Betta health

[lilliemoon5ilver]

I am thinking of moving my lone male betta out of his bowl. The more I have read, the more I realize he would be better suited in a full aquarium. I currently have 3 Mollies and 2 platys in a 20 gal aquarium. I have high hopes for breeding the Mollies (2 female, 1male) and Platys (1 male, 1 female) but I have already been struggling with this. Now, I think that I have been making some head-way with my breeders (fish-in cycling complete, GH levels increased for the mollies, etc) I don't want to complicate things too much. Is it safe to move my betta into this tank? Currently the water is a cozy 78 degrees. GH is 268.5, KH is 179. PH is 7.5. No ammonia or nitrates present. Are these good conditions for a betta? Should I be concerned with the betta becoming too aggressive?

 

[Lt.]

NO NO! DON'T PUT HIM IN THAT TANK!! HE'LL KILL WHATEVER ELSE IS IN IT! A female betta, MAYBE, a male, no way! I wouldn't risk it at all.

 

[Dbigfish]

I disagree many people have successfully incorporated a lone male beta into their other fish tanks and their temperments widley vary. If you want to try it just keep a net handy and watch for aggression perhaps on a Saturday when you can check on thing often.

 

[KryptiCouple]

NO NO! DON'T PUT HIM IN THAT TANK!! HE'LL KILL WHATEVER ELSE IS IN IT! A female betta, MAYBE, a male, no way! I wouldn't risk it at all.

 

[Shane87]

My male better lived out his whole life in my 92g community with all sorts of different fish and the only problems I had was, he killed a male killifish but think he was trying to breed with it, opaline gourami picked on him and the German blue rams attacked him when they was breeding, and the gourami and breeding cichlids was my fault but over 3 years that's the only problems I had.

 

[Ahisma]

I think it's fine to try, like someone said, do it when you are home all day to observe.

I have a male betta in a 20 long with 6 cories and 8 yellow phantom tetras. They have been together since early August. Not one fish has been nipped and there were no signs of aggression from the start.

The only thing the betta did, which was good, is that he flared at the tetras as they approached him. They tend to be nippy, but he showed them who's boss and now they just swim away if he gets too close.

The betta is a beautiful centerpiece fish, and I catch him swimming with the cories all of the time. He has also rested at the bottom with them.

He doesn't mind the current because he is a plakat (shorter fins), but for a longer finned betta, there is a trick you can use to divert the current using a pop bottle. Google it...

I quarantined the betta first because he was sick, but this may have helped by allowing him to get used to me before dumping him into a new tank with fish. A betta log or floating plants are good for a hiding place.

He will swim all over and most likely be happy, so it's worth a try!

 

[shellieca]

I am thinking of moving my lone male betta out of his bowl. The more I have read, the more I realize he would be better suited in a full aquarium. I currently have 3 Mollies and 2 platys in a 20 gal aquarium. I have high hopes for breeding the Mollies (2 female, 1male) and Platys (1 male, 1 female) but I have already been struggling with this. Now, I think that I have been making some head-way with my breeders (fish-in cycling complete, GH levels increased for the mollies, etc) I don't want to complicate things too much. Is it safe to move my betta into this tank? Currently the water is a cozy 78 degrees. GH is 268.5, KH is 179. PH is 7.5. No ammonia or nitrates present. Are these good conditions for a betta? Should I be concerned with the betta becoming too aggressive?

I would try it out because he will definitely LOVE more space & heat. As others have suggested keep a close eye on everyone for a couple of days that way if it doesn't work then you can take him out. If your tank is planted well with places to hide then everyone should be good. Keep in mind he may act odd for a few days while he's adjusting to the change in his environment.

 

[lilliemoon5ilver]

Well, he hasn't been at all aggressive to my other fish. No fin nipping from anyone. He pretty much keeps to himself. For some reason I think his presence has sparked something in my male Molly. He will not leave the females alone now. (Yay!) I think I may need to invest in some floating plants, though, as my Betta (David) keeps finding his way into the little mesh frye basket that I have in the tank. I'm not opposed to him hanging out in there, but I should probably find him better hiding before the babies start coming. How are bettas with frye? Are they as bad as the mollies with eating the young? I really haven't been able to figure out how he is getting in there. (Jumping?) Are there any floating plants that are any better than others for this type of tank? (3mollies and 2 platys for breeding and 1 betta.)

 

[KryptiCouple]

He probably is jumping in. Bettas are awesome jumpers. I've seen pics of male betta with their fry, but I don't know if is a normal thing for them.

 

[Ahisma]

Hornwart is a great floating plant. It would provide excellent cover for fry. The betta most likely will eat fry, unless they are super fast. I've only seen guppy fry, so I have no idea what Molly fry are like. The other poster was right, male Bettas take care of their own fry, not the female. However, they are not known to be care takers of other types of fry... I bet there are cases where male Bettas don't eat other fry though.

 

[Dbigfish]

If you cat separate them just keep the beta well fed if he is a good tempered fish then many of the fry may live