blue betta - Nikki's poached fish
 

I had posted this in another post but anyway
i dont think it was because it cost 10$, because i have a few i use for the
four betta tanks i have and they work fine, the one that stuck was pretty
old, i had it put away for quite some time, out of water, so i think it may
have just been old
Nikki

"NetMax" wrote in message
.. .
"Mr. Gardener" wrote in message
...

On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 15:39:38 -0500, "Nikki"
wrote:

snip
Calling all hardware experts! Would Nikki's hot water problem have
been any less critical if she had used two heaters in her tank, each
rated for something less that the tank's capacity?

-- Mister Gardener

In theory yes, if either of the heaters was small enough in wattage to not
cause the tank to get hotter than about 85F.

In usual practise, no, as Betta tanks or small tanks are quite small
compared to typical heater outputs, whose rating go up in large wattage
chunks (relative to tank size).

If you can get odd wattage small heaters, then yes, maybe, jmo.

ps: the Betta's transfer from the hot water was what I think I would've
done too.
--
www.NetMax.tk

blue betta
 

Koi-Lo wrote:
"Nikki" wrote in message
...

PS: what does every one else use for nets and stuff between tanks, so ich
does not spread.
========================
Nets are cheap so I have about 10 of different sizes. I keep my Q tank nets
separate from my regular nets. I still rinse them in our 140F water after
use. If both Q tanks are in use I soak the nets in a Potassium Permanganate
solution in case one tank may have an infested fish and not the other.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

KoiLo wrote:

I
treat all new fish as though they were Typhoid Marys.

LOL....that's a good way of putting it. I too feel the same way.
I quarantine everything new coming in with the thought that do have
something and treat everything else that comes into contact with the Q
tank the same way.
Although, as carefull as I am, I have had the occasional brainfart a
couple times.
I recently either cross contaminated my Q tank with a virus that hit my
Betta stock in the 75g, or the DoJo's were carrying it and once out of
qurantine they spread it to my Betta stock. All my other Betta stock is
fine. That is except one malle that had contact with one of the DoJos.
It had flopped out of the net on it's way into the Q tank and right
into the male Betta's tank next to it.
I wish I knew how it spread though. It would be good to know if it
could be spread by a carrier fish.
I've seen this (I think it's viral) disease once before.
Then too it only killed Bettas, and just as fast.
The last fish I had die on me I timed.
From onset of symptoms (visible), till death was 7 hours. However, of
course I have no way of knowing how long she was actually sick for
(incubation period?).
An area of body will become a little stiff, or fins act as if frozen or
paralized in a certain area. Then shortly after that the area becomes
black. If on the body the area stays black for a while even after
death.
If on finnage, shortly after turning black the area falls off.
Some fish will show either excess slime coat in a certain spot or that
bacterial infection look often mistaken for fungus. If the fish shows
this at all, it's very little and very faint.
You'd never notice it on a white fish either.
It seems to be that some hang on longer than others, and some croak as
soon as the black starts. Both times I had 98% deaths. I again have 2
females that have survived it.
(so far)
It's been a week since the last death, and I am obviously cautious to
even think of replacing stock now.
I don't know what this is, how long it's contagious for and if these
surviving girls are carriers just waiting to spread it healthy girls,
or are they now immune?
I may have to buy a Betta just in order to see if it's all clear in the
tank.
I won't risk the males I have left around the house. 2 are ancient and
the rest are breeding prospects, so forget them.
The only other male I had that I would even consider just died. Guess
he had other plans.
= /

blue betta
 

Nikki wrote:
a while back, not to long ago I had got two red bettas from my LFS that is
closing, they were sick and they had got into a fight at some point before I
got them (fins were a mess) and a couple people on here helped me, and they
are doing great now, fins are even looking better
so maybe I can ask one more time.
My husband will be happy at the end of the month when I will have to go
further then three blocks to bring fish home (LFS is closing) : )
They had two blue betta's (who did not look bad) but after a couple days I
noticed one had a couple spots that looked like ick, at that point I should
have looked close but did not, I started a ick treatment yesterday morning,
today I noticed that one was just staying on the bottom of the tank not
coming up to eat or anything, I got a magnified glass and was looking close
at him and thought I seen black spots but they are pin holes, now I am not
sure if in the light I was using it was ick or these pin holes i was seeing,
I think the pinholes are tail rot (tell me if I am wrong) I have an
antibiotic that says its for tail rot, so I opened the capsule and put some
in, now I don't know if I should treat with ick or antibiotic, I figure
while this is going on I will change water every day, but as of last night
it has not eaten, which is not good, anything else i should be doing?
thanks NikkiI
Hi there Nikki
I forgot to send you female Betta pics.
If you send me your regular email address I can send you an entire
album that has many good female Bettas in it (and many other males
too).
I don't exactly know how to add my pictures in one of these reply
windows.
I know that may sound silly, but I wasn't raised with a puter in my
hand, lol.
Regular email, I have no troubles lol.
My regular email is how it's it's listed. Just
Have a Betta day! = )
Kelly

