How many bettas can I keep in a five gallon tank?

Question

The tank is filtered but not heated, will they be okay? Can I keep a male with a couple females or do I have to keep all females? Thanks!

Answer 1

males sometimes attack females also

you would be better off with 2 or 3 female bettas

Answer 2

Keep all females. Males and females will fight, and of course, males and males will fight. Keep about 4 females.

Answer 3

You should only keep 1 betta in a 5 gallon tank.  Males have to be kept alone as they are very territorial.  Females can sometimes be kept together in odd numbers, but they have to have more space than a 5 gallon tank and lots of plants and hiding spaces.  Bettas can survive without a heater, but they really should have one as they are tropical fish and do best in temperatures of 76-80 degrees F.  Without a heater your betta is going to be chilled and listless and not very active.

Answer 4

NOOO males will fight males or females. thats out. and do not attempt a sorrority (multiple females)  yes, its true they can be sucessfully kept but that is in a 20gal plus tank with odd numbers greater than 3... please do not attempt this in a 5g. a 5g is PERFECT for a single betta. nothing else. and, no, they NEED heat... a heater is only like 10$  or 15$

Answer 5

Either have in there a male and a few females or just females.

They can and at times will fight and kill each other. Just beware of that fact.

Answer 6

They need heaters.

Pet store and such sell them as cold water fish, but they are not. They are tropical fish.

and I wouldn't suggest keeping males with females unless you have a tank well over 20 gallons, and PLENTY of hiding space such as plants and hideouts. So much infact, that you would not even be able to see your fish.

The rule is, 1 inch of fish per gallon. It applies to betas aswell, despite what people think.

Answer 7

are bettas the fish that will fight to the death if theres an intruder  

Answer 8

Well, again, people are going to hate this, but facts are facts.

Male Bettas are sometimes transported in a few tablespoons of water.

Not saying it's right, but it happens.  They live in rice patties and ditches in Asia.  They have labyrinth organs and can live in low oxygen water conditions.  Not saying conditions are always right, but it is what it is.

So it's optimum to have a 10 gallon tank with a heater and filter and keeping the water between 74 -84 degrees.  However, they can live in 5 Gallon filtered tanks without a heater if the room temp. is kept between 70-80 degrees, and be just fine.  

First off you do not want to keep more than one male to a tank.  A male Betta should be the only one of it's species in a tank.  As far as female Bettas...you can keep 5 in a 10 Gallon filtered, heated tank.

The bigger the tank gets the harder it is to keep at room temp...more space, more water...doesnt work with room temp.  So a heater would be needed for anything over 5-8 Gallons.

If you were to put 5 Female Bettas in a 10 Gallon, you would need A LOT of plant cover and hiding places...there will be a pecking order, and a Dominate Female...on down will be determined.  You can not peacefully keep a male with a female in a tank.  Maybe if you had a 100 Gallon Tank with lots of cover so the female could get away...and even then its iffy.  

For a 5 Gallon Tank...pick a Male Betta OR a Female Betta.  and stick with one fish.  A 5 Gallon is not enough room for more than one female and if you get anywhere from 2-3 females...the more dominate ones will pick on the less dominate till possible death.

As far as your answer...If you get a 5 Gallon, check into a heater...but it is not completely neccesary to have one...especially if you keep the room temp high enough or live in the south where it is hot anyway...and the water is exposed to warmer temps.  I have kept a Male Betta before in a 5 Gallon without a Heater in Texas and he lived 5 years...he did have filtration...and not an airpump with airstone.

You can only keep a male to itself.  You can keep 5 female bettas and up...the bigger the tank the better...but no less than 10 Gallons with lots of plant cover and no matter what the size, you need lots of plant cover and hiding spots.  It would be better to have a bigger tank...than a 10 Gallon...but it can be done, just have to be very watchful of the tank.

And no, you cannot mix male and female together.  Im sure its possible with a tank smaller than 100 Gallons (kind of joking when I said that)...but just saying its just kind of odd...I think of it as a game of cat and mouse and eventually the male will possibly catch hold of the female and it could be bad for her.  Why risk it?

BTW one inch of fish/one gallon is not right.  If you get a fish and he is 10 inches long...and in a 10 gallon tank...he would only have 2 inches to turn around since the width of a 10 gallon tank is only 12 inches to begin with.  And the 10 Gallon tank is about 20 inches long...what kind of life is this for a fish that is 10 inches long...but under the 1 inch/1 Gallon rule...it make sense?  NO!

UPDATE...70 - 75 degrees should work.  Watch you Betta and see if he is active...not sitting at the bttm.  He wont be extremely active and swimming all over the tank like a Danio...but he will move around.  If he seems to stay at the bttm or in one place for a long long time...think bout the heater.  Its kind of an experimental thing.  Try it and see and then decide if you should get a heater.  you can always add one.

Best of Luck!