Bettas/Fighting fish in community tanks

[qwertie]

hi,
I have three questions about Bettas/Siamese fighting Fish/Japanese Fighting Fish/Chinese Fighting Fish, whatever you want to call em fish (gawd some people are soooo fussy lol)

1. Are Bettas good in Community Tanks

2. What fish do they get attacked by, and which fish do they attack?

3. Any recommendations about fish that they don't fight with and fish that don't attack them.

4. I know that i should never put males together, but could i keep 1 male and 1 female in a quite big tank with each other, if not could i keep females together? i heard that they sometimes fight too (stupid fish, they would look really nice in a tank in my house with clown loaches and black mollies and red tailed sharks, and all the fish i know of but only know their scientific names

Ok that was 4 questions, lol!

 

[An t-iasg]

I've never had a betta in a community tank, but I can try to help:

1. All bettas have different personalities. One betta may be fine in a community tank, and another one may not appreciate having tankmates. It all depends on the betta.

2. I have seen a group of tetras gang up on and attack and nip a betta. A group of fast-moving tetras will bother and harrass a slower-moving betta. So I would say that tetras are not good tankmates for bettas.

A betta may attack another fish with bright colors and long fins, like a guppy. The betta probably mistakes the bright colors of a fish like a guppy for another betta.

3. Some members have kept a betta with a school of cory cats. Cory cats are bottom dwellers and probably won't get in the betta's way.

4. Female bettas can be kept together. They will have their own "pecking order" to work out. Occasionally, like any group of fish, one particular aggressor must be separated from the group.

I would not recommend a male and female betta together. They are usually put together to mate, and then separated soon afterward. The female can be very aggressive toward the male also. If your tank is big enough, you could try a male and female betta in there together, but be prepared to separate them if necessary.

You can try the betta in the community tank, but I would have another tank ready of at least 3 to 5 gallons for the male betta in case he needs to be taken out of the community tank.

 

[Blucat]

Why not get a female betta? they can be just as stunning and colourful without the long fins.

 

[qwertie]

I know but the males have longer fins, It defies the point of even getting one, If I could only get female bettas, I might as well get guppies,
anyway, I read that a strain of bettas, when you put a male and females in, the male is spoiled for choice and wants them all, so he doesn't attack, hopefully, they will have that sort in my fish shop, well they must do, after all they have sting rays!!
Why do bettas have to be soooo agressive? lol

 

[gmac]

I have a always had a male betta in my tanks, along with 12 neon tetra, 2 black mollies, 1 balloon molly, 1 plecostomus and 1 armoured shrimp. They have always got along fine as my bettas have such superb characters. The only problem I've had is with the neon's, they can nip fins pretty badly, not so much on this betta (blue), but on my last (red), they nipped a fair bit. They also took the tails off a lot of my guppies when I had them... the darker colours aren't as bad as they aren't as easily mistaken for flake food which is where I went wrong. So I highly advise you leave tetras out of it. Other than that, bettas are beautfiul, wonderful community fish in my experience!

 

[qwertie]

thanks, come on i need more answers lol

 

[MyDog]

I have a 38 gal community tank that held 2 swordtails, 2 platys, 2 bronze corys and 6 pearl danios. They all ignored the one male delta tail betta but unfortunately he did not ignore them. 2 weeks after putting the betta into the tank he killed a platy and mangled the other one. I pulled him out and put him into his own 10 gal.

All of these fish are supposed to be compatible with bettas but it did not work for me. I would not recommend it based on my own personal experience. If however you want to try.

a. avoid fin nippers ( they will go after the betta)
b. avoid long finned fish (the betta may go after them)
c. choose a short finned beta like a plakat or a delta (not super delta)
d. have a fall back plan if it all falls apart.

I have no experience with females and males in the same tank so I cannot speak to that.

After putting the delta tail into the 10 gal I divided it and got a male crown tail for the other side. It is interesting to note that the delta tail (that I had the problems with) is meeker than the crown tail. I would hate to think what would have happened if I put the crown tail into the community tank.

