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Anonymous
you don't need 3-5 gallons for a betta. I used to breed them and had litterally hundreds. they do just fine and will live a normal life span of several years in a half to full gallon as long as you do weekly water changes. you should also not feed them exclusively bloodworms as the other anonymous suggested. I've found that a mixed diet of pellets, bloodworms, and the occasional live food makes for a well rounded diet. as anon said though, they are a labyrinth/anabatanoid fish so they do need room to surface and breath (and in that lava lamp you'd need to make sure there was sufficient air exchange in that top portion.
as for the females together, this sometimes works and sometimes doesn't so you need to make sure you keep a close eye on them. 2 usually won't get along but if you add 3 or more this will diffuse aggression and usually they will establish a dominance hierarchy. if you breed your own females from the same batch of fry tend to do just fine together. breeding is not difficult at all, simply requires a half full 10 gallon tank, a hurricane lamp, half a styrofoam cup, and some broken clay pots. put the female in the hurricane lamp and let her and the male flash for a few days until he builds a nice nest under the cup and she starts flashing vertical bars (horizontal bars on her sides means she's stressed and not in the mood basically). let her out, keep an eye on her and let em do their thing. if they don't mate in about a day put her back in the lamp and try again a few days later. if they do mate immediately remove her. let the dad do his thing and remove him when you see free swimming fry.
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