So, in my 40 gallon community tank, where I mostly have corys and guppies, plus a loach and a bristle-nosed pleco, for practical reasons (but they are very interesting fish), I now have two female bettas. They are not in the slightest bit aggressive. I didn’t expect them to, given that it’s mainly the males who are, and I was even told that I could put a single male in a community tank, as long as he was the only male betta, but I didn’t want to take a chance he might nip at the fins of my guppies.
Now these bettas, who might otherwise be cosigned to tiny bowls, or 2.5 gallon tanks, are in a 40 gallon tank with lots of live plants, and decorations for swimming around.
I got them because they have really nice colors. One is a deep red, and the other is a rich blue. The red one is big and has beautiful fins-- I almost worried they sold me a male, but I can see the white spot on her belly for egg laying.
The red one like to hang out in the big Anubias plant I have. She swims around in the leaves, and sometimes will just sit on a leaf. The blue one loves to swim around the whole aquarium, like she can’t believe all this space is hers. I’d heard that bettas were slow swimmers, but this one can get up some speed.
These fish are a great addition to the community tank, and I sort of feel like they are “rescues,” since they don’t have to live the cramped lives of typical bettas.