blue betta
 

"Tynk" wrote in message
oups.com...

Koi-Lo wrote:
"Nikki" wrote in message
...

PS: what does every one else use for nets and stuff between tanks, so
ich
does not spread.
========================
Nets are cheap so I have about 10 of different sizes. I keep my Q tank
nets
separate from my regular nets. I still rinse them in our 140F water after
use. If both Q tanks are in use I soak the nets in a Potassium
Permanganate
solution in case one tank may have an infested fish and not the other.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

KoiLo wrote:

I
treat all new fish as though they were Typhoid Marys.

LOL....that's a good way of putting it. I too feel the same way.
I quarantine everything new coming in with the thought that do have
something and treat everything else that comes into contact with the Q
tank the same way.
Although, as carefull as I am, I have had the occasional brainfart a
couple times.
I recently either cross contaminated my Q tank with a virus that hit my
Betta stock in the 75g, or the DoJo's were carrying it and once out of
qurantine they spread it to my Betta stock. All my other Betta stock is
fine. That is except one malle that had contact with one of the DoJos.
It had flopped out of the net on it's way into the Q tank and right
into the male Betta's tank next to it.
I wish I knew how it spread though. It would be good to know if it
could be spread by a carrier fish.
I've seen this (I think it's viral) disease once before.
Then too it only killed Bettas, and just as fast.
The last fish I had die on me I timed.
From onset of symptoms (visible), till death was 7 hours. However, of
course I have no way of knowing how long she was actually sick for
(incubation period?).
An area of body will become a little stiff, or fins act as if frozen or
paralized in a certain area. Then shortly after that the area becomes
black. If on the body the area stays black for a while even after
death.
If on finnage, shortly after turning black the area falls off.
Some fish will show either excess slime coat in a certain spot or that
bacterial infection look often mistaken for fungus. If the fish shows
this at all, it's very little and very faint.
You'd never notice it on a white fish either.
It seems to be that some hang on longer than others, and some croak as
soon as the black starts. Both times I had 98% deaths. I again have 2
females that have survived it.
(so far)
It's been a week since the last death, and I am obviously cautious to
even think of replacing stock now.
I don't know what this is, how long it's contagious for and if these
surviving girls are carriers just waiting to spread it healthy girls,
or are they now immune?
I may have to buy a Betta just in order to see if it's all clear in the
tank.
I won't risk the males I have left around the house. 2 are ancient and
the rest are breeding prospects, so forget them.
The only other male I had that I would even consider just died. Guess
he had other plans.
= /

Tynk, first sorry for so many questions.....how many female betta's can you
put in a 39-40 long? and have them get along, i dont mean for water quality,
well that to, but how many can live together and be happy? have you ever had
any problems (like male attitude) with them between eachother? also do they
thrive in the same conditions as males, 80 degrees, anything different from
the males except they can live together? i am going to get them this weekend
I'm pretty sure, i have seen the white female betta's they are very pretty.
also do they need a lot of hiding places and do they do better in a planted
tank? I was looking up info but every thing on them is centered around
breeding.
If you have a extra few minutes sometime can you let me know
again thanks Nik

blue betta
 

"Tynk" wrote in message
ups.com...

