Betta Fish In Community Tanks???

[Clownfishlover]

I was wondering what your experience with bettas being in community tanks are. My betta, Trua, lives in my 20 gallon community and never misbehaves. He has also learned behaviors in that tank with all the fish around. I have also heard people talking about their success with males bettas together. Is this a common occurrence?

 

[PB_Smith]

Bettas are usually the owns to get picked on in a community tank.

 

[Bichir Bro]

Bettas can be kept in community aquariums however do not belong in some tanks. Here's what they should have in their tanks or their tank should have:
• they should be in with fish that will take no interest in the Bettas fins
• they should be in with fish that will allow the betts to eat, Bettas are slow eaters and cannot out compete some faster moving fish.
• they should be kept in tanks that do not have high flow output. The bigger the tank the bigger the filter finally equalling most of the time in a larger flow, Bettas do not like and actually cannot handle a strong current so make sure the filters flow isn't so powerful.
• do not keep them in tall tanks. They should be kept in tanks with not a lot (or excessive amounts of) height. Male Bettas are not really made to swim, they're made to be showy and pretty so constantly swimming up air will wear them out eventually. This combined with large flow can be lethal.
• they should be housed with properly sized fish. No nano fish, the smallest fish id say they can safely be housed with are neon tetras. Now I'm not saying neons are the ONLY fish they can be housed with, because they aren't, I was just giving i size comparison. They should be no smaller than the size of the neon tetra.
Never kept males with males so I don't really wanna give you any false info on that.

 

[Clownfishlover]

Thanks!

 

[Mebbid]

It's good to note that they can get stressed out when they are around large schools of fish. They aren't the most appropriate fish for communities but they can work well for some situations. I would say the Plakatt bettas are more appropriate for larger community tanks than their fancy finned brethren due to them having an easier time getting around.

 

[Luananeko]

Agreed with the points above. Bettas are totally doable in community tanks, just respect their needs/preferences and add them close to last. This reduces the risk of the betta feeling like new additions are threats to his territory.

I have never heard of multiple males being successfully kept in the same tank except for in large 65g+ tanks with distinct territories at least 2-3 feet wide each and broken lines of sight. Even then, it's hit or miss.

 

[Clifford_69]

I have a betta in with some fish that they say it shouldn't be with.

My male betta is in with an angel fish, 3 clown loaches, 2 sunrise platies, a male and female dwarf gourami and a bristlenose plec.

All get on absolutely fine but it also depends on the temperament of the fish.

 

[griff5499]

I have my betta male in my community tank along with sunset platy, two dalmation molly's, two black/gold mollies and several black molly fry and he is happy as he can be. No one bothers him, and he doesn't bother any of the other fish.