Betta behavior

[Sweets1023]

I've had a male betta in a ten gallon tank for about a month now. I know you can add other aquatic life in there with them depending on your betta's personality.

Last week I added two apple snails to the tank and he seems to be okay with them. He ignores them for the most part. The first hour or so they were in the tank he kept going over to them and checking them out(no flaring) but was occasionally trying to nip at their little feeler things. It didn't really look like an aggressive behavior, it sorta looked like he thought it was some sort of wormy snake like his blood worms. After the first day he stopped paying any attention to them, but he does occasionally go over to them if they're in the upper region of the tank and examines them then swims away.

After reading that behavior I was wondering if he seems like he would be okay with other fish. I would like to get some sort of cory cats(probably 5 or 6 pygmy corys or maybe 2-3 albino/bronze corys) for the tank, but its all depending on if I think he will get along okay with them. I'm not sure if his behavior with this snails can help determine if I can add the corys or not, so I figured I would ask around. Any friendly input or advice would be great =), thanks guys.

 

[thominil]

He should be fine with the cories.

 

[dreamsINdigital]

I have a betta in a 10 gallon with 3 albino cory cats and he does fine with them. I seem to have a betta that's not very agressive; I've never seen him flare. Sometimes the corys will run into him when swimming around, but he just dashes off startled a bit and seems to ignore it. I've seen him get close to a cory cat and give him a nudge, but it looks like it's just out of curiosity and nothing violent. I think your betta will be fine with cory cats.

Out of curiosity, how active are your apple snails? Are they entertaining to watch? I'm thinking about getting some, or maybe an African Dwarf Frog. I think my betta would be okay with them.

 

[Sweets1023]

I mainly got them as a tester for the betta. I figured they have a shell so if my betta was aggressive they could hide in the shell before any real harm was done. And they can regenerate teh feelers and eyes to an extent.

They do look nice and they're pretty active, they crawl all over the tank. They aren't really speed demons but they do move around and a surprising pace. Look at them in one spot then 30 seconds later they're all the way on the other side. I wouldn't say they're thrilling, but they give you something else to watch other than the betta.. FYI the poop a lot. lol

I'm not even entirely sure if they're apple snails, I know they're "mystery snails" which are usually apple snails. The last apple snail I had with my African Clawed frog had a dark brown shell with a slightly lighter body. These ones have a light greyish blue shell, and a dark greyish blue body with red spots, quite pretty actually.

 

[Nippy Fish]

I've had many bettas with other fish and have kept them many times with cories and have had no problems. Bettas make fine community fish with the only exceptions (generally) being fish that look like another betta, or nippy fish. A good example being fancy guppy. They look very much like another betta (apparently). It is more often the slow-moving, big-finned betta being the target rather than the aggressor. I just had to remove 7 neons because they were nipping one of my bettas. Bettas get along with other fish that are slower moving and not colored or shaped like them. Cories aren't exactly slower moving, but they don't occupy the same space. Also watch out for any fish even remotely prone to fin-nipping because the long, flowy fins of the betta will bring it out in them.

I would stick with the pygmy cory because cory prefer to be in schools of at least 6.

 

[sieski]

I have a betta in a 10 gallon with 3 albino cory cats and he does fine with them. I seem to have a betta that's not very agressive; I've never seen him flare. Sometimes the corys will run into him when swimming around, but he just dashes off startled a bit and seems to ignore it. I've seen him get close to a cory cat and give him a nudge, but it looks like it's just out of curiosity and nothing violent. I think your betta will be fine with cory cats.

Out of curiosity, how active are your apple snails? Are they entertaining to watch? I'm thinking about getting some, or maybe an African Dwarf Frog. I think my betta would be okay with them.

I have 3 apple snails and they are brilliant. They like the breeder tank I got in there at the moment sucking at the holes for the food at the bottom then when done they just drop off!. I had one surfing a slice of cucumber other day in the bubble wall currents

 

[Nippy Fish]

I have a betta in a 10 gallon with 3 albino cory cats and he does fine with them. I seem to have a betta that's not very agressive; I've never seen him flare. Sometimes the corys will run into him when swimming around, but he just dashes off startled a bit and seems to ignore it. I've seen him get close to a cory cat and give him a nudge, but it looks like it's just out of curiosity and nothing violent. I think your betta will be fine with cory cats.

Out of curiosity, how active are your apple snails? Are they entertaining to watch? I'm thinking about getting some, or maybe an African Dwarf Frog. I think my betta would be okay with them.

Careful with a betta and the african dwarf frog! I had an ADF rip apart the fins of one of my bettas. I saw it happen, it was horrifying. When I took the ADF back to the store, the owner said, "Yeah, happens all the time. The ADF senses the movement, thinks it is food and grabs on. The slow-moving betta can't get away fast enough for the fast snap of the frog.". It was awful, the frog wouldn't let go, I had to put my hand in the tank and get the frog off my betta. He was just ripping the betta from side to side, it was horrific. I'll never put another frog with a betta, or just about anything. I think I have frog-related PTSD.

 

[dreamsINdigital]

Careful with a betta and the african dwarf frog! I had an ADF rip apart the fins of one of my bettas. I saw it happen, it was horrifying. When I took the ADF back to the store, the owner said, "Yeah, happens all the time. The ADF senses the movement, thinks it is food and grabs on. The slow-moving betta can't get away fast enough for the fast snap of the frog.". It was awful, the frog wouldn't let go, I had to put my hand in the tank and get the frog off my betta. He was just ripping the betta from side to side, it was horrific. I'll never put another frog with a betta, or just about anything. I think I have frog-related PTSD.

Interesting. I've never heard that before, but it makes sense. Thanks for the info.