Nikki wrote:
a while back, not to long ago I had got two red bettas from my LFS that
is
closing, they were sick and they had got into a fight at some point
before I
got them (fins were a mess) and a couple people on here helped me, and
they
are doing great now, fins are even looking better
so maybe I can ask one more time.
My husband will be happy at the end of the month when I will have to go
further then three blocks to bring fish home (LFS is closing) : )
They had two blue betta's (who did not look bad) but after a couple days
I
noticed one had a couple spots that looked like ick, at that point I
should
have looked close but did not, I started a ick treatment yesterday
morning,
today I noticed that one was just staying on the bottom of the tank not
coming up to eat or anything, I got a magnified glass and was looking
close
at him and thought I seen black spots but they are pin holes, now I am
not
sure if in the light I was using it was ick or these pin holes i was
seeing,
I think the pinholes are tail rot (tell me if I am wrong) I have an
antibiotic that says its for tail rot, so I opened the capsule and put
some
in, now I don't know if I should treat with ick or antibiotic, I figure
while this is going on I will change water every day, but as of last
night
it has not eaten, which is not good, anything else i should be doing?
thanks NikkiI
Hi there Nikki
I forgot to send you female Betta pics.
If you send me your regular email address I can send you an entire
album that has many good female Bettas in it (and many other males
too).
I don't exactly know how to add my pictures in one of these reply
windows.
I know that may sound silly, but I wasn't raised with a puter in my
hand, lol.
Regular email, I have no troubles lol.
My regular email is how it's it's listed. Just
Have a Betta day! = )
Kelly


Hey, I just posted to you in another post somewhere, I was asking you some
questions about female bettas I am going to try and get mine this weekend,
but wanted to find out some things first.
I have been taking pics of mine also, but they wont sit still so I cant get
any good ones
My email is (be careful posting your email on
message boards)
i dont know if you have it but you can also post pics of fish at
alt.binaries.aquaria
but i have heard people say they cant not get that board. Any way that is my
address above, looking forward to seeing them, if i get any good ones from
my males today i will send them to you, i got a couple of my gourami and
goldfish, after they ate, only took me two hours. and my dog but he is such
a monster i cant get his entire body in this stupid cam.
nik

blue betta
 

"Tynk" wrote in message
oups.com...

Koi-Lo wrote:
I
treat all new fish as though they were Typhoid Marys.
========================
LOL....that's a good way of putting it. I too feel the same way.
I quarantine everything new coming in with the thought that do have
something and treat everything else that comes into contact with the Q
tank the same way.
Although, as carefull as I am, I have had the occasional brainfart a
couple times.
I recently either cross contaminated my Q tank with a virus that hit my
Betta stock in the 75g, or the DoJo's were carrying it and once out of
qurantine they spread it to my Betta stock. All my other Betta stock is
fine. That is except one malle that had contact with one of the DoJos.
It had flopped out of the net on it's way into the Q tank and right
into the male Betta's tank next to it.
I wish I knew how it spread though. It would be good to know if it
could be spread by a carrier fish.

Which is another subject altogether. I had a "carrier" of some kind of
parasite I never did identify that wiped out a whole 150g pool of fancy GF
back in or 2002 or 03. So I know there are carriers of disease - Typhoid
Mary's. Everything involved with that one pool was BURNED - everything!
The plants, the bubble-up filter, the pool and liner, everything! I tried
anti-parasitics from salt to the formaldehyde's to PP and nothing cured it.
Within weeks it was back again......... it was every bit the nightmare the
contagious ulcers were. A motorcycle accident cured the problem. My leg in
a cast and unable to treat them yet again, all died quickly - problem
solved.

Since I couldn't know who was the carrier (if there was a carrier) I
couldn't separate these fish but kept them together and treated them
endlessly together. I lived in fear it would spread to the other pools and
my ponds. I just happened to pick up an infested fish somewhere - that's
all it took.

I've seen this (I think it's viral) disease once before.
Then too it only killed Bettas, and just as fast.
The last fish I had die on me I timed.
From onset of symptoms (visible), till death was 7 hours. However, of
course I have no way of knowing how long she was actually sick for
(incubation period?).
An area of body will become a little stiff, or fins act as if frozen or
paralized in a certain area. Then shortly after that the area becomes
black. If on the body the area stays black for a while even after
death.
If on finnage, shortly after turning black the area falls off.
Some fish will show either excess slime coat in a certain spot or that
bacterial infection look often mistaken for fungus. If the fish shows
this at all, it's very little and very faint.
You'd never notice it on a white fish either.

Geeze.... now this is scary. I've not seen this one before. Do you think
it's bacterial or viral?

It seems to be that some hang on longer than others, and some croak as
soon as the black starts. Both times I had 98% deaths. I again have 2
females that have survived it.
(so far)
It's been a week since the last death, and I am obviously cautious to
even think of replacing stock now.
I don't know what this is, how long it's contagious for and if these
surviving girls are carriers just waiting to spread it healthy girls,
or are they now immune?

