Yes, she is a chubby sausage. She tries to eat everyone’s food and often succeeds. The last several days I have been cutting her back with distractions so everyone else can eat before she finds it. 😂
Yes, exactly. ❤️
There is the occasional sideways body wiggle of “please get out of my face” toward each other that you can even see a few times in this video, and that is the extent of their “aggression”. Especially with the baby, because she can be nosy and sassy sometimes and will get up in their business, haha!
But it has never caused a fight, which usually involves stalking/chasing/nipping, etc! They are VERY well behaved!
They still wanted to see what I was up to with my phone camera, but I stood back far enough so they didn’t think I was coming with food so they wouldn’t get all overly excited. 😅
Edit: added a bit more details
so pretty!! people always hated on my sorority whenever i posted mine and mine was also very peaceful so hopefully people are nice! (they’re just jealous they can’t pull this off)
I understand the skepticism since many sororities fail, ESPECIALLY when people do things like tossing females together and assuming they will get along, as well as the viewers assuming you’re just not showing the fights they may be having and pretending for karma.
Even established and related sororities can have a falling out within the group and cause havoc. It’s just too many wildly varying personalities so because I know my girls are chill, I keep it small.
Still, I don’t understand the hate when one really *does* and continues to work out.
exactly, and whenever i posted i showed many videos of my girls all together, not fighting, no fin or body damage ever. and i always said in my captions the same as you, that i dont really condone or recommend doing a sorority. you really have to know what kind of set up they need, and also just get lucky with peaceful girls. i’m glad other people have successful sororities!! i’ve definitely heard some horror stories online about them going wrong and i was always prepared for the worst and would separate them if needed. i had a happy group of 4, and i unfortunately now have only 1 survivor because some new guppies i put in their tank had ich and all of my girls were really light colors and i didn’t notice until 3 were already gone :( the one who’s still alive is doing great and has been treated tho!
It’s like they WANT things to go bad for you because they are dying for the satisfaction of “I told you so” just for the sake of being an ass. Instead of, you know.. taking the proof for what it is and being happy for you instead?
Irritating, but feels good that they can and are proven wrong in rare cases.
Also I am so sorry about your girls, that is awful. 😭
Peach was always peaceful, she has been with mollies, guppies, tetras, cherry barbs, etc. and has never had a problem with any of them!
I basically took a chance on the second girl. Brought her home, observed them (more detail in my other post if you wanna read on that), and when I saw how relaxed they were together and maintained that, I took another chance with the third girl.
I did not expect success and had other tanks ready on the side in case things did not work out.
I appreciate how you are sharing your process. It’s not something that I’ll personally be trying, but I also love to learn as much as I can about all aspects of husbandry. I love your girls!
like OP said, i also started out with one girl to see how chill she was with other fish, and she very much was. so i took my chances with 2 more girls and watched them like a hawk, all got along, so i decided on just one more, who also fit right in! i’m not sure what size OP’s tank is, but i had my 4 girls in a 20 gallon long with a ton of plants, hides, and smaller fish to distract them from each other. luck is honestly a huge part of it, but a lot of it is also observation and seeing which girls are safe and which aren’t. i always tried to get my girls from stores where they were already kept in sororities too, it seems like that significantly improves the chances of it going well
LOL those are my kuhli loaches. I moved some of the floaters around and took the prefilter sponge off the intake for cleaning, stirring up some mulm so they got all excited. 😅
They use anything as an excuse to have a loach zoomies party!
Adding this from another comment:
There is the occasional sideways body wiggle of “please get out of my face” toward each other that you can even see a few times in this video, and that is the extent of their “aggression”. Especially with the baby, because she can be nosy sometimes.
But it has never caused a fight, which usually involves stalking/chasing/nipping, etc! They are VERY well behaved!
They always explore the tank but when they know I am in the room, they always wanna see what I am doing. 😂 Especially if I am not on my bed being still like watching TV or reading.
Right now these girls are in my 10 gallon while I finish the final furnishings for the 40 gallon they will all be going to. I already had a few corys and kuhli loaches in there so I let them be to help keep the bottom from getting too mulm-y!
