Female Betta
Selection and Care of the Female Betta
If you’ve marveled at the beauty of male bettas, the female betta may seem quite plain, by comparison. Although she is attractive, the female lacks the long fins of the male. Most bettas sold in pet stores are males, since they are often bred professionally, so it may be harder to find a female. But if you want to breed them, you can probably find an aquarium who handles females as well as males.
Stores will generally mark the females and keep them in separate tanks, but you can usually tell the females even if their tanks are not marked, because they don’t have the extensive finnage of the males. Additionally, the female is usually less brightly colored than the males, and they are somewhat smaller than the males.
The female betta should only be in a tank with a male for the purposes of breeding, and then only if the male has courted her and built a bubble nest. If you place a female into a tank with a male, and he is not ready to spawn, he will probably kill the female.
You can usually keep several females together in one tank, as long as they have ample hiding places and surface area. Do not put more than 4 females in a tank 10 gallons or less, or they may fight and lose finnage in the process. Four fish together should be able to settle into a pecking order, and then the nipping should slow. Be sure to keep an eye on them when you first put them in the tank together, and separate any who are too aggressive, or too timid.
The safest way to house a female betta is just as you house the males, in a tank by herself. They like the company of seeing each other, so most breeders put their bowls close to each other. In this manner, they can play without hurting each other.
As with other bettas, you should house your females in a tank adequate for the number of fish in it, and always provide plenty of spaces for them to hide.
The female betta will not fight to the death like male bettas sometimes do, but that’s not to say that all females will get along. The more space they have, the less fighting you will probably observe. But be sure to watch them until they establish a pecking order, and remove overly aggressive or timid fish.
Don’t place more than a few females in a tank unless it has a large capacity and lots of plants. Bettas don’t prefer to hide in the colorful castles and plastic caves that many other tropical fish prefer - they do much better with plants.