Twoapennything - Mom to the male goldfish named Lady - has fallen into your midst!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Twoapennything

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jan 18, 2010
Messages
410
Location
Denver, Colorado
Hello everyone, my nick is Twoapennything and my name is Julie. I live in Denver, Colorado, and I just got my first 40 gallon aquarium up and running. I had intended to cycle it without fish, but I had to move the fish into the new tank on an emergency basis due to their old tank (10 gallon) being 4+ with ammonia. They were all at the top of the water, gasping for air. So, I only got to cycle the 40 for one week. In my tank I have:

- Lady, the fancy goldfish
- Margeaux and Marguerite, African dwarf frogs
- Satsuma and Sundrop, sunset wag platys
- Guy Noir, velvet black molly
- Blanche, white dalmatian molly
- Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod, neon tetras
- Oranges and Lemons, fancy guppies
- Charles, scarlet and blue crown tail betta

I'm cycling the old 10 gallon aquarium now (taking my sweet, sweet time) - I think I would like a few fancy guppies and/or tetras. I cracked myself up because I was planning on doing an Asian theme for the 10 gallon, and so I put in black substrate, a black background, and violet lights . . . the tank looks like a goth bar! So, I might just go with that theme - goth bar. Probably nobody else has a goth bar themed aquarium, LOL! Maybe I'll call it "Finding Emo." ;)

Anyhow, I also like to read, write, and garden; pick up DIY home improvement projects; fabric art projects; photography; and Victorian/Edwardian history. Thanks for reading!

ETA: I forgot to mention how I became interested in aquariums. I kept an aquarium from ages 12 to 18, always goldfish. My son brought home a guppy from school last Spring and she was so hearty we decided to get a tank for her. I had forgotten how nice it is to keep fish - they relax me and I think they're beautiful. So, we got the 10 gallon tank and just quickly outgrew it as we bought more fish. I did a lot of things very wrong with my first batch of fish and most of them died. I'm determined to learn how to care for my fish properly, and to learn all I can about fish in general so I can avoid easily preventable mistakes. I do care a lot about animals and I would never want to harm my little guys/gals. I bought a new Biowheel filter for the 10 gallon and I hope that will help.
 
Welcome Julie!! I am a Newbie as well (to the Forum but also to fish keeping) & I just started my 1st 10gal with only Robie, my Betta fish in it. I am planning to introduce a couple of fish next week and as I was reading your introduction I noticed that you keep a Betta in your community tank. Was "Charles" with all the other fish in the 10gal? Could you elaborate on your experience having a Betta in a community tank? I am an animal lover too and I would not want to risk it, but seeing Robie swimming all over the place in the 10gal tank, I would hate to have to move him back to a smaller tank...Thank you in advance and again, welcome!!!! Marina
 
Welcome Julie! Sounds like you have a nice setup started!

marina, Betta's are very unique fish. The males will generally do fairly well in a community tank, so long as there are no other betta's, or long finned fish that can't hold their own. We had a male betta in with our adult angelfish, and they got along fine as soon as the male figured out that he couldn't beat the angels. I have had male betta's attack smaller guppies, and especially guppy fry, but as long as they have a place to call their own they do pretty well.

Female betta's are a whole cooler story. I have successfully kept 5 female betta's in a 20 gallon community tank with neon tetra's and juvi angelfish. The female betta's will form a deffinate social structure and will pick on each other, but as long as the group is over 4, they can generally spread the love around enough to not kill each other. There are some great how to's out there about betta sororities. Give it a try!
 
Is "Charles" with all the other fish in the 10gal? Could you elaborate on your experience having a Betta in a community tank?

Marina, thank you for the welcome! Charles is indeed in the community tank along with my other fish. He's doing fabulously - he gets along with everybody and has only been aggressive with his own reflection (my tank has a mirrored back), which is kind of amusing. So far, the experience has been great and I really like having a betta in my community tank. My understanding is that male bettas must be kept as single fish, whether in a community tank or as a lone fish in an aquarium or betta bowl (I don't like betta bowls myself - I think they're too small). I have read that you can keep more than one female bettas together, but I have not researched this thoroughly. Of course it's the males that have the brilliant fins and coloring, though.

Apparently, some bettas in a community tank can become aggressive with other fish who have fancy or larger fins, such as fancy guppies or goldfish, because they mistake the other fish for another male betta. I have both fancy guppies and a goldfish in my community tank and Charles has never gotten aggressive with them. In fact, Charles is rather shy - he seems to feel comfortable lurking in the castle or in the leaves of the tank plants.

Hope this helps! Bettas are beautiful fish and can certainly be part of a community. :)
 
Captive bread female betta's are just as colorful as their male counter parts, though they don't have the long flowing fins the males do. My advice on keeping males in a community tank would be to make sure they have a spot they can call their own and hide in. It's even better if it's close to the surface. My betta's love wedging themselves in hornwart floating near the surface. As long as they don't feel they need to compete, they won't fight. They are fairly intelligent, as fish go, and will learn to recognize you. My females ignore my wife and son, but know that when my daughter drags me over to the fish tank that they are likely to get fed.
 
Thank you guys!!! I am a week away from getting a few tank mates and I m nervous to see what happens...The Betta at home seems much calmer than the one I have at work, (I just changed-the one at work-into a small tank with a filter and he is flearing at the filter!!!) so will see what happens...I have read tons of posts of people that successfully keeps Bettas in a community tank and others have not lasted more than 2 minutes!!!
 
Check how fast the water is moving at your tank in the office. Betta's do not like much water movement, which is why mine love sitting in the hornwart. I agree that filtering the water is important to the betta's health, but maybe try and give it a spot that is shielded from the current and see if he responds.
 
Thank you Epsolon77!!! The H2O movement is not that much, and he only flares when he swims by the filter, once he moves toward the front, he is OK! He ate good, but I agree, I need to give him a little spot to "hide". Thank u again for helping me!! :)
 
It just depends on the bettas attitude whether or not you can keep them in a community. And a lady who has been breeding them for 30+ years, said that if they are raised together, they will be fine together, which is understandable, but hard to find, unless you buy from a breeder.
He is probably just flaring at the filter because it's new. :)
 
Welcome to AA from Longmont


Each betta has it's own attitude, females included. Our female blue betta would kill anything we put with her. She killed neons, otos, snails and corys. Our other 3 girls are mellow.



Psst, emo and goth are 2 different things. As is steampunk. I'm a reformed goth, meaning because of work I can not let my true black colors flow and can't dye my hair or paint my nails or wear my favorite clothing.
 
Captive bread female betta's are just as colorful as their male counter parts, though they don't have the long flowing fins the males do.

I'm glad you clarified this! I thought female bettas were always muted in color. Are bettas prolific breeders, or is it relatively safe to keep males and females together without ending up with a billion offspring, ala guppies?

My advice on keeping males in a community tank would be to make sure they have a spot they can call their own and hide in. It's even better if it's close to the surface. My betta's love wedging themselves in hornwart floating near the surface. As long as they don't feel they need to compete, they won't fight
So, you are successfully keeping two or more male bettas together in the same tank? Did I read that correctly?

Also, thank you for the welcome!
 
I would not keep males and females together, the males are really rough when they are breeding, so you run the chance of him killing her if you are not right there to stop it. The females might look crappy in the store, but after some TLC they really perk up and show their colors!
 
Back
Top Bottom