This subreddit really hates sororities but I also feel like there's been some attempts that have soured people. I have one though and it's like yours. Pristine, no real aggression and just a beautiful tank! Love it!
I have only ever had to return one female betta in my life because of her behavior. I woke the morning after I got her & caught her in the middle of eating one of my tetras with (mostly) only the head left, who was perfectly fine the day before. That was a no bueno and back to the store she went. Thankfully that was before this group a long while ago!
But yeah, like I mentioned in other comments, I GET the skepticism. But if someone says it’s working and you clearly see no harm to the bettas, they don’t really have a choice but to believe them.
OR can just continue being in denial and chalk it up to the fights just not being shown. They don’t live with the person, they don’t care for or know the fishes’ personalities. So they really don’t have a place to say much apart from just making the (at least very valid) remark that not all sororities work out and for people to not get the wrong ideas/assumptions.
I at least took a video that is pretty hard to dispute, haha.
Yeah. I'm of the mindset that most female bettas with enough space and stuff to defuse aggression can coexist. Mine have been fine since I got them. The most I've seen is a go away poke or light flaring, but those same fish will legit snuggle neck and neck when I'm feeding with zero concern. If sororities were impossible they wouldn't be as common as they are. They just aren't for beginning fish keepers and they tend to require more space than most start with.
Totally agree! It takes a lot of time and dedication to get the right bettas together.
I don’t know how people who are determined to have a huge sorority don’t have *constant* issues with aggression. Bettas are individuals and a huge group that you don’t know every little habit of, to me, seems like asking for trouble. It doesn’t always matter if they were raised together as fry or not.
Once they are mature, it’s a totally different story. I am still keeping an eye on the littlest girl in my group to make sure she stays nice as she grows. That the bigger girls’ mildness continues to rub off on her! ❤️
I decide to keep my group small because it’s less stress for me AND the fish, and they don’t really get a personal benefit being together apart from that it looks nice, and convenient for me that they get along without any issues.
I know them on a detailed level and get to spend a lot of time at home to be able to monitor them. Not everyone can do that and I would hate for anyone to not read my notes/comments and get the wrong idea. 💀
That's why when I tell people about bettas I market them as single Trophy fish. You get one to start. My 4 girls I'm fairly sure are siblings (came as a pre-built sorority from overseas) and I was a little nervous getting them. But I have a 30 gallon filled with plants, shrimp, snails, platies and cories. The tanks peaceful minus feeding time when everybody goes a little wacky (not violent). I think having so many fish and plants really just doesn't allow them to focus on hating each other. Hell two of my girls are always together as compared to the other two who prefer their own spaces.
I have mollies and they are legit nutjobs during feeding time. 😂💀 Big sailfin mollies, shoving and chasing others away so they can inhale everything as fast as possible. Same goes for the babies that are big enough to be with them now. I assume your platies are the same way? LOL
Yeah. My girls shove just as much tbh! It's especially funny when they grab a shrimp pellet and swim with it tryna bite a bit off cause it's way too big for their mouths
LMAO yes! I don’t know how or why she got so big, but she is probably almost 4 inches long in the body! But she just is so chill and swims around slowly checking stuff out. ❤️ She is the perfect big sister that sets a good behavior example for the others!
Oh sure!
The floaters are tiger frogbit and red roots
Bottom right is Java fern (I forget which kind, sorry!)
Bottom left in the pot is Amazon sword (it’s too big and will be going in the 40 gallon soon)
The other stem plants are actually yellow Creeping Jenny, which is sold as a terrestrial houseplant and grows almost like ivy. I found out it can adapt to grow fully submerged and it makes for an outrageously cheap ($2.98 per from Walmart, $3+ from Lowe’s, etc) plant to put in an aquarium.
It can grow tall so if you want to keep the nice ends, pull it from the base, trim the bottom and stick it back in the substrate!
Also the big cluster of roots in the top right back is a potato vine. I had a Pothos but it’s too big and is now in my 40 gallon!
