20 gal tall stocking - betta in community tank?

[akkitten]

I have waited patiently while my tank cycled fishless, the time has finally arrived for me to start thinking about stocking it. I am thinking about a school of zebra danio or glofish (same thing), perhaps some skunk cory...but here is the kicker. I was thinking about moving my betta from the 1.5 gal he is in to the 20 gal. community tank.

Does anyone have a betta in with zebra danio successfully? Does anyone have a betta in a community tank?

When I check compatability on this website it says it is possible:

Tropical Fish and Aquariums Compatibility by Name

[DA fisherman]

My only worry would be that those Danio are some wacky fish..... The ones I have swim all over the place, even bouncing of my platy :-/ , they are also very fast swimmers, and might stress the betta.

But it's always possible

Check out my Betta video

xDAVMANx : YouTube

[akkitten]

Ummmm, hadn't thought of that. Wonder what I could do for a centerpiece fish.

[BigJim]

I think your betta would definitely benefit from the move. I have bettas in both my 29g community and my 40B community and I have no problems, even with fast fish. I'd wager that my praecox rainbows are as fast as a danio and the betta actually likes to intimidate them. He'll wiggle up to them and flare his gills until they take off.

[akkitten]

Well I am going to get the danios tonite. I will let them settle in for a few days and then I will try to move him. If it don't work, I guess I will move him back to the 1.5 until I can find a 3 or 5 gal for him that I like.

[jasurf21]

I have kept a betta in a community tank with neon tetra's and cory catfish just fine. He would always hang out in his dark cave and come out for a swim and to eat once in awhile. After I added some brightly colored molly's and guppy's he would attack them. It was funny too because he would attack the yellow molly's but not the black one's. Like you said your best bet is to just put him in there and try him out, you'll notice quickly if he settles in or if he starts attacking...

[DA fisherman]

Hey another thing you can do is put the Betta in last so he wont claim the tank ..

[akkitten]

You kept one with guppies?? I tried adding him to the guppy tank but he charged the bag everytime one swam by. I quickly gave up that attempt.

[El_diablo]

They tend to attack anything with big whispy fins but on the other hand nippy little tetras like my black widows nip at the bettas whispy fins so mine has had to b moved from my 30g into a 4.5g

[severum mama]

I would not recommend zebra danios for tank mates. They sometimes have a tendency to nip at long finned, slower moving fish, and they will easily outcompete a betta for food.

I would recommend harlequin rasboras, celestial pearl danios, small and peaceful tetras like neons, etc. Skunk (arcuatus) cories are a good choice as well.

Betta and guppies is almost always a bad idea IMO.

[akkitten]

I had already planned on some skunk Cory, if I can find any here.

[severum mama]

Originally Posted by akkitten

I had already planned on some skunk Cory, if I can find any here.

Yes, I was just agreeing with you that they would be a good addition. They're very cute and I'm sure you'll like them.

[akkitten]

UPDATE: The betta successfully transferred to the tank with the danios!!! He is still getting used to the circulation in the tank and has anchored himself to a banana plant. But so far so good! Thank you everyone!

[McLumpy]

Good deal! I tried a Betta in my community tank, but that sucker was always trying to fight my Red Tailed Black Shark. We didn't have another tank to put the Betta in at the time, so we had to take him back to the LFS. But I'm working on a 10 gallon setup so we can get another Betta.

Congrats on your Betta making a successful transition to his new home!