Walmart lied!! I have a 10 gallon tank and 8 Female Bettas What are the best care tips?

Question

I changed all the water once a week. How much do I need to feed them? The sales rep told me that I could have 10 Bettas in a 10 gallon tank! She also told me to feed them only once a week.(I feed them once a day.) ANY ADVICE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!! I feel bad that I took her advice because I want them to ALL be well cared for!

Answer 1

First I would do my best to get a bigger tank as soon as I could. A 20 gal at minimum but a 30 would be better. And I would probably only keep 3 in a 10 gallon tank, at the most. If you can't buy a bigger tank, maybe you can give some away or sell them on Craigslist.

Second, feed your fish twice a day - just enough for them to eat it all in about 3-5 minutes. With that many fish in that small of a tank, you want to make sure they are well fed. Otherwise they will get aggressive and start killing and eating each other.

Lastly, don't do complete water changes, that is very stressful for the fish and they will probably get Ick pretty quickly. Taking out a couple of gallons and replacing it with a couple of fresh water that has set out overnight (to evaporate the chlorine, etc) once a week should do the trick.  

Answer 2

normally u dont put bettas together thats why they come in seperate containers and yes u feed them once a day like 7 little pellets . make sure u got all the chemicals to balance the water . i have 2 tanks and lots of fancy guppies like 100 the mother gave birth lol i feed them 3 times a day becuz i read online that they r always hungry so good luck

Answer 3

8 should be fine if you have a good filter and heater i doubt they will die

some people keep bettas in less than a gallon  

Answer 4

I think if you look after them carefully they should be fine, partial water changes weekly and feeding once a day is good.

Pellets are fine but they will also like live or frozen food like blood worms and brine shrimp occasionally.

I would get some plants for your tank if you don't already have some, they look nice and help improve the water quality also if your girls are a bit aggressive with one another it will give them somewhere to hide.

And bettas like resting in plants anyway.

Answer 5

Betas are territorial and fight to the death that's why they are always in separate containers by them self.  I would return the betas and exchange them with other fish or you can try to keep two and get a divider to separate the tank.  One beta eats one to two pellets a day.  

Answer 6

that is an extremely over stocked tank, not because of the ammount of water they have, but because female bettas ARE territorial. Even though they tolerate each other, they are bettas after all.

in a 10gal tank i would suggest keeping 5 female bettas MAX!

they need room and hiding places. Seperate the other three and get them seperate containers or you can start a new 10gal tank, or better yet, get a 20gal LONG (not tall) tank and all 8 can live there. Or you can give 3 away to someone responsible.

Do feed them once a day 3-5 pellets and dont feed one day of the week.

good betta sites:

http://www.bettatalk.com

http://www.bettysplendens.com

and you should probably read up on keeping female bettas together, i cant give you links right now but i wil if you leave your question up untill 5:00pm today. I think it would be quicker if you just google it yourself.

dont feel bad for taking her advice, i guess we all have to learn the hard way not to listen to petstore or wal mart employees.

good luck with everything.

ps. do NOT feed them what they can eat in 2-5 min, their stomachs are the size of their eyeballs and you dont want constipated bettas. Bettas are pretty much pigs, they can eat ALLOT in 5 min. trust me lol.

Answer 7

your females are fine in there,if you change the water once or twice a week or have a filter,keep in mind they often need a heater if it gets cold where you are,you can have females together,my friend has had hers together for years,they need a temp between 70-85 degrees Fahrenheit,feed them about 4 pellets each,I feed my boy 2 times a day anywhere from 4-7 pellets,but he is a piggy :) if you have any more questions you can write to me and Ill try to help you :)