They may be immune Typhoid Mary's.

I may have to buy a Betta just in order to see if it's all clear in the
tank.
I won't risk the males I have left around the house. 2 are ancient and
the rest are breeding prospects, so forget them.
The only other male I had that I would even consider just died. Guess
he had other plans.
= /


--

Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

blue betta
 

Nikki wrote:
"Tynk" wrote in message
oups.com...

Koi-Lo wrote:
"Nikki" wrote in message
...

PS: what does every one else use for nets and stuff between tanks, so
ich
does not spread.
========================
Nets are cheap so I have about 10 of different sizes. I keep my Q tank
nets
separate from my regular nets. I still rinse them in our 140F water after
use. If both Q tanks are in use I soak the nets in a Potassium
Permanganate
solution in case one tank may have an infested fish and not the other.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

KoiLo wrote:

I
treat all new fish as though they were Typhoid Marys.

LOL....that's a good way of putting it. I too feel the same way.
I quarantine everything new coming in with the thought that do have
something and treat everything else that comes into contact with the Q
tank the same way.
Although, as carefull as I am, I have had the occasional brainfart a
couple times.
I recently either cross contaminated my Q tank with a virus that hit my
Betta stock in the 75g, or the DoJo's were carrying it and once out of
qurantine they spread it to my Betta stock. All my other Betta stock is
fine. That is except one malle that had contact with one of the DoJos.
It had flopped out of the net on it's way into the Q tank and right
into the male Betta's tank next to it.
I wish I knew how it spread though. It would be good to know if it
could be spread by a carrier fish.
I've seen this (I think it's viral) disease once before.
Then too it only killed Bettas, and just as fast.
The last fish I had die on me I timed.
From onset of symptoms (visible), till death was 7 hours. However, of
course I have no way of knowing how long she was actually sick for
(incubation period?).
An area of body will become a little stiff, or fins act as if frozen or
paralized in a certain area. Then shortly after that the area becomes
black. If on the body the area stays black for a while even after
death.
If on finnage, shortly after turning black the area falls off.
Some fish will show either excess slime coat in a certain spot or that
bacterial infection look often mistaken for fungus. If the fish shows
this at all, it's very little and very faint.
You'd never notice it on a white fish either.
It seems to be that some hang on longer than others, and some croak as
soon as the black starts. Both times I had 98% deaths. I again have 2
females that have survived it.
(so far)
It's been a week since the last death, and I am obviously cautious to
even think of replacing stock now.
I don't know what this is, how long it's contagious for and if these
surviving girls are carriers just waiting to spread it healthy girls,
or are they now immune?
I may have to buy a Betta just in order to see if it's all clear in the
tank.
I won't risk the males I have left around the house. 2 are ancient and
the rest are breeding prospects, so forget them.
The only other male I had that I would even consider just died. Guess
he had other plans.
= /


Hey Nikki = )

Tynk, first sorry for so many questions.....how many female betta's can you
put in a 39-40 long? and have them get along, i dont mean for water quality,
well that to, but how many can live together and be happy? have you ever had
any problems (like male attitude) with them between eachother? also do they
thrive in the same conditions as males, 80 degrees, anything different from
the males except they can live together? i am going to get them this weekend
I'm pretty sure, i have seen the white female betta's they are very pretty.
also do they need a lot of hiding places and do they do better in a planted
tank? I was looking up info but every thing on them is centered around
breeding.
If you have a extra few minutes sometime can you let me know
again thanks Nik

Let me start by saying never, and I mean NEVER be sorry for asking so
many question before doing in this hobby.
You have no clue as to how good that is of you right now. Before long
you'll see what I mean though.
Until then, ask away and as often as you need with your chin up. = )

Also let me say sorry if this gets long, but when it comes to Bettas
there is nothing written in stone, except for one thing. They're all
differrent! = )~

Because of this, many people will take the short route and say, "No,
you can't house a male with females...ever." Or, "A male will kill any
females not ready to spawn, so you can't keep them together."
Now it's very possible to have a male that is overly aggressive and
needs to be on his own. Period! If put with others, it could very well
rip a female to shreds.
But then again for the majority of males they settle quite qucikly and
fit into the Betta hierarchy. Being a male doesn't always mean you have
the "alpha" place in the hierarchy either. I've had many females hold
that place.

