Bettas Companion

[unknown_7]

I have a 4 gallon tank for my new betta, but he looks really lonely and bored in there by himself, and where his tank is, there is no real stimulus there for him except the odd time I go by there so I was wondering what are good tank mates for my fish?

 

[Hovoc]

platys, tetras, danios, swordtails, just from my experience

 

[richiestang_78]

Yeah just stay away from fish they may nip at him. Danios may be a little frantic for such a small tank.

 

[Hovoc]

yeah, no kidding, theyve deffinately got the activity started in my tank.


unknown, also shy away from guppies or anything that may resemble another betta. i have one guppy in my tank, and neither bother the other, but thats doesnt mean it wont happen

 

[europas_ice]

You don't have problems with the betta nipping at the other fish?

 

[Hovoc]

nope

 

[An t-iasg]

Bettas will most likely attack other colorful fish like guppies, as mentioned - and I have seen tetras gang up and nip at a betta. A 4 gallon tank is too small for other tankmates - the potential for overstocking and aggression is high. You could try a few ghost shrimp - they won't impact the bioload but the betta may eat them. It's probably a 50-50 chance if a betta will eat a ghost shrimp. You could also try a few small snails.

 

[unknown_7]

I agree I don't have much space in a tank like this one, however, I was thinking of maybe trying the ghost shrimp and planting it up a bit and giving them so places to hide although I am very confident that my betta, who is very active and will bravely go after anything he sees will definetly eat them at some point of time. I was thinking snails but I personally don't really like them, i.e., appearance and also because I am worry that they will get way too big or multiple like crazy.

 

[Pinky]

oto cats! they're cute, and tiny (mine aren't even 2"). Tama chases them around from time to time, but never hurts them, plus they keep any algae problem i might have under control.

 

[sith j]

i have 3 neon tetras in my 2.5gal with a male betta, he doesnt pay much attention to them. i put the betta in my 10gal tank once, i have a background taped to the back of the tank which for the fish i guess creates a mirror effect, because the betta kept puffing up and striking at the glass or what he thought was another male betta. before he knocked himself out i removed him and put him back into his small tank with no background. never know till you try.

 

[unknown_7]

I think I will stick with the ghost shrimp for him, that way I won't be wasting money on fish that he might kill anyways, so I think that is the safest route to go I guess for now.

 

[arrow1234]

i thought bettas are all "peaceful",
see this site
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/scateg.cfm?pCatId=832

it said Temperament: Peaceful

more likely, i want to add a betta too

 

[mrzap]

I had a betta with lots of ghost shrimp. She would leave them alone unless she saw them eating food pellets she missed. Then she would go after the food until they let it go. She never made one a snack. I've also had some pictus catfish and CAE's at different times with her without an issue.