Bettas and Community Fish?

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

I was wonderin if I could add a betta to a 55 gallon community aquarium. I heard that one of either the males or females can get along with them. And I would love to get one of those sad looking bettas an awesome new 55 gallon home. I have 2 gold gourmis, 1 blue ram, 1 green terror (Temp. in that aquarium, 4 corys, 1 chinesse algae eater, 2 killi fish, and I might get either 5 silver hachets, or 5 black skirt tetras (maybe).


But the main question is can I put a betta with these types of fish?

 

[marchmaxima]

the fact that you have gold gouramis already concern me..... I have no experience personally but from what I've read it's not recommended. If you choose to try, it might be prudent to have a plan to separate them if needed.

 

[Purrbox]

You have several fish in your aquarium that could be potential problems with a male betta. Anything with long flowing fins may end up being viewed and attacked by the betta, while nippier fish will likely end up picking on the betta. If you are going to add a betta I would stick to females to minimize the risks. With females you could also add more than one.

 

[Phoenixphire55]

Idk about gouramis but I have a molly tank and I put my female betta in there and she's being nice to everyone. They definitely were suspicious of her in the beginning but now it seems like everyone is getting along.

 

[black hills tj]

I have a male in my 29g community, and I don't have any problems.

Inhabitants include a medium koi angel, 6 cherry barbs, a clown pleco, 2 silvertip tetras, a scissortail, 2 bala sharks(upgrading to a 75g this summer or they'd be gone), 2 green cories, 1 pepper cory, 1 brilliant rasbora, and 2 columbian tetras.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Yeah i'm going to setup my 10 gallon again for if I have a problem if I have to seperate them.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

I was also plannin on goin with a female just because i've heard they don't have problems with out fish. So yeah I guess i'll do some more research and just go from there.

 

[JohnPaul]

Another vote for female. At various points over several years, I put female bettas (usually only one at a time) in a 29 gal community tank; in all cases but one it worked out fine. Bettas are notorious for having very individual personalities, and the one betta that didn't work out just didn't seem to like anyone, at all, ever. But other than that, I never had any female bettas who had problems with anybody (not even gouramis).

A male betta I would be more worried about, as there would be potential for problems with the gouramis (especially if you have a male gourami) and also in general long-finned male bettas tend to "invite" nippiness from other fish.

If you go with females, it is best to do either 1, or else a group of them (4 or so). If you just do 2, there is a chance that the dominant female will harass the lesser female too much. But in a larger group, they tend to take a few days to establish a pecking order amongst themselves and then after that, all is good.

P.S. -- I find bettas to have AMAZING personalities once you give them a large enough tank to actually explore. It's such a shame so many live their whole lives in tiny little plastic cups or barely-larger tiny fish bowls.

EDIT: link to a post I made years ago, with pictures of my female betta. She lived a good long life and eventually went to that big fishtank in the sky, but I still love the pic.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f34/so-who-says-female-bettas-arent-pretty-45430.html

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

I will problly only get one. I don't know exactly how much they are. I know it is kinda sad how they live there whole life and just died in a tiny cup or bowl. No fish should be kept like that. All should be equal. But yeah i'm problly going to go to the pet store soon and try to find the pretties female I can get Thanks for the help JohnPaul.

 

[Mdakotared]

Community Male Betta?

My wife and I have maintained community tanks of various sizes for over 30 years, and bred Bettas when first married. All this time we have had a male Betta included in each community tank with no problems. Initially, some storebought/tiny bowl Bettas have flared their fins when introduced, but quickly calmed down and started exploring their new great big world. IMO Bettas grow larger and stronger in a "real" tank, but caution must be used when considering power filters or powerheads oversized for your tank capacity. Bettas will struggle to swim in overly strong current.

 

[haykay]

IN my limited experiance I have had a male betta i added to a community tank and the male molly harrassed him relentlessly, he got his very own 10 gallon and has grown huge!
However my newest betta killed all his tank mates after living with them for about 2 months in my 28 gallon. All his tank mates were smaller than him. So after about a month or 2 in solitude in a 2 gallon tank he went in with the big fish into the 125 and him and the angel can even be seen eating side by side with no problems at all!
Like was stated before each fish has their own personality and that is what you must watch for..

Please let me know how your female works out as I have been messing with the idea of getting a few.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

My wife and I have maintained community tanks of various sizes for over 30 years, and bred Bettas when first married. All this time we have had a male Betta included in each community tank with no problems. Initially, some storebought/tiny bowl Bettas have flared their fins when introduced, but quickly calmed down and started exploring their new great big world. IMO Bettas grow larger and stronger in a "real" tank, but caution must be used when considering power filters or powerheads oversized for your tank capacity. Bettas will struggle to swim in overly strong current.

Thanks Mdakotared. Yeah I guess i'll just have to try. I know my lfs will problly say don't put it with anything. But i'm sure they haven't experimented yet. I've been told so many different storys. I want a male because they normally have better color. Yet I want a female because it's a safer bet that it will get along with my other fish. The problem I am looking at though is it being with a green terror, dwarf ram, and 2 gold gourmis, and the killi fish might be to small and get killed. I'm trying to find out what i'm going to do with the green terror, I might just take it to a lfs and see if they will adopt him out. I don't need money. But yeah I guess ill just have to try different bettas since they all got different personalities.

 

[Stephen]

Sorry, but first off, I would strongly suggest you find a way to remove the Green Terror. None of the other fish you mentioned are going to be able to stand up to him if he decides he'd like to play rough. You're setting yourself up for heartbreak if you risk leaving him there, even if he's not picking on any fish right now. There's a reason they're called Green Terrors.

Secondly, you should also be wary of the Chinese Algae Eaters. These guys do get aggressive in a community tank. If they run out of algae to eat, they'll go to work on the slime coating of your other fish, making them susceptible to parasites and bacteria.

As for your question, adding a betta to that mix, sans the Green Terror and the Chinese Algae Eater, you'd still have problems with the gouramis. Personally, I wouldn't do it.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Sorry, but first off, I would strongly suggest you find a way to remove the Green Terror. None of the other fish you mentioned are going to be able to stand up to him if he decides he'd like to play rough. You're setting yourself up for heartbreak if you risk leaving him there, even if he's not picking on any fish right now. There's a reason they're called Green Terrors.

Secondly, you should also be wary of the Chinese Algae Eaters. These guys do get aggressive in a community tank. If they run out of algae to eat, they'll go to work on the slime coating of your other fish, making them susceptible to parasites and bacteria.

As for your question, adding a betta to that mix, sans the Green Terror and the Chinese Algae Eater, you'd still have problems with the gouramis. Personally, I wouldn't do it.

Well if you looked at other post of mine you would see i'm looking into my lfs to take my green terror. And I know how the algae eaters and they usually don't get bad until there are adult length/age. I know these things. And they go at them because they think it is just another flat surface. And i've seen a lot of videos of people having female bettas in community aquariums with gourmis and they are fine.

 

[Stephen]

Well if you looked at other post of mine you would see i'm looking into my lfs to take my green terror. And I know how the algae eaters and they usually don't get bad until there are adult length/age. I know these things. And they go at them because they think it is just another flat surface. And i've seen a lot of videos of people having female bettas in community aquariums with gourmis and they are fine.

Alright. No offense meant. I was just trying to help.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Alright. No offense meant. I was just trying to help.

Yeah it's fine. I know you were haha. Well yeah i'm just going to test it out. Put the prettiest female I can find, and if there is any problems, she will just get the 10 gallon that is empty at the moment.