Although male betta fish has traditionally been the more popular option when looking to keep betta fish as pets, the popularity of keeping a betta sorority of multiple female bettas in the same tank has skyrocketed over the last year or some.
Due to the lower aggression levels in female bettas, you can usually keep multiple females in the same tank to mix and match their colors and patterns without having problems with fights breaking out.
With so many people looking to keep a betta sorority these days, we have seen a number of people reaching out to ask about keeping a betta sorority in a 5 gallon tank.
Although you can technically keep a betta sorority in a 5 gallon aquarium, you really should be trying to upgrade to a 10 gallon aquarium if possible for the additional space.
That said though, there are a number of people who do keep 5 gallon betta sorority tanks but you usually have to keep far fewer fish in the tank to prevent aggression.
Depending on your plans and goals for the tank, this may defeat the purpose of you actually keeping your betta sorority tank as some people want large numbers of fish so a larger tank will be needed in that situation.
Can You Keep A Betta Sorority In A 5 Gallon Fish Tank?
You are able to keep a small betta sorority in a 5 gallon tank but a 10 gallon tank is usually the recommended minimum.
With the smaller amount of space being available in the 5 gallon tank, the chances of the female betta fish fighting is slightly increased than it would be in a larger tank and make lead to territorial problems.
We often see beginners presume that female betta fish are not aggressive due to so many people keeping betta sorority tanks but this is far from true.
Although the aggression levels in female betta fish are considerably lower than that of male betta fish, they can still be aggressive, especially in smaller tanks.
This is why we would highly recommend that you go with a 10 gallon aquarium if possible but if you do choose to go with a 5 gallon aquarium then you really do need plenty of betta hiding spots in the tank.
The hiding spots are areas where the various female betta fish can go to be alone and relax while feeling safe and are a simple trick to help reduce the amount of fighting in smaller betta sorority tanks.
How Many Female Bettas In A 5 Gallon Tank?
You should only keep two to three female betta fish in a 5 gallon betta sorority tank as it is too smaller to keep larger sororities without issues.
Three female betta fish kept in a 5 gallon tank may still fight at times unless there are plenty of hiding spots in the tank to keep stress and anxiety levels as low as possible.
We know that a large number of people who have been recently reaching out about keeping a betta sorority tank want to keep a large number of bettas in the same tank but it’s just not safe to do so with such a small tank.
The general rule of thumb of one inch of fish per gallon of water volume in the tank is an excellent rule to stick to in this situation.
The average adult female betta fish will grow to a length of just over two inches so if we apply the 5 gallons divided by the average two inch length of a female betta fish you come out with a recommendation of 2.5 female bettas in the 5 gallon sorority tank.
This is why our recommendation is between two and three fish but in a 10 gallon aquarium you can keep 5 female bettas and really ramp up your betta sorority.
Should You Keep 3 Female Bettas In A 5 Gallon Tank?
You can technically keep 3 female bettas in a 5 gallon sorority tank but the chances of quarrels and fights between the fish is considerably higher than it would be in a 10 gallon tank.
The personality of your female bettas will come into play too and if you get lucky with three relatively calm female bettas, they should be fine in a 5 gallon sorority tank.
That said though, the majority of people should be leaning more towards keeping only 2 female betta fish in a 5 gallon sorority tank as it will keep aggression levels as low as possible.
We fully understand that this kind of defeats the purpose of keeping a sorority tank for your bettas but it is the safest option.
The price differences between a decent 5 gallon aquarium and a decent 10 gallon aquarium are minimal so many of our readers may be able to upgrade to keeping a 10 gallon betta sorority tank. This allows you to safely keep as many as five female betta fish in the tank with minimal risk.
How Many Hiding Spots Should Be In A 5 Gallon Betta Sorority Tank?
The general rule of thumb for hiding spots for betta fish is to have at least two hiding spots for a single betta fish and then go by 1.5 hiding spots per additional betta fish while rounding the number up.
For example, two bettas should have three hiding spots and three bettas should have five hiding spots.
Sticking to this rule of thumb can help ensure that there are plenty of hiding spots in your 5 gallon sorority tank for your female bettas and reduce the chance of aggression between them.
Although you can use some fancy betta hiding spots in your tank if you want, the more basic options work well too.
Depending on your overall sorority tank set up, you may also be able to get away with using an area of thick java moss as a hiding spot too.
Using java moss in your sorority tank not only offers a potential hiding spot but it can also be used to complete the look of your tank with various other live plants too offering an easy, cheap win-win situation for you.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over keeping a betta sorority in a 5 gallon tank to an end. We hope that we have been able to help you better understand how you should go about running a betta sorority in such a small tank but ideally, you should really be looking to upgrade to a 10 gallon tank as a minimum if possible. Not only does it allow you to keep more female betta fish in your tank but it also helps to improve the general mental health condition of your fish as they have more space to relax.
