Betta chasing Platies

[aqua7]

Two days ago I added 3 Platies (2 female, 1 male) to my 10 gallon tank which was inhabited by a male Betta and 2 Otocinclus. Things seemed to be going well until today that I noticed the Betta flaring and chasing the Platies. What should I do? Will the Betta eventually give up?

 

[jsoong]

Prob. not. Bettas will chase any fish with long fins, so Otos will be fine, but longer finned fish might not. A lot depends on the personality of the betta. Females tends to do better in a community compared to males.

Separating the fish would be safest. You might watch closely for a little while, and be prepared to separate the fish if things get ugly.

 

[BigJim]

Does the betta actually attack the platies or does he just chase them for a while and back off. Some bettas chase fish for kicks, but they don't do any harm. Plants help be breaking up sightlines.

 

[Lowryder]

Male bettas tend to be territorial.

 

[aqua7]

Most of the time the Betta only gets close and flares and retreats back to his new corner where he started a bubble nest, (this might be the reason why he's acting up) but has actually launched against the Platties a few times in an attempt to bite them. This Betta has always been peaceful unlike the previous one I had, who was very aggressive so I wonder why the drastic change.

 

[McLumpy]

I had a similar situation when my husband listened to the Petco guy instead of his wife.

He brought home, what I believe was a male Betta, and we introduced him to our community tank, (keep in mind this was when we first started the hobby lol). Although, after reading on the net, you can have a Betta in a community tank, but IIRC, it must be a female as they're less territorial.

Anyway, all was fine, but a few days had passed after the introduction and he turned on our Red Tail Shark and began the launching and flaring stuff. The Betta didn't mess w/ any other fish, just the shark. This leads me to believe that the Betta could have recognized our shark as being another male Betta. Who knows. We couldn't continue to see our shark getting harassed, so we just took the Betta back to the pet store.

I wouldn't think that a Betta would do that to Platies though.

 

[aqua7]

Yes I wouldn't think so either. Before I added the Platies I had researched and found that they were compatible, which leaves me confused as to why my Betta is chasing after them. My Platies swim away, but don't seem stresses out. They still swim around the tank eating algae etc.

 

[Shetland James]

I had a tank with 19 Neons and a Betta, both obviously very compatible. I later added 4 Balloon Mollies, 2 Silver dollars and a pleco.

Now, the mollies had already shredded a Betta at the pet store but I thought that I would try them out anyway. Needless to say, through Balloon or Dollar, the fighter was bitten and his tail had minor damage. He started to flare up at the Silver Dollars and chased the away and now they co-exists peacefully. I think that once they all get settled they're fine.

 

[aqua7]

I had to return the poor Platies . I wonder what other kind of fish I could safely add to this tank...

 

[McLumpy]

That sucks. I honestly don't think you're going to have much luck adding any other fish to your tank though w/ the Betta being a male... but I could be wrong.

After I posted in your thread, I did a search for compatibility between Bettas and Platies and they should have been compatible. As per this link Freshwater Fish Compatibility Tool - Rate My Fish Tank But then again, this is a general chart and doesn't include compatibility between sexes. Bettas are absolutely beautiful, but if you want to add more fish, I think you would have better luck changing out your male w/ a female.

Either that, or send your male Betta to Anger Management.

 

[aqua7]

This Betta has lived with other fish before and continues to live with Otocinclus' so maybe the color of the Platies got to him. If that's the case I wonder if adding Neon Tetras will have the same effect due to their colors.

Thanks for the compatibility chart. Maybe anger management isn't a bad idea lol!

 

[BigJim]

Unfortunately, a 10g might be too small for platies and a betta. The betta may be territorial towards them. You could try getting smaller fish like neons and see what happens. Betta temperament seems to run the gamut from peaceful to homicidal. I guess I've been lucky with keeping my bettas in community tanks.

 

[aqua7]

Jim, I agree with you. The tank was probably too small for them. I do want to try Neons, but I'm afraid he'll react the same way. The Betta always seemed peaceful compared to the previous one I had. I wonder how he'll do with shrimp...

 

[McLumpy]

This Betta has lived with other fish before and continues to live with Otocinclus' so maybe the color of the Platies got to him. If that's the case I wonder if adding Neon Tetras will have the same effect due to their colors.

Thanks for the compatibility chart. Maybe anger management isn't a bad idea lol!

Have you considered adding just 1 Neon Tetra to your tank for a week or two to see what happens? This may be fatal for the poor fish should the Betta attack it, but at least it would only happen to 1 fish instead of an entire school of fish.

Another idea is to find a divider for your tank. I don't know if they sell them for a 10 gallon size though. I had a small Betta tank that came equipped w/ one that was removable if you only have 1 Betta and it worked great!

But then again, like others have said, every Betta is different. Your little guy might actually like Neon Tetras. You won't know for sure until they're introduced.

 

[aqua7]

Adding one or two Neons sounds good, but I don't think I can handle them getting killed if the Betta does attack them. I just might try that though. I also want to see how he would react to shrimp by getting one or two Ghost Shrimp. If things go well I would add RCS.

About the divider, it's a possibility, but I want to keep the fish in as much swimming space as possible and dividing a 10 gallon tank will really make it smaller. Thank you for your advice !

 

[McLumpy]

You're welcome for the advice!

I agree... losing a Neon isn't fun at all. I just added 4 to my tank and within 24 hours 1 went MIA. I'm pretty sure that it was eaten as I couldn't find it anywhere.

I had introduced 1 to my tank prior to adding the other 4 a month or so later. This 1 Neon was my "tester" fish, (so to speak), and as soon as I put the other 4 in the tank, they bonded immediately and follow him around the tank. It is funny watching him "keep them in check". lol

I don't know much about Shrimp, except for they're very tasty, (well at least the ones in restaurants and grocery stores).

 

[aqua7]

I think I will take the plunge and add 1 or 2 Neons, but there's also the chance they'll nip at the Betta. Hopefully things work out. If I do add Neons please wish me luck.

I'm sorry to hear about your MIA Neon. I hope he turns out somewhere in the tank. I'm sure it's fun watching the rest follow the other one. That's the beauty of schooling or shoaling fish.

Restaurant shrimp are definitely delicious...

 

[McLumpy]

I think I will take the plunge and add 1 or 2 Neons, but there's also the chance they'll nip at the Betta. Hopefully things work out. If I do add Neons please wish me luck.

I'm sorry to hear about your MIA Neon. I hope he turns out somewhere in the tank. I'm sure it's fun watching the rest follow the other one. That's the beauty of schooling or shoaling fish.

Restaurant shrimp are definitely delicious...

Good deal! Hopefully your Neons will be like mine... they just do their own thing and ignore the other fish.

About the missing Neon, meh, I'm 100% sure it's gone. I only see 4 in the tank and they stay pretty close together. Not to mention, it was the smallest of the 5, so it was a pretty easy target for my bigger fish. I wouldn't think they would have eaten the li'l guy because they left my Molly fry alone, but who knows.

Keep me posted on when you get your Neons. Best of luck in advance!