There is also a chance that a particular female may be overly
aggressive and would attack the male.
I've had females that would kill any male put into their tank. I've
recently had a single female that would shred up all males except for
one particular male. They would have made an interesting spawning pair
if he were worthy, but he was not. Although she was a lovely long
finned female. She was simply too aggressive with any other male to
spawn her.

The last batch of females I had that 98% died of some sort of (I
believe to be viral) disease were only fine with certain males.
No Crown tails, as they would be shredded (my poor One Eyed Jack found
that out. He's now healing nicely on his own.) He was in and out before
this disease came in, so he got lucky.
I now have a new veil tail male in the 75g with the surviving females.
So far he's fine.
I'm hoping the suriving girls aren't carriers. That once it's over on
the individual fish, that's it. (fingers crossed)

Now figuring out how many females can live in a 39-40g (us gallons
correct?) will depend on the fish, your tank habits, the decor, and
also the max size of the female must be taken into consideration. A
female can (although not in my hard water) get as large as a male, just
minus the long finnage.
You can occasionaly see huge...monster females in shops. These are
usually old breeders who are getting up there in age. These ladies need
either a calm tank or no male in their tank. These girls fill with eggs
so fast and huge with a male around that I've seem a lot become egg
bound.
This is why I keep these old gals without a male around.
Egg binding is rather rare. However, I've noticed a pattern with the
old breeders dropping dead fat with ripe eggs (when a male was arund).
So if a person had a tank that had a resident male and several females
and you wanted to add one or more of these huge females...either don't
or remove the male. (IMO)

Now forgetting about keeping a male in with females, it's important to
understand what's going on between all the female Bettas at all times.
There is a hierarchy that must be found and kept at all times.
If any changes happen..be it new addition/s, death or removal one one
or more females the order must be figured out anew.
Now Bettas also have territories, or areas they like to be alone in.
This is where the importance of tank decor comes into play.
It's a must. Without it they fight. No matter how well they got along
in a tank with plenty of decor, when it's removed they fight. They
bicker like hormonal teenage girls that brawl.
Add one plant and it's better right away. Well...for the one that got
the plant. = )~
Tank decor takes up room, so you need to add this into "how many can go
in a Xg tank".
I mean if you've filled your tank witrh large rocks and large plants
you have less room for fish. So plan it out.
I like to consider their max size even though in my hard water they
don't reach it. They get about 75% of their true max size. It doesn't
seem to be a problem becauase they live an average 4-5+ yrs if I get
them young or breed them myself. Now if the growth stunting was more
than that it would cause damage to their internal organs and that would
shorten their lifespan.
For you Nikki, you'll have to figure out what kind of water you have.
Is your tap water hard/alkaline or soft/acidic or neutral?
Normal behavior between females (and between a female and a male) will
consist of on a daily basis, posturing or flaring at each other. Each
one will have their own personality. Their own likes and dislikes. Some
may fancy some more than others, or even detest the presence of an
indivudal. This is all evident by their body language.
Betta body language is easily learned if you put the time into it and
the means for it.
Obviously you must need large enough tank.
You can't squish 3 females in a gallon vase. Heck, you can't keep 3 in
a 2 1/2 gallon.
Baby girls are a different story, so they don't count. = )
Females need space. Without it, they bicker.
Never keep only 2 females. It's havoc for the lessor female. The alpha
has nobody else to assert her place with and so the other female is
harrassed constantly. This can stress it to death.
So the minimum is always 3. The smallest tank I would house (only..no
other tank mates) 3 females in would be a 5g tank.
In my 75g I kept 13 females. That's a big tank but I could not have had
one more lady in that tank.
Everyone had a spot and there were no more. Some had larger areas to
themselves, and others seemed to like going all over the tank for 50%
of their time and the other 50% staked out a smaller area. The ladies
that liked to hang out in one area would pitch a fit when one of the
ladies came swimming through but they didn't seem to care.
Those types must be the adrenalin junkies, lol.
The lower the rank (when several females are together) the more often
they are showing submission coloring. Usually the omega (lowest in the
hierarchy) is always showing submission coloring. This is when they
blanch out their body color and look a drab dead color with horizontal
barring running along their sides ( 2 bars).
Usually once the pecking order is in place and everyone knows their
place the femnales color up nicley.
Then you get to see their true beauty.
I try to keep every color you can think of (I'd kill for emerald green!
Not the teal green... kelly green type green with no red underneath it
green. Wowza).
It so niceto have lovely royal blues, solid bright reds, dark reds,
dark blues, steel blues, white, yellow, multi colored, oh my so pretty!
= O
Ah but wait! There's more!
Now you have your choice of color patterns and fin variations.
Some are harder to find than others of course, but there are butterlfy
patterns, delta tails, crowntails, long finned, doubletails, Opaques
(range from white to blue-green, etc but are pearlized. That's the only
way I can think to describe the opaque color variation), pastels, mutli
colored which range from being marbled to grizzled.
The list goes on and on.
Bettatalk.com has a page with all the tail variations and the color
patterns that that particular breeder has come up with.
There's more breeders out there that have equally or better strains
than hers too, so do a search on it. You'll be amazed at what you
find.
Bettasrus.com is another.

