Betta in the Community Tank

[Hornpipe2]

My wife and I are planning to add some new fish to our 55g in the next couple of weeks, and I think a single Betta would really add some nice color and flair to the tank. My wife is worried that the Betta would harass the other fish, though. We currently have a 4-5" Leopard Catfish, a small school of Neon Tetra, three Clown Loaches, and a single lonely Swordtail. We'd probably be adding some Black Mollies to the mix, as well as Glo-fish, maybe a Rainbow Shark, and assorted Platys and Swordtails.

The couple of references I've found doing a Google search for "betta community tank" say that everything's good as long as you avoid fish with fan tails (Guppies, etc). What are your experiences? Do you think this new would cause a problem?

 

[runninwoof]

the bettas have to be female, and even still i read that they will harass the others. bettas are better in a species tank

http://ultimatebettas.com/ would be a great site to look at!

 

[bluerose]

Neons will nip at a male's fins.

I have a female in with my crew (neons, glolight, cories, shrimp) with no problems. She chased the tetras and shrimp at first but they've settled in and get along all pretty nicely.

 

[TheChards]

Male Bettas will have a go at other male Bettas (including their own reflection) or anything that looks like them (i.e. some Guppies). From the sounds of it, most of your other fish would be safe from the addition of a Betta.

However, as bluerose says above, Neons will nip at a Betta's fins so it would probably be the Betta that suffered rather than the rest of your fish if you added one to your community tank.

 

[Bidgette]

I've been fortunate....I have a beautiful blue vtail Betta, and he's really low key. He leaves everyone else alone, and they don't bother him.

I have some tiger barbs who seem to be the aggressors in the tank, and even they mainly harass each other.

I understand that my guy may be unusual, but I'm soooooo glad he's cool!

I'd have a tank full of bettas if I could get away with it!

 

[TheChards]

I'd certainly watch the Betta with the Tiger Barbs if I were you, that sounds like a dangerous combination for the Betta. If things are working out OK at the moment then hopefully they will continue to do so but I'd have a spare tank suitable for a Betta on standby if I were you just incase things change!

 

[Bidgette]

I can always take him to work. I have a small aquarium set up on my desktop, with lots of filtration, so i think he'll be okay there with a couple of neons.

 

[Hornpipe2]

Thanks for the tips. I guess we'll pass on the betta just to be on the safe side - we'd like to add some guppies instead, and I'd be worried the new mollies might beat up a betta. (I don't know why but we ALWAYS end up with the grumpiest black mollies, haha).

Maybe one day I'll get a little 2.5gal for my desk at work and put a lone betta in there.

 

[rob28]

we put a betta in my tank. she lasted 2 days b4 we pulled her. our tiger barbs nipped at her constantly

 

[JohnPaul]

I've kept female bettas in community tanks without problems. Because their fins are so much shorter they don't provide the same sort of temptation for the "fin-nippers" out there.

My experience has been that for the first 2-3 days the female betta is in the tank, she tends to be very aggressive with the other fish. Never hurting them, mind you, just sort of bossing them around, chasing them some, etc. After she is satisfied that she has gotten the message across ("I'm the big momma on campus"), she settles down and everyone gets along swimmingly.

 

[JustOneMore20]

I'll echo the fears of those above.....many fish will nip at a Betta's fins. Male Bettas will indeed go at fish that look similar, but I'd be more worried about what would nip/be aggressive toward the Betta. I'm glad you decided against adding one to your community.

I do think it would be safer to have a Betta in a tank by himself.....even a 10g with a school of non-nippy fish would be ok if you want some variety.