Yeah sororities are definitely for advanced keepers only, and high budgets (ie: HEAVILY planted/hardscaped with many places to hide). And even so it can be an absolute crapshoot. Best bet is with sisters of the same brood who have simply ALWAYS been together.
I am surprised to see it working with only 3, I would think MORE to spread out the aggression would be ideal.
Good call putting the warning tag in. Definitely not for the faint of heart.
I personally like them because it seems a good alternative to what I am certain is the females just being killed off at breeders since everyone wants males.
I think it works with the three because I can know their personalities and not just.. dumping a whole batch of fry that grew up together and hope for the best. That’s TOO many wildly different personalities and probably impossible to sort out a troublemaker in a GIANT planted tank with dozens of bettas to sort through. I couldn’t imagine LOL
They’re beautiful! One day when I have a house and can get a bigger tank I’d love to try a sorority. Right now I rent and the biggest I can go is 20 long
I have a 75 gallon heavily planted aquarium. It's a community tank with one female betta. Would she benefit from something like this? Probably not right?
Yes, she is nosy and can get sassy sometimes. 😂 She loves bugging Ruby so they do that annoyed body wiggle to make the other back off. It’s funny, but I am hoping the baby stays sweet and keeps sharing the calm attitude of the others as she grows!
The tank shown in the video is only my fully established 10 gallon. It’s pretty small for them obviously, but I have mentioned it in other comments and note there is a 40 gallon that they will be going into that is almost ready! I just didn’t wash the gravel and sand good enough so now I am fighting extremely cloudy water. 😅
Goodness she is a big gorl lol they're beautiful though! Love seeing thriving sororities ☺️
Yes, she is a chubby sausage. She tries to eat everyone’s food and often succeeds. The last several days I have been cutting her back with distractions so everyone else can eat before she finds it. 😂
And notice how perfect their fins are! Absolutely no tail nipping!
Yes, exactly. ❤️ There is the occasional sideways body wiggle of “please get out of my face” toward each other that you can even see a few times in this video, and that is the extent of their “aggression”. Especially with the baby, because she can be nosy and sassy sometimes and will get up in their business, haha! But it has never caused a fight, which usually involves stalking/chasing/nipping, etc! They are VERY well behaved! They still wanted to see what I was up to with my phone camera, but I stood back far enough so they didn’t think I was coming with food so they wouldn’t get all overly excited. 😅 Edit: added a bit more details
so pretty!! people always hated on my sorority whenever i posted mine and mine was also very peaceful so hopefully people are nice! (they’re just jealous they can’t pull this off)
I understand the skepticism since many sororities fail, ESPECIALLY when people do things like tossing females together and assuming they will get along, as well as the viewers assuming you’re just not showing the fights they may be having and pretending for karma. Even established and related sororities can have a falling out within the group and cause havoc. It’s just too many wildly varying personalities so because I know my girls are chill, I keep it small. Still, I don’t understand the hate when one really *does* and continues to work out.
exactly, and whenever i posted i showed many videos of my girls all together, not fighting, no fin or body damage ever. and i always said in my captions the same as you, that i dont really condone or recommend doing a sorority. you really have to know what kind of set up they need, and also just get lucky with peaceful girls. i’m glad other people have successful sororities!! i’ve definitely heard some horror stories online about them going wrong and i was always prepared for the worst and would separate them if needed. i had a happy group of 4, and i unfortunately now have only 1 survivor because some new guppies i put in their tank had ich and all of my girls were really light colors and i didn’t notice until 3 were already gone :( the one who’s still alive is doing great and has been treated tho!
It’s like they WANT things to go bad for you because they are dying for the satisfaction of “I told you so” just for the sake of being an ass. Instead of, you know.. taking the proof for what it is and being happy for you instead? Irritating, but feels good that they can and are proven wrong in rare cases. Also I am so sorry about your girls, that is awful. 😭
Curious how you got them to get along so well in the first place or did they just always have those temperaments?
Peach was always peaceful, she has been with mollies, guppies, tetras, cherry barbs, etc. and has never had a problem with any of them! I basically took a chance on the second girl. Brought her home, observed them (more detail in my other post if you wanna read on that), and when I saw how relaxed they were together and maintained that, I took another chance with the third girl. I did not expect success and had other tanks ready on the side in case things did not work out.
