Housing 5 females in 10 gallon tank?

Question
Hello Jaymie, you've helped me before regarding our male bettas and possible companions.  I've decided to leave them be in their own tanks.

What I'm now wondering about is I'm thinking of getting another 10 gallon tank and would like to keep female bettas.
Where I buy fish, there's many in an aquarium that are very pretty/colourful.

First of all, my main objective is to not stress them otherwise I'd rather not do it.  I've read different opinions on this subject (many different ones of course), and it seems that some say females only stress each other out by having to go through a hierarchy, then they are fine together.  Others state that even once this hierarchy is established, there's always the 'weaker ones' that are in a constant 'on the lookout' from the leader (therefore, stress).

Lastly, I just read that if you buy an odd number of females that came from the same tank at the store, they're already used to living in a communal situation and will be fine once you get them home.  To me, wouldn't there still be higher-ups and lesser females in the order?

What do you think of this?  Of course it sounds wonderful to have 5 girls living in harmony but it sounds too good to be true.  

Thanks for any help!
Paula

Answer
Paula,

 I think it is amazing that a pet store has female Betta's in an aquarium. In my 30 plus years of having fish I have never seen that. Female Betta's are usually hard to come by. Most pet stores do not carry them. You are right about the hierarchy. Let me tell you a story. I have 4 adult females that were all in their own tanks. I thought that since they were set right next to each other and were able to see each other i would try putting them in a tank together. Not 10 minutes later I was removing one back to her original tank. Before long another was moved. I then put a partition in the tank so the other two could stay in the same tank. One morning I found one had jumped the barrier and was on the other side. I watched them very closely and they seemed to be doing good so I left them alone. They stayed together for a month or so until I noticed one was hiding under the filter. She stayed under there until it was feeding time. When she was done eating she went back under the filter. The female she was a tank mate with started bullying her even though they had been together for a month with no problems. The partition was put back in and now she is swimming happily by herself. Females can usually be housed together if they are sisters. Meaning born together in the same spawn. I personally would not advise anyone to house Betta's together either males or females.