Betta in community?

[NekoOo]

We are in the process of starting a 55gal freshwater community aquarium. Our stocking will likely consist of:

2 Angelfish
2 GBR (maybe)
7-10 Scissortail Rasboras
1 pleco
another 7-10 small schooling fish like red eye tetras

My question is, could we add a betta if we wanted, or would he and the other fish, mostly the angels, not get along?

I'm also wondering how I'm supposed to keep a QT tank cycled? It's a 10gal and I'm not sure whether I should 'feed' the empty tank to keep the BB fed or whether I should put a few ghost shrimp or something to inhabit it.

 

[bud29]

A betta could not survive with that stock.

 

[NekoOo]

Thank you

 

[Samzter]

Agreed. A betta will probably have it's fins torn by just about all of that stock. A female or two might work.

 

[librarygirl]

I agree, no betta, male or female. Sorry. They don't require a huge tank though so if you really want one a 5 gal tank with heater and small filter would do nicely for a betta.

As for the QT question: I keep mine in a closet lol I just pull some media from my tank's filter to instantly cycle a QT tank if needed. Running an extra filter on your main tank can come in handy too so you can just pull the filter and add it to the QT tank as needed.

 

[RAH]

I won't do it. I have a resuced betta right now recovering from a GBR attack

 

[NekoOo]

Will rasboras harm a betta? Because the way things are going we're going to have only rasboras in the tank for at least a few months before the tank matures enough for angels or GBR. I was thinking we could keep the betta in the 55g while letting a 5g or 10g cycle in the meantime. I don't expect to have angels or rams for another several months, and the more I read about bettas I would really like a nice crowntail or halfmoon, preferably in his own tank.

 

[Gawang]

Will rasboras harm a betta? Because the way things are going we're going to have only rasboras in the tank for at least a few months before the tank matures enough for angels or GBR. I was thinking we could keep the betta in the 55g while letting a 5g or 10g cycle in the meantime. I don't expect to have angels or rams for another several months, and the more I read about bettas I would really like a nice crowntail or halfmoon, preferably in his own tank.

I would put a female Betta in the tank with some reservations, but most likely it would work out well. A male Betta however, would not be able to stand the high flow of the tank and would probably be nipped and killed by the other tank. If you absolutely had to have a male Betta, get a Plakat. Their fins are still able to be used for swimming as they are more like a natural Betta.

 

[bud29]

Will rasboras harm a betta? Because the way things are going we're going to have only rasboras in the tank for at least a few months before the tank matures enough for angels or GBR. I was thinking we could keep the betta in the 55g while letting a 5g or 10g cycle in the meantime. I don't expect to have angels or rams for another several months, and the more I read about bettas I would really like a nice crowntail or halfmoon, preferably in his own tank.

I doubt rasbora would harm a betta, but the betta might harm the rasbora. I have an incredibly aggressive betta. He ate a neon tetra, ate the antennas right off of 3 snails, and attacks the gravel vacuum when I put it in. There are some docile bettas out there but it is hard to tell which one in mean and which one is nice. They are really hit-and-miss with other fish.

 

[NekoOo]

I doubt rasbora would harm a betta, but the betta might harm the rasbora. I have an incredibly aggressive betta. He ate a neon tetra, ate the antennas right off of 3 snails, and attacks the gravel vacuum when I put it in. There are some docile bettas out there but it is hard to tell which one in mean and which one is nice. They are really hit-and-miss with other fish.

I think I'm going to set up a 5 or 10 gal in the future for a lone betta. I've seen jaw dropping bettas from aquabid.com and might ask my lfs to get one for me since they order from aquabid anyway. that's many months from now, gotta get the 55 going first and any leftover media, substrate and decor will be used for a new tank.

 

[bud29]

Sounds good, I love halfmoon bettas