Betta tank mate?

[umramgirl86]

I'm upgrading my current 10 gallon fish tank to a 40 gallon, so I'm thinking of putting a betta in my 10 gallon. I know that Bettas are aggressive and don't do well even with more Bettas, but is there anything I can put with one?

 

[LyndaB]

It entirely depends on the personality of the betta. I believe that most don't do well with tank mates, this comes from my personal experience. Others have had them eat antenna off of snails and consume their shrimp. I have heard others say that they do well with corys. Each case is unique.

 

[CatmanDru]

I'm upgrading my current 10 gallon fish tank to a 40 gallon, so I'm thinking of putting a betta in my 10 gallon. I know that Bettas are aggressive and don't do well even with more Bettas, but is there anything I can put with one?

There are many different opinions on this question, with many people saying "no", many people saying "yes", and most people saying "It depends on the individual betta and that betta's aggression level".

This is a common question but a very important question, and here are a few recent threads on bettas and tankmates that will give you some instant answers.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/betta-174653.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/betta-in-my-tank-with-other-fish-175335.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/another-betta-thread-175396.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/is-betta-fish-suitable-for-a-comunity-tank-175419.html

 

[adadkins1]

I agree 100% with LyndaB, I would say that about 3 out of 4 bettas will never be able to have a tank mate. However, there is always that occasion where a betta is unusually laid back and they do fine. It really just depends on the aggression, I would try a ghost shrimp. Since they are not a very bright, attention-getting color and they keep to themselves on the bottom they would be the best to test the your betta's aggression level.

 

[Hooperman42]

My betta is in a 20 long. He is bright blue nd very fancy and extremely active and gets along just fine with 4 cory cats, and 5 various loaches (of course they are on the bottom but the Betta like to dive down and try to get to their algae wafers now and then. The corys can handle him and never an incident. They seem to all get along fine.

 

[Andjak]

I have a m Betta also blue and pretty fancy with a red tint but nowhere near 20 lol but I have him with a red honey gourami couple of mollies (two males one female ) 3 coolie loaches and some amano shrimp he's fine with all except the male sailfin Molly not massively aggressive but he does show aggression everynow and again with the neck extensions but the sailfin just moves away and the Betta backs off just lettin him know who's boss although he doesn't nip fins just shows off I personally think its coz of the female Betta but other than that it's a totally peaceful community I got going on

 

[Walkbreathe]

I have my betta in a 17g with otos, corys, neon tetras and Amano shrimp. He gets on well with them all but it is down to each betta individually.

 

[Andjak]

Just out of curiosity does anyone know if a male Betta will build a bubble nest while the female is in the tank or does she have to be in another tank before he comes into condition she is showing the horizontal stripes saying shes ready and he seems interested but hasn't built a nest any ideas ?

 

[adadkins1]

Just out of curiosity does anyone know if a male Betta will build a bubble nest while the female is in the tank or does she have to be in another tank before he comes into condition she is showing the horizontal stripes saying shes ready and he seems interested but hasn't built a nest any ideas ?

It is possible, but a female should NOT be in the tank except after the male has built the nest and you are ready for them to breed.

 

[New]

its possible (depending on the betta) but make sure its heavily planted with a lot of sight breakers just for good measure

 

[absolutangel04]

I keep ember tetra with my betta. I agree that some bettas are not good community dwellers, but IME, most are. Assuming your betta is community safe, embers are a good choice because they like higher heat than some other nano fish. Pygmy corys would be another good option.

 

[Andjak]

There are quiet a few sight breakers but maybe I'll add more or just buy another tank as I'm pretty seriously hooked on my aquaria at the mo lol is there any way to encourage the male to make a bubble nest. Or just a matter of waiting the female is getting very fat so I figure she's holding eggs and she is signalling to him with horizontal bars. But still no nest do they have to anchor in to floating plants or something ? Or is it just free floating on the top

 

[absolutangel04]

There are quiet a few sight breakers but maybe I'll add more or just buy another tank as I'm pretty seriously hooked on my aquaria at the mo lol is there any way to encourage the male to make a bubble nest. Or just a matter of waiting the female is getting very fat so I figure she's holding eggs and she is signalling to him with horizontal bars. But still no nest do they have to anchor in to floating plants or something ? Or is it just free floating on the top

Sorry, I got a little confused. Are the male and female in the same tank?
If there is too much current, many male bettas won't make bubble nests. Bettas often tend to prefer water with minimal no zero motion and will not always build bubble nests if there is flow IME/O.

 

[Andjak]

Yeah they are both in the same tank living pretty peacefully will my other fish suffer if I were to turn the filter to so low it doesn't make a current ? An any ideas how long
It takes to build a bubble nest till I can re introduce the female if I take her out

 

[LyndaB]

With bettas, it's not as easy as just tossing the female in to the tank. I would recommend you read this: breeding bettas

 

[Andjak]

Ok iv read that and I see I do need to work on the requirements for them it seems like most fish need slightly. Brackish water for the fry is this right?

 

[adadkins1]

I haven't ever heard to use brackish water, just some water from you betta's tank. The reason bettas are so difficult to breed is due to their aggression, if you don't keep an eye on the breeding pair, the male could kill the female or vice versa in some cases. On top of that, the fry are extremely hard to keep alive as they are so small. Breeding is definitely not for the average person, you have to be dedicated and have plenty of time and money.

 

[Andjak]

He is the only male Betta in the tank but he isn't very friendly with the male sailfin Molly other than that he isn't very aggressive to anything else just hasn't even shown any interest in a bubble nest I'm a lil baffled to be honest iv read quiet a bit about it but this forum seems the best for genuine info I have time and money isn't always great but it's not in a bad way and I'm ready to invest in it as I'm Hooke on my tanks