Betta in community tank questions

[James_in_MN]

Yesterday I bought a female betta (along with a few other fishies) to add to my 55 gal planted community tank. I remembered hearing that they are compatible in community settings. BUT as I got home, I remembered also hearing that bettas dislike strong currents (i.e. filters?). I have already seen her get sucked onto the filter thing once, and my experiences as a fish owner I know thats not a good sign! I dont know betta personality, so I'm not sure if she is stressed or not. She moves her fins constantly and swims around the entire tank, so that is contrast to what Ive seen most bettas do. Does anyone have any advice on how to keep a betta in a filtered community, or if you can??

I have two female bettas in my 20g high community tank, and they do just fine. I have two filters on the tank (Aqueon Quietflow 30, Marineland Duetto 100) without anything to slow down the water flow, and the fish are just fine. They quickly figured out where the currents in the tank are and now pretty much avoid them. They still have plenty of space to swim around in, and use every inch of it.

 

[Cdepriest6009]

That stinks. A good way to stop that is to take them out, rearrange the decor in your tank, then put the new fish in and put the betta back after. This way the betta's territory gets messed up, and he hasn't got anything to defend.

Yea well we decided that the next rescue beta we get for it is all we are going to add to the tank will be the last thing we add to it. We almost rescued a beta from walmart tonight but we had no place for him the 1g we use to qt our betas so we know their attitude is currently occupied by another rescue that we haven't rehomed just yet.

 

[becrac16]

Yeah, I was going to ask how many bettas I should get. I was thinking of having more than one, but I don't want anyone to get picked on (do they do that?) So I'm thinking rehoming my upsidedown catfish, raphael catfish and the 6 rasboras and getting more bettas.

Also, I have a school of glass catfish that NEVER come out of hiding. I thought that when I had 3 they were just shy, so I got 3 more and I can't ever see those either! Any thoughts?

 

[siva]

Only one betta. Bettas are happiest without the presence of another betta. If you were going to mix females, which would be your only mixing option, you need 4+ to decrease your chances of eventual disaster. When keeping less than 4, they are notorious for ripping eachother apart, often after living together seemingly peacefully for a long time.

I keep a sorority of 6 female bettas. I've put a lot of work into getting the tank just right for them to co-exsist happily. I am now trying to figure out how I am going to house each one of them individually (or within a community, unfortunately pretty much all my communities already have a betta in them though). I'm not so much concerned anyone is going to kill anyone, but as an owner of over a dozen bettas and after caring for them for years in different scenarios, I can tell these girls just aren't happy. It's because of these experiences that I believe a betta should not be kept with another betta.

 

[allaboutfish]

they turned invisible dun dun dun! jk theyre probably just scared of the catfish or more active at night

 

[siva]

How long have you had the glass cats? They can take a bit longer to settle in then some fish.

 

[becrac16]

haha they might be scared of the raphael if only they weren't hiding in the same spot with him! I think they are more active at night but having fish that I can't see really bothers me.

Would I be able to get a male and a female and have them survive ok together? I've been on this search for a 'centerpiece fish' for over 8 months now, and I really enjoy the bettas personality.

 

[becrac16]

The 3 glass catfish I have had for over 6 months, the newest 3 i got about a week ago. The first group used to stick around and be seen, but about 2 months in decided to hide. And now the new 3 are hiding too.

 

[siva]

Oh heavens no. A male and female can only be combined during mating, and that's under supervision, and even then often someone gets ripped up.

Some folks do it, like the females I mentined before, seemingly peaceful for a long time until one day you find one ripped apart. Usually the male. I would never attempt it...if you were to it would need to be a much larger very heavily planted tank.

 

[becrac16]

ah. What kinds of issues are you having with the 6 bettas? Is it like territorial things or...?

 

[siva]

They are definitely highly territorial. In a community setting, I don't find them the least bit territorial with other fish, so it has been interesting to see this other side of them. Supposedly in a sorority, once they form the heirarchy, they should stop picking on eachother. When I initially tried with 5 females they picked on eachother constantly. I removed them and re-did the tank, it's densely planted with many tall plants and floating plants and decor for hiding, and added them back in along with a 6th girl. They did their initial flaring and dominance dance and they established their ranks with very little nipping and nothing severely violent like I have read happens so often when trying to mix females. The pecking order is very clear, #1 through #6. So things have been going pretty smoothly, but I started to notice #6 showing horizontal bars, a sign of distress in female bettas. I didn't make too much of it at first, since some girls do this easier than others, it's not uncommon for a hand in the tank or any mild disturbance to make some female bettas start striping, but I kept an eye on her. I noticed her hiding alot and getting chased alot. Then I noticed #1 and #2 were pretty much chasing everyone alot. Then #6 turned up with obvious nips in her fins..something I take seriously. I could try to re-arrange the tank or would happily upgrade them to a larger tank and that might resolve the issue temporarily but I've decided it's not in their best interest. I just don't think they are truly happy with another betta around.

Are there two female bettas out there that could live together happily until the day they die of old age without ever having a problem? Of course. The chances they will be the two you bring home? Unlikely.

 

[becrac16]

alright, good to know. back on the hunt for a centerpiece fish then! (and now, one that will get along with a betta!)

 

[siva]

I have had success with more than one dwarf gourami/female betta combo so I think your odds are better with that, though it would still technically be in the risky category