blue betta
 

posted at bottom
"
Hey Nikki = )

Tynk, first sorry for so many questions.....how many female betta's can
you
put in a 39-40 long? and have them get along, i dont mean for water
quality,
well that to, but how many can live together and be happy? have you ever
had
any problems (like male attitude) with them between eachother? also do
they
thrive in the same conditions as males, 80 degrees, anything different
from
the males except they can live together? i am going to get them this
weekend
I'm pretty sure, i have seen the white female betta's they are very
pretty.
also do they need a lot of hiding places and do they do better in a
planted
tank? I was looking up info but every thing on them is centered around
breeding.
If you have a extra few minutes sometime can you let me know
again thanks Nik

Let me start by saying never, and I mean NEVER be sorry for asking so
many question before doing in this hobby.
You have no clue as to how good that is of you right now. Before long
you'll see what I mean though.
Until then, ask away and as often as you need with your chin up. = )

Also let me say sorry if this gets long, but when it comes to Bettas
there is nothing written in stone, except for one thing. They're all
differrent! = )~

Because of this, many people will take the short route and say, "No,
you can't house a male with females...ever." Or, "A male will kill any
females not ready to spawn, so you can't keep them together."
Now it's very possible to have a male that is overly aggressive and
needs to be on his own. Period! If put with others, it could very well
rip a female to shreds.
But then again for the majority of males they settle quite qucikly and
fit into the Betta hierarchy. Being a male doesn't always mean you have
the "alpha" place in the hierarchy either. I've had many females hold
that place.

There is also a chance that a particular female may be overly
aggressive and would attack the male.
I've had females that would kill any male put into their tank. I've
recently had a single female that would shred up all males except for
one particular male. They would have made an interesting spawning pair
if he were worthy, but he was not. Although she was a lovely long
finned female. She was simply too aggressive with any other male to
spawn her.

The last batch of females I had that 98% died of some sort of (I
believe to be viral) disease were only fine with certain males.
No Crown tails, as they would be shredded (my poor One Eyed Jack found
that out. He's now healing nicely on his own.) He was in and out before
this disease came in, so he got lucky.
I now have a new veil tail male in the 75g with the surviving females.
So far he's fine.
I'm hoping the suriving girls aren't carriers. That once it's over on
the individual fish, that's it. (fingers crossed)

Now figuring out how many females can live in a 39-40g (us gallons
correct?) will depend on the fish, your tank habits, the decor, and
also the max size of the female must be taken into consideration. A
female can (although not in my hard water) get as large as a male, just
minus the long finnage.
You can occasionaly see huge...monster females in shops. These are
usually old breeders who are getting up there in age. These ladies need
either a calm tank or no male in their tank. These girls fill with eggs
so fast and huge with a male around that I've seem a lot become egg
bound.
This is why I keep these old gals without a male around.
Egg binding is rather rare. However, I've noticed a pattern with the
old breeders dropping dead fat with ripe eggs (when a male was arund).
So if a person had a tank that had a resident male and several females
and you wanted to add one or more of these huge females...either don't
or remove the male. (IMO)