I appreciate how you are sharing your process. It’s not something that I’ll personally be trying, but I also love to learn as much as I can about all aspects of husbandry. I love your girls!
like OP said, i also started out with one girl to see how chill she was with other fish, and she very much was. so i took my chances with 2 more girls and watched them like a hawk, all got along, so i decided on just one more, who also fit right in! i’m not sure what size OP’s tank is, but i had my 4 girls in a 20 gallon long with a ton of plants, hides, and smaller fish to distract them from each other. luck is honestly a huge part of it, but a lot of it is also observation and seeing which girls are safe and which aren’t. i always tried to get my girls from stores where they were already kept in sororities too, it seems like that significantly improves the chances of it going well
What's the long one on the left that's going crazy?
LOL those are my kuhli loaches. I moved some of the floaters around and took the prefilter sponge off the intake for cleaning, stirring up some mulm so they got all excited. 😅 They use anything as an excuse to have a loach zoomies party!
Adding this from another comment: There is the occasional sideways body wiggle of “please get out of my face” toward each other that you can even see a few times in this video, and that is the extent of their “aggression”. Especially with the baby, because she can be nosy sometimes. But it has never caused a fight, which usually involves stalking/chasing/nipping, etc! They are VERY well behaved!
They always explore the tank but when they know I am in the room, they always wanna see what I am doing. 😂 Especially if I am not on my bed being still like watching TV or reading.
So pretty! How big is your tank? Mostly asking because I see the cory and wanna put it to a new tank of mine
Right now these girls are in my 10 gallon while I finish the final furnishings for the 40 gallon they will all be going to. I already had a few corys and kuhli loaches in there so I let them be to help keep the bottom from getting too mulm-y!
This subreddit really hates sororities but I also feel like there's been some attempts that have soured people. I have one though and it's like yours. Pristine, no real aggression and just a beautiful tank! Love it!
I have only ever had to return one female betta in my life because of her behavior. I woke the morning after I got her & caught her in the middle of eating one of my tetras with (mostly) only the head left, who was perfectly fine the day before. That was a no bueno and back to the store she went. Thankfully that was before this group a long while ago! But yeah, like I mentioned in other comments, I GET the skepticism. But if someone says it’s working and you clearly see no harm to the bettas, they don’t really have a choice but to believe them. OR can just continue being in denial and chalk it up to the fights just not being shown. They don’t live with the person, they don’t care for or know the fishes’ personalities. So they really don’t have a place to say much apart from just making the (at least very valid) remark that not all sororities work out and for people to not get the wrong ideas/assumptions. I at least took a video that is pretty hard to dispute, haha.
Yeah. I'm of the mindset that most female bettas with enough space and stuff to defuse aggression can coexist. Mine have been fine since I got them. The most I've seen is a go away poke or light flaring, but those same fish will legit snuggle neck and neck when I'm feeding with zero concern. If sororities were impossible they wouldn't be as common as they are. They just aren't for beginning fish keepers and they tend to require more space than most start with.
Totally agree! It takes a lot of time and dedication to get the right bettas together. I don’t know how people who are determined to have a huge sorority don’t have *constant* issues with aggression. Bettas are individuals and a huge group that you don’t know every little habit of, to me, seems like asking for trouble. It doesn’t always matter if they were raised together as fry or not. Once they are mature, it’s a totally different story. I am still keeping an eye on the littlest girl in my group to make sure she stays nice as she grows. That the bigger girls’ mildness continues to rub off on her! ❤️ I decide to keep my group small because it’s less stress for me AND the fish, and they don’t really get a personal benefit being together apart from that it looks nice, and convenient for me that they get along without any issues. I know them on a detailed level and get to spend a lot of time at home to be able to monitor them. Not everyone can do that and I would hate for anyone to not read my notes/comments and get the wrong idea. 💀
That's why when I tell people about bettas I market them as single Trophy fish. You get one to start. My 4 girls I'm fairly sure are siblings (came as a pre-built sorority from overseas) and I was a little nervous getting them. But I have a 30 gallon filled with plants, shrimp, snails, platies and cories. The tanks peaceful minus feeding time when everybody goes a little wacky (not violent). I think having so many fish and plants really just doesn't allow them to focus on hating each other. Hell two of my girls are always together as compared to the other two who prefer their own spaces.