Once I divided the betta out and got the second their true personalty came to light. The are quite amusing fish. When I come into the room they will swim to the front of the tank and when I feed them they will take the food from the end of my finger. They are great fish to have but if your situation allows I would really recommend keeping them in a separate tank where you can really appreciate them.

Good luck whatever you decide. 8)

 

[qwertie]

thanks, I want a really interesting tank, I don't have a big house so I could'nt get more than 3 average sized tanks in the places where there are spaces, i'll see if the breeder knows what they'll be like, based on there parents' nastiness, or lack of nastiness, if only they wernt aggressive, I think they look the best out of all the fishes, even out of a clown fish and a betta I would pick betta any day (btw i know that bettas are FW and clown fish are saltwater)

 

[ramfan]

Why do bettas have to be soooo agressive?

From what I've read, there are 2 schools of thought on this (and I'm sure somebody else knows for sure): Either they are or were bred initially (when they actually held fighting events) specifically for their aggressiveness OR they are just built that way by mother nature. From what I understand they are now bred almost exclusively for their looks. As we have seen above, there is a wide variety in personality so if at first you don't succeed, blah blah blah.

out of a clown fish and a betta I would pick betta any day

I so agree!!

 

[qwertie]

lol, i was only joking when i sed why do bettas have to be so aggressive! lol
Nice 1 for agreeing, do u know any of then actual answers

 

[Rach101]

All I have to say is Bettatalk.com .. Don't have a betta but god do i love that site.

 

[qwertie]

I know, ive sent a message off to Faith, shes not replied yet

 

[ramfan]

Yes- sometimes I get too literal!

bettas may attack anything that resembles themselves- long flowing fins, perhaps even color- I don't know...

Experts everywhere disagree on its favorite water temp, so whatever on that one-maybe one of our advisors can shed light... I've seen more warm than cool temps, though.
keep water surface fairly feree of floating plants- they need to surface periodically
They like a variety of food- frozen, live, etc. They are primarily carnivores!
Experts agree, though that Cory's are a good tankmate for Bettas.

Good luck.

 

[qwertie]

thanks,
I'll get corys if they look nice, if they dont, I wont, lol
I'll put what im thinking of for my tank here later, It'll definatley include bettas and black mollies and red tailed sharks (coulor contrast) And Angelfish, but ive heard that angelfish are fin nippers ill try and put the bettas first, but if theres more than 4 species of fish that I Want, that dont like bettas, i'll forget about bettas at the moment,
I was thinking of lots of fish and some crabs for my first tank,
Turtles for my seccond tank (Turtles are interesting because they need a beach area, I was thinking of planting non spikey cacti on the beach,
So if bettas are not compatible i'll see if i can get a fith tank with bettas and corys in

 

[qwertie]

cool
cory cats look good, im definatley having them, there like townies (english word for people that like eminem and 50 cent n stuff, hangin out at a street corner
lol

 

[Blucat]

male bettas will attack angelfish cause the angelfish fins resemble another male betta

 

[blang]

I have a betta in a community tank (15 gallon). I even have red-eye tetras in there who after the first day, realized that they better leave the betta alone. He gets along fine with my mollies and will chase the tetras if they get too close. Otherwise, he is just fine with my other fish.

When I purchased him, he was already in a community tank so I guess he is use to other fish in his house.

 

[qwertie]

Cheers, I still think I'm not going to risk it with the tetras unless i have a big tank!
Ive heard that the angelfish nip at then bettas (angel fish are way faster and bigger) but i've not really heard much about it.

 

[ramfan]

I'm glad you like the Cory's- there's about 5 million varieties, but the bronze ones are the usual. Total townies. Very cute, too. They hang out with each other and seems to roll their eyes at bad jokes.

 

[AR15 guy]

Females do well in community tanks.

Males usually do ok long as the tank is very large and there is no fin nipper in there.