Now forgetting about keeping a male in with females, it's important to
understand what's going on between all the female Bettas at all times.
There is a hierarchy that must be found and kept at all times.
If any changes happen..be it new addition/s, death or removal one one
or more females the order must be figured out anew.
Now Bettas also have territories, or areas they like to be alone in.
This is where the importance of tank decor comes into play.
It's a must. Without it they fight. No matter how well they got along
in a tank with plenty of decor, when it's removed they fight. They
bicker like hormonal teenage girls that brawl.
Add one plant and it's better right away. Well...for the one that got
the plant. = )~
Tank decor takes up room, so you need to add this into "how many can go
in a Xg tank".
I mean if you've filled your tank witrh large rocks and large plants
you have less room for fish. So plan it out.
I like to consider their max size even though in my hard water they
don't reach it. They get about 75% of their true max size. It doesn't
seem to be a problem becauase they live an average 4-5+ yrs if I get
them young or breed them myself. Now if the growth stunting was more
than that it would cause damage to their internal organs and that would
shorten their lifespan.
For you Nikki, you'll have to figure out what kind of water you have.
Is your tap water hard/alkaline or soft/acidic or neutral?
Normal behavior between females (and between a female and a male) will
consist of on a daily basis, posturing or flaring at each other. Each
one will have their own personality. Their own likes and dislikes. Some
may fancy some more than others, or even detest the presence of an
indivudal. This is all evident by their body language.
Betta body language is easily learned if you put the time into it and
the means for it.
Obviously you must need large enough tank.
You can't squish 3 females in a gallon vase. Heck, you can't keep 3 in
a 2 1/2 gallon.
Baby girls are a different story, so they don't count. = )
Females need space. Without it, they bicker.
Never keep only 2 females. It's havoc for the lessor female. The alpha
has nobody else to assert her place with and so the other female is
harrassed constantly. This can stress it to death.
So the minimum is always 3. The smallest tank I would house (only..no
other tank mates) 3 females in would be a 5g tank.
In my 75g I kept 13 females. That's a big tank but I could not have had
one more lady in that tank.
Everyone had a spot and there were no more. Some had larger areas to
themselves, and others seemed to like going all over the tank for 50%
of their time and the other 50% staked out a smaller area. The ladies
that liked to hang out in one area would pitch a fit when one of the
ladies came swimming through but they didn't seem to care.
Those types must be the adrenalin junkies, lol.
The lower the rank (when several females are together) the more often
they are showing submission coloring. Usually the omega (lowest in the
hierarchy) is always showing submission coloring. This is when they
blanch out their body color and look a drab dead color with horizontal
barring running along their sides ( 2 bars).
Usually once the pecking order is in place and everyone knows their
place the femnales color up nicley.
Then you get to see their true beauty.
I try to keep every color you can think of (I'd kill for emerald green!
Not the teal green... kelly green type green with no red underneath it
green. Wowza).
It so niceto have lovely royal blues, solid bright reds, dark reds,
dark blues, steel blues, white, yellow, multi colored, oh my so pretty!
= O
Ah but wait! There's more!
Now you have your choice of color patterns and fin variations.
Some are harder to find than others of course, but there are butterlfy
patterns, delta tails, crowntails, long finned, doubletails, Opaques
(range from white to blue-green, etc but are pearlized. That's the only
way I can think to describe the opaque color variation), pastels, mutli
colored which range from being marbled to grizzled.
The list goes on and on.
Bettatalk.com has a page with all the tail variations and the color
patterns that that particular breeder has come up with.
There's more breeders out there that have equally or better strains
than hers too, so do a search on it. You'll be amazed at what you
find.
Bettasrus.com is another.


Sorry I have wanted to email you, I got ur email, but my little one was in
the hospital, feeling better now, but anyway just trying to get life back to
normal today...
Right now I have One female in a 40 gl long (us) tank, with some hornwort, I
am going to get some more females on Friday. I will email you about the blue
male betta....he is not doing well., as for "all" the other males they are
all doing great..
I had got another male white/red, very pretty, Then my husband got me two
more, humm, I had to find room, 2-5 gl tanks all over the house is getting
crazy, I put one in a 5gl I had and the other I put a divider in the female
tank (about ten gl worth of space) at least till I can get out to the store
which will be Friday, the one he got me was very long fined all white with a
pink tail/fin beautiful. the other is blue/red. I would like to be able to
put more then one male in a tank, like maybe 2 (a bigger tank) but I would
be afraid they would get hurt, I thought about putting my new white/red one
in with the female because he does not seem aggressive, unlike most of the
others, I have two that don't seem to be bothered by the other males, then I
have one who flares at every fish he see's I try to keep him away from the
others (as not to stress him).
how do you know if a female has eggs in her belly, I had not thought about
it but I have a male in her tank with a divider I don't want nothing to
happen to her.....she is still young, not full grown, I will see if I can
get some pic tomorrow.
Nik