Betta in a community tank

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Most people say not to put betta's with other fish. But it can work as long as you are careful. I have one male with following 6 zebra danios, 4 platys, 3 swordtails, 1 gold gourami, 1 pearl gourami, 1 Siamese flying fox and 2 bn catfish.
I had been warned about the danios nipping fins but this has never happened also warned about the bigger gourami going for him but also never been an issue.
Only thing is betta is scared of the big gourami but is fine with everyone else.
 
remember with a betta they can sometimes go into community tank overload and become very aggressive, even with all the captive breeding they are still pretty solitary im guessing its a male so be extra attentive. My female was the only one in a tank for a long time and i got a bigger tank and she is a lot better now. She used to be aggressive towards the two guppies i got nipping (no ripped fins thank goodness) and now she seems to leave them alone or even follows them around sometimes. i even have a corydoras, a dwarf gourami and another guppy in there now and shes fine. Hope it all goes well with it!
 
guppygirl09169 said:
remember with a betta they can sometimes go into community tank overload and become very aggressive, even with all the captive breeding they are still pretty solitary im guessing its a male so be extra attentive. My female was the only one in a tank for a long time and i got a bigger tank and she is a lot better now. She used to be aggressive towards the two guppies i got nipping (no ripped fins thank goodness) and now she seems to leave them alone or even follows them around sometimes. i even have a corydoras, a dwarf gourami and another guppy in there now and shes fine. Hope it all goes well with it!
Click to expand...

Thanks
I hope it all goes ok as well fingers crossed
 
I have a male betta in a 20g community tank with black neon tetras, five banded barbs, and otocinclus cats. He seems to be doing well for me, and I'd hate to have to remove him from the tank.

The only issue you may have is feeding your betta. You can't feed a betta flakes or they will get bloated. I soak freeze dried bloodworms/tubifex worms for 10+ minutes before pouring them in the tank so it won't hurt him (actually works really well for the five banded barbs) if he gets some of it.

I'll mostly feed the betta some hikari bio-gold pellets once I'm done feeding the other fish (he only goes for the other food if it stays at the surface). I was having a problem with the black neon tetras snatching the pellet before he could get it, but have now trained him to hang in the floating bacopa so they can't see the food as I drop it for him. :brows:
 
James_in_MN said:
I have a male betta in a 20g community tank with black neon tetras, five banded barbs, and otocinclus cats. He seems to be doing well for me, and I'd hate to have to remove him from the tank.

The only issue you may have is feeding your betta. You can't feed a betta flakes or they will get bloated. I soak freeze dried bloodworms/tubifex worms for 10+ minutes before pouring them in the tank so it won't hurt him (actually works really well for the five banded barbs) if he gets some of it.

I'll mostly feed the betta some hikari bio-gold pellets once I'm done feeding the other fish (he only goes for the other food if it stays at the surface). I was having a problem with the black neon tetras snatching the pellet before he could get it, but have now trained him to hang in the floating bacopa so they can't see the food as I drop it for him. :brows:
Click to expand...

Any other tips on keeping the betta
 
A small tip on what not to keep with a beta. And that would be the fish in the pic. I cant remember its name.

image-3280859058.jpg

In my tank after 6 months i decided to buy some new fish. I bought 1 beta and thefish in the pic. The moment the fish in pic saw the beta it launched a full on attack. It was eating the beta.

I separated them( moved the beta out) and after a couple of hours introduced the beta again. And history repeqted itself bit when i removed the beta by morning it was with God.

Aquarists beware you do not want to see beautiful fish being savagly attacked
 
chew valley said:
Most people say not to put betta's with other fish. But it can work as long as you are careful. I have one male with following 6 zebra danios, 4 platys, 3 swordtails, 1 gold gourami, 1 pearl gourami, 1 Siamese flying fox and 2 bn catfish.
I had been warned about the danios nipping fins but this has never happened also warned about the bigger gourami going for him but also never been an issue.
Only thing is betta is scared of the big gourami but is fine with everyone else.
Click to expand...

Wow. That's amazing that the gouramis and betta don't mess with each other in your tank. How big is your tank? Is it planted?
 
It's 52 gallons UK (think that's 63 US Gallons) and yes it's planted. The Pearl Gourami is actually very peaceful, just follows the Gold Gourami everywhere. The Gold Gourami did chase the Betta once but has left him alone ever since.
I did do loads of research before hand and whilst I am not 100% sure there won't be a problem I am hopeful it will be OK. From what I can gather it's hit and miss whether the Gourami will go for him. Think it depends on the individual.
I did want Angels but from I read there was a much higher risk of a problem.
 
masai said:
A small tip on what not to keep with a beta. And that would be the fish in the pic. I cant remember its name.

View attachment 77151

In my tank after 6 months i decided to buy some new fish. I bought 1 beta and thefish in the pic. The moment the fish in pic saw the beta it launched a full on attack. It was eating the beta.

I separated them( moved the beta out) and after a couple of hours introduced the beta again. And history repeqted itself bit when i removed the beta by morning it was with God.

Aquarists beware you do not want to see beautiful fish being savagly attacked
Click to expand...

As already stated that is an Oscar and shouldn't be kept wih most fish. Never had one but they are one of the worst Cichlids for agression I believe, so not suprising it killed the Betta.
 
chew valley said:
It's 52 gallons UK (think that's 63 US Gallons) and yes it's planted. The Pearl Gourami is actually very peaceful, just follows the Gold Gourami everywhere. The Gold Gourami did chase the Betta once but has left him alone ever since.
I did do loads of research before hand and whilst I am not 100% sure there won't be a problem I am hopeful it will be OK. From what I can gather it's hit and miss whether the Gourami will go for him. Think it depends on the individual.
I did want Angels but from I read there was a much higher risk of a problem.
Click to expand...

The size of the tank probably makes a big difference. In a smaller tank, the fish can't set up their own territories. Some betta "experts" have even been successful at keeping two or three male bettas together in large, long tanks (30 gallons or more). One of the books I read said that in the wild, they won't fight to the death. Instead, they flare and spat and decide who's top fish, and the other one swims away. In a large tank, they can do the same and establish their own "place." That's probably true when you have bettas and other labyrinth fish like gouramis together, too. I took my fire gouramis back to the LFS when I decided to get a betta because 12 gallons wouldn't have been enough room for them.
 
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