AQADVISOR - Strange stocking advice

[JerryO]

So I am still planning my 20g stocking and after checking AQ advisor I am confused.

My plan was:
1 Betta (male)
8-10 Cardinal Tetra
1 Clown or Brisslenose pleco

but AQA is telling me that a Betta will not play well with Cardinal Tetras, but they will be OK with Neon Tetras. I know Cardinals have a little more color and are slightliy bigger than neons, but why would they not work when a neon would?

It also said both a clown and BN pleco would not be recommended with a Betta, but everything I have read from other sites has said pleco and betta are a great match.

What gives?

 

[corrado33]

That site is mearly a program that reports whatever was programmed into it. The advice was probably taken from a book or something similar. Just because it says something isn't a good match, doesn't really mean it isn't. It all depends on the temperament of the fish. Sometimes you get nice bettas, sometimes you get mean ones who can't live with anything. I think the website is following the old adage of "it's better to be safe than sorry." Bettas generally don't like fish they could confuse as other bettas. So colorful fish with flowing fins are not a good idea. Plus, the tetras are far too quick for the betta to catch anyway. However, I don't know if they would nip the betta's fins.

 

[JerryO]

Thats pretty much what I read elsewhere... I just thought it was strange they made a distinction between neons and cardinals when I have never heard of anything like that and I wanted to make sure there wasn't something I was missing.

 

[logansmomma1228]

That site is mearly a program that reports whatever was programmed into it. The advice was probably taken from a book or something similar. Just because it says something isn't a good match, doesn't really mean it isn't. It all depends on the temperament of the fish. Sometimes you get nice bettas, sometimes you get mean ones who can't live with anything. I think the website is following the old adage of "it's better to be safe than sorry." Bettas generally don't like fish they could confuse as other bettas. So colorful fish with flowing fins are not a good idea. Plus, the tetras are far too quick for the betta to catch anyway. However, I don't know if they would nip the betta's fins.

+1. It always depends on the actual fish. Some people can get away with certain combos, while others can't . All fish have different personalities and temperments and that is what it all boils down to. AQ is good for a general idea, but I personally always double check it against here and other info sites. The info on AQ is derived from not only books and whatnot, but feedback from fish keepers.

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

Im not a fan of the site so im kinda bias, id rather go off of everyones advice, but its not a bad starting point. Ive had bettas with neons, glolights and cherry barbs (< wouldnt do that again though) I think youll be just fine with cardnials, but i would highly recommend staying with a bushynose pleco or going with a nice school of oto's. They do the same job and are way low on your bio-load.

 

[yhbae]

Let me elaborate a bit on this result.

Initially I started off with the parameters that would say ok for betta with both cardinals and neons. No warnings would be given in both cases.

Then, I received about 5 responses saying their bettas have killed off their cardinals. 5 responses isn't much, but I've decided to take some precaution. For some reason, I didn't receive any negative feedback on betta with neons.

Is it a (bad) fluke? Might be. As someone else mentioned in this thread, sometimes, individuality of that particular fish has more to do with compatibility than the species. Is 5 negative feedbacks too small? Not sure yet.

 

[JerryO]

UPDATE: I am now stocked with 12 neon, 1 BN pleco, and 1 male crown tail betta. Everyone is getting along fine. No fin nipping from the neons and the beta even schools with them occasionally.

 

[taylorodw]

Pictures!

yhbae, thank you for always posting to comment on these discussions.