female Bettas together

Question
QUESTION: Hello,
I bought a Betta the other day for a ten gallon I had lying around. I always thought that Betta's were over rated until I got a female and thought she was the prettiest thing ever and I really enjoyed having her. Well as usual I can never be satisfied with what I've got! And so I decide to go get two more and try to set up a community tank with female Betta's. I did hours of research online and thought it out and decided it was something I wanted to try and was so excited. Now I'm so bummed!!! Let me say that the first fish I had was only in her tank for less than a week so I didn't think the territory thing would be big deal. I did rearrange things in there first and then took her out and added her after the others were already in there. Anyway within ten minutes they were fighting and not just establishing a pecking order but like killers! I took them out of the tank as I know that just two Betta's wont work. Their fins are all messed up. I can't explain how sad and guilty I feel that my fish are now hurt. Well thankfully I am an avid fish keeper and have quite a few established tanks as well as a spare tank and spare gravel, pumps etc. Well I put the one Betta in  my other ten gallon that I was not using and had to put the third Betta into a vase unfortunately. It is a larger vase but I don't want to keep her there. I also don't want a bunch of tanks filled with just one Betta a piece.  I guess I am just looking for an opinion. Do I try again? I am afraid I'm not optimistic about it anymore. My beautiful fish are hurt because of me and I'm unsure what to do. I could try to put them in the other ten gallon since it would be totally new to all of them (although the one fish has been in there today)? Also, will they be okay with ripped fins? One has a pretty big chunk missing. How long does it take to heal up?

ANSWER: Hello Shirley:  Interesting.... first let me correct some of what you have written to me... It is not your fault the bettas are injured... that is their nature and even though you put them all together... Some female betta kill the male betta... but for the most part they are really good fish to keep.  I have a 90 gallon tank that I keep about 8 female betta in and they do just fine. It is a heavily planted tank and they spend most of their time tooling through the plants. Some of them hang out together and others just mind their own business.  There are angelfish, rainbows, tetra, etc and one  male betta.  Never had a problem with them.  Two things are different from my tank and the tank that you described... one is size... the other is the heavily planted bottom... I think that both are important when keeping aggressive fish... to me... betta are aggressive (at least to each other)... Their fins will regenerate rather quickly feed them brine shrimp... it does two things... it provides the additional protein to regenerate fins and heal wounds and it gives them an immune boost at the same time.  It also will not destroy your bacterial colonies... like medication will.  If you feel as though the fish are not getting better then medicate in a smaller container with bettafix.... dave

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QUESTION: Thanks so much. I'm going to try the brine shrimp. I'm glad that someone doesn't think it is my fault. I don't have many fish keeping friends and no one really wants to hear me talk about it. LOL. :) I did heavily plant the bottom before I added my two new ladies (as much as I could while still allowing for swimming space, I tried to keep the plants and nukes/holes low to the bottom so that would help with the space issue). I bought them specifically for that reason. I read that you could have a community five gallon as long as there were only three fish in it so I didn't think the size of the ten would be a problem (wrong again :( ) . But I am glad to know that their fins will come back rather quickly. I also wanted to know if you think I should try again. Since it was my original female that was the problem. Should I put them in the other ten gallon that she had never been in? My new female has been in there since yesterday. Should I move her first for a day and then try? I really didn't consider having a bunch of single females lying around if it didn't work out. It is using a lot of resources just for one Betta in there. but I'm against keeping them in little bowls. Thanks again for your help and your opinion. I would love to know your thoughts on where I should go next. Maybe I should try again or just get different kind of fish for their tank mates. ???? Thanks Dave!
Shirley

Answer
Let them mend a bit and then try it again... if they go crazy... then tank them all back and try a few new females from the same tank... I have always kept my male bettas in a ten gallon tank with tetra and have not had much to complain about from them... dave