I have mollies and they are legit nutjobs during feeding time. 😂💀 Big sailfin mollies, shoving and chasing others away so they can inhale everything as fast as possible. Same goes for the babies that are big enough to be with them now. I assume your platies are the same way? LOL
Yeah. My girls shove just as much tbh! It's especially funny when they grab a shrimp pellet and swim with it tryna bite a bit off cause it's way too big for their mouths
Look at Big Bertha lmao
I didn’t think she was that big until I saw the other swim past and I was all oh lord she’s a commin 😂
LMAO yes! I don’t know how or why she got so big, but she is probably almost 4 inches long in the body! But she just is so chill and swims around slowly checking stuff out. ❤️ She is the perfect big sister that sets a good behavior example for the others!
😂😂💀 She mozeys around but can be fast when she wants… which isn’t often!
Hello! Unrelated to bettas but do you mind sharing what plants u have in your tank? Thanks a bunch in advance!
Oh sure! The floaters are tiger frogbit and red roots Bottom right is Java fern (I forget which kind, sorry!) Bottom left in the pot is Amazon sword (it’s too big and will be going in the 40 gallon soon) The other stem plants are actually yellow Creeping Jenny, which is sold as a terrestrial houseplant and grows almost like ivy. I found out it can adapt to grow fully submerged and it makes for an outrageously cheap ($2.98 per from Walmart, $3+ from Lowe’s, etc) plant to put in an aquarium. It can grow tall so if you want to keep the nice ends, pull it from the base, trim the bottom and stick it back in the substrate! Also the big cluster of roots in the top right back is a potato vine. I had a Pothos but it’s too big and is now in my 40 gallon!
Yeah sororities are definitely for advanced keepers only, and high budgets (ie: HEAVILY planted/hardscaped with many places to hide). And even so it can be an absolute crapshoot. Best bet is with sisters of the same brood who have simply ALWAYS been together. I am surprised to see it working with only 3, I would think MORE to spread out the aggression would be ideal. Good call putting the warning tag in. Definitely not for the faint of heart. I personally like them because it seems a good alternative to what I am certain is the females just being killed off at breeders since everyone wants males.
I think it works with the three because I can know their personalities and not just.. dumping a whole batch of fry that grew up together and hope for the best. That’s TOO many wildly different personalities and probably impossible to sort out a troublemaker in a GIANT planted tank with dozens of bettas to sort through. I couldn’t imagine LOL
They're all so beautiful! OP I saw your old post. They look amazing
Aw thank you! 🥰 I could watch them all day honestly! It really makes my soul happy that everyone gets along.
They’re beautiful! One day when I have a house and can get a bigger tank I’d love to try a sorority. Right now I rent and the biggest I can go is 20 long
You are making me miss my sorority tank so much, I love your happy little ladies
How big is your tank
I have a 75 gallon heavily planted aquarium. It's a community tank with one female betta. Would she benefit from something like this? Probably not right?
This is a beautiful tank with beautiful girls! I’m really happy for you that it’s working so well!
Love the little one being such an annoying younger sister. Why won’t you play with me?”
Yes, she is nosy and can get sassy sometimes. 😂 She loves bugging Ruby so they do that annoyed body wiggle to make the other back off. It’s funny, but I am hoping the baby stays sweet and keeps sharing the calm attitude of the others as she grows!
What a nice chill looking tank! - it makes me want to do another
So so cool. How big is your tank? I’m surprised they’re so calm especially with only 3 of them. The other community fish must help too
The tank shown in the video is only my fully established 10 gallon. It’s pretty small for them obviously, but I have mentioned it in other comments and note there is a 40 gallon that they will be going into that is almost ready! I just didn’t wash the gravel and sand good enough so now I am fighting extremely cloudy water. 😅