully), Jessie.

Well, those are the ladies and tank. :)

The Sorority Chronicles: 4 - Lackluster Healing

There isn’t too much going on right now. The ladies were balls of energy this morning, darting around too fast for me to catch a picture. Also spitting out their food, I will never understand why they spit out their food, then eat it again, then spit it out and looking at me like, “Gurl what are you feeding me?” Not ‘us’, because that would imply my ladies actually like each other.

I am coming to doubt that as a possibility.

On that note, Jessie isn’t looking any different as of yet. It’s only the third day though, so we’ll see how she’s doing later this week. At least she’s still eating pretty readily and flaring at her sisters as she gazes into their tank wistfully.

The Sorority Chronicles: 2 - Freaking Out

I don’t think I mentioned it before, but the ladies have only been in the tank for a week now. We decided to wait until it was fully cycled before adding them into the mix. So it was a magnificent moment today that ended in fish mama freak out time.

Yesterday, I moved my main tank around, which resulted in my significant ire at the bubbler, as well as having to remove one of the decorations. Along with another decorations I had removed months ago, I decided to add them to the sorority tank. As I was taking pictures of the new decorations…

I realized that Jessie had a nice case of popeye. Freak out time ensues. For some of you who may not know, Tuberculosis can masquerade as popeye. More likely it’s a bacteria infection from her cup conditions at the pet store, but it remains that it could be TB, so all cautions are being taken to prevent any breakouts. Both in humans and in fish.

Sigh. I’ll keep you updated. I’m gearing up to go to the pets store and pick up the needed medicine (I have medication for every other type of disease, but not bacteria infections, apparently). Hopefully we caught it in time for her to make a nice and smooth recovery.

I’ll keep you guys updated!

Sorority Chronicles: Presenting a New Lady

After Helen’s death, I was a bit upset. However! I went out to get new plants today for all the tanks under my care. I went to the local fish store in my home area, and they had a female betta! She had a big ten gallon all to herself. They said they used to house her with other females, but they had all been bought.

So I bought the pretty little girl! She is Helen the Second.

Sorry, best shot I could get of her.

They also got a bunch of new plants!

Why do you regret your sorority?

by Anonymous

bufomancer:

for one i was not prepared enough for it. i told people this: “i am a novice fishkeeper with not much experience. i’m getting a 20g tank. please give me ideas of what to put in it.” nearly everyone suggested a sorority, on both instagram and a few forums. i asked about the risks bc it’s common knowledge bettas are aggressive and they all assured me it wouldn’t be a problem but it was a problem, and many fish died. if you look through my tagged #betta sorority posts, of those fish, only 5 are still alive, and only 4 are in my sorority (Praxis was rehomed due to stress) sororities cause stress which weakens the immune system and can cause outbreaks of ich, columnaris, and other illnesses that live in the tank water anyways. a healthy, stress free fish has a much lower chance of contracting those because they have a strong immune system. don’t get me wrong, i love my girls, and the current ones in the tank aren’t aggressive at all, but if at any point i’m able to find new homes for all of them, i’d say yes in an instant. the only reason i’m not rehoming one at a time is because i don’t want to upset the balance and potentially cause more stress. but if things take a turn for the worse i’ll do whatever i need to in order to keep my fish safe, healthy, and happy. i’m not necessarily a hater of sororities but look… even amazing ones can fail. i saw someone with a 100g sorority, 5 females, ridiculously well planted. lasted three years and then the owner came home to find two of the bettas floating on the top, dead and covered in wounds. sororities do not benefit the fish in any way, and anyone who says otherwise is lying unless they can show me concrete, hard proof (not just a few isolated instances) sororities are purely for human ego and ego should NEVER be more important than the best interests of the fish.

I had a very similar experience as the OP, including all of the advice from other blogs, which is why we as moderators have begun to recommend against these setups. Even as an experienced fishkeeper, I was not so lucky. I only had one girl survive the sorority.

Are female bettas different than males temperament wise? I've heard they get stressed a little easier and I was wondering if that's true at all

by Anonymous

Yes, generally. All fish are individually different, but you will notice different behavior in male v female. That is part of why some people may have success with sorority tanks for a while, while multiple males NEVER work.



Females do seem to be more easily stressed, and are very quick to display stress stripes. You tend to only see stress stripes on males in extremely stressful situations, but some females will show them when you just walk by the tank (for example). If you were to look at fish in a store, you might find 1 or 2 males displaying stress stripes, but might see most of the females with them.



I’m not sure whether that is because they are more easily stressed, or it is just generally easier for them to display the stripes, or females trigger them on instinct more often, or what, but it does tend to be the case that we see that stress response a lot more often in females.

-shipp



any tips on starting a betta sorority? i plan on doing one sometime around winter break with a 10g so i can keep a close eye on them for the first few days

by Anonymous

As has been said many, many times before (I think it was even mentioned today), Bettablogging does NOT endorse betta sororities, especially not in a tank as small as 10 gallons. They may seem peaceful for a while, but will inevitably end in dead fish. Please don’t go through with this plan; there are plenty of other great options for a 10 gallon including a single male or female betta.

-Mari

I recently started a betta sorority, it's my first one and it's going so well!!! I'm so proud. I currently have 4 lovely ladies in a twenty gallon tank, im thinking of adding shrimp/plecos

by Anonymous

I always have to recommend against sorority tanks. It may be going well now, but they all end the same way: Dead fish. I don’t mean to be harsh, it’s just the truth. Four is also far too small for a longer-term successful sorority tank. You need at least five.

I have to say you should not add tankmates. This setup is a one-species only tank. Extra fish can add to the overall stress and cause earlier disasters. Furthermore, there is no plecostomus that can go in anything less than a thirty gallon. They are all 3″+, I only know of three smaller species that may be comfortable in a 20 gallon, but that would be pushing it, I think. They’re very active fish who produce a lot of waste.



It normal for guy bettas to get stress stripes? My little guy, Eject, always gets stress stripes when I do a partial water change. My water is free of chemicals/copper, and I do a partial water change each week.

by Anonymous

bettablogging:

It’s not “normal” per say, but it is a typical stress response. As long as the stripes fade pretty quickly after a water change he is fine.



I do want to sort of mention this on another point. I’ve seen this sort of reasoning that stress stripes = female.

This is just another negative point about sororities. Most people only see females in sororities and they almost always have stress stripes. This is not good. This means the fish is suffering.