betta and other fish

[nikki]

I added one male betta to my community tank a few days ago and up to now, I haven't had any problems. The male dwarf gourami was very cuorious but looked quite impressed by the betta fins - as he was stressed in the first couple of hours, he swam with his fins completely spread out. After a few hours he calmed down and on the next day everybody was swimming as usual. I wonder if the female gourami isn't flirting with him, though ...
Has anyone other experiences of betta in community tanks?

 

[SquishyFishy]

I added a betta to my 30 gallon community tank also. I haven't had any problems at all. He sometimes flares his fins if another fish gets too close, but other than that, they are all living peacefully. I have Angels, tetras, longfinned tetras, mollies, fancy guppies, corycats, a bala shark, a twig cat, a dwarf african frog, dwarf puffers, and my betta. I don't know about the gouramis, I've never had any. But, good luck with yours!

 

[Thaiboxer]

I have a school of danios with a male betta in my 55 gallon right now, and everyone seems to get along very well. It's cycling right now so that's it for fish, but the guy I talked to at my favorite LFS said he runs a community tank with one betta and hasn't ever had a problem.

 

[Somethingfishy]

I had no problems when I kept my betta in the community tank, and I also had gouramis as well as Angels.

 

[Katfish]

Hi all,

I am also thinking of getting a Betta for my 20 Gal. tank but was wondering about what to feed him. I use flakes for mollies, guppies, tetras, but do i need to get the betta another type of food?

Thanks,
Katfish

 

[Somethingfishy]

Nah, flakes will be fine. With the occasional bloodworm, brine shrimp and other treats you might feed the others

 

[Katfish]

Great,

I feed them flakes and the tubifex worms, At first they looked like they where not very interested in them, (Tubiflex), but know they go crazy over them.

Thanks

 

[Somethingfishy]

They will love you for it. Also try on the odd occassion to feed some blood worms.

 

[Ramrebel]

BETTA

I have a lone betta in a 5 gallon. Any suggestions considering the size of the tank?

Ed

 

[Somethingfishy]

A 5 Gal is plenty big enough for a betta, if you want you could probably get a couple of females for company with some plants?

 

[nikki]

tank size

the tank is big enough but why not add a few plants and a couple of other fish as well. I don't know about females betta, I was told he's rather choosy about his females and if he doesn't like her , may kill her. Some people advise 3 females for one male but some betta experts told me they live in couples and it's better to put one male with one female. I haven't tried myself.

 

[Ramrebel]

what to add

I have one plastic plant

what do you suggest for company besides the female ?

Ed

 

[targaboy78]

Hi Ramrebel,

I found this site for the California Betta Society. http://cbs.bettas.org
From the FAQ page: http://cbs.bettas.org/faq.html

Can I keep bettas with other fish?
Yes. Bettas are actually very friendly fish as long as you don't put two males together. They get along with most other fish, and what you really have to watch out for is the fish that harass bettas.

Bettas are slow moving fish with very long fins, so they can't be kept with any quick fish that have a reputation of fin-nipping, like zebra danios. They get along *great* with most variety of tetras, and I raise my baby fish with baby neons all the time. Mollies and platies and other of that variety also work well.

I've had bad experiences with keeping bettas and guppies, as the male bettas will mistake a male guppy tail for its own sort and fight. Other people do fine with them, though.

No goldfish. Goldfish come from cold water and bettas from very warm water, so their temperature requirements are very far apart, and also their general water conditions. Goldfish are very heavy water pollutants and require an absolute minimum of an inch and a half of fish per gallon of water (the usual way to estimate how many fish in a tank is one inch per gallon).

When mixing bettas in a community tank, the thing to keep in mind with bettas is that they are fish that originally came from very an area with slow moving water. So any type of major filtration on the tank will shock a betta and make him hide in a corner away from the current. You have to balance this with the other fish in the tank that require the current and bubbles for the oxygen in the water for them to live. On the other hand, once a betta gets used to the "current" from a filter, you will sometimes see the betta 'playing' in it for fun. Just make sure that there is a quiet area in the tank for the betta to move to when they are tired.

They also have alot of links to other Betta sites.
http://cbs.bettas.org/links.html

I hope this helps.

 

[Thaiboxer]

I have a male betta with a school of 7 zebra danios right now, and so far they seem to be getting along okay. There was a little chasing going on, but the betta I think let them know that he didn't like it

I'll post if that changes, but so far it's a happy family - I guess those rules are more of a guideline... it's also a big tank, so everyone has room to go off on their own

 

[paperdollmary]

do i need to get the betta another type of food?

Thanks,
Katfish

The guy at the pet store told me the flakes we got for guppies
(separate tank... all the fish got along fine but the current
in the tank was too strong and the betta was NOT a happy
camper) were fine. Got home... my betta would not
touch the stuff (even after moving him to his own bowl
where he's much happier)! Fortunately I also bought brine shrimp
and bloodworms and he's eaten a few of those. Still, I ordered
some Hikari Bio Gold pellets and those will be arriving shortly.

I also read somewhere that some like peas. I just take one
frozen pea, thaw it in my hand, pull of the shell and break off
tiny bits. Bailey (red male betta with a little metallic blue
on the body and fins) LOVES them. He'll only eat half the pea
actually but he'll wolf them down (ignoring other food)
and come up to feed right off my finger.

I am a newbie to this but I've wanted a betta for the longest time.
Very very happy with my Christmas present (and my present
seems to be very happy with me)

-Mary

 

[paperdollmary]

Re: what to add

I have one plastic plant

Ed

Make sure it's not a type that can tear the fins.

I picked up a silk plant with wide leaves. Bailey hides/rests on the
leaves when he's tired. When I come near the tank and he's in there
he pokes his head out to look then swims out to dance up and down in front of the tank.

-mary