GuppyGuy333
Aquarium Advice Activist
Name: Sky “Kai” Samurai
He was kind of an impulse buy (though I did extensive research on bettas in community tanks previously) from Petco. He was a 14.99 butterfly male. I was previously never really interested in bettas before I saw him, but there was just something about him that I couldn’t say no to. He was not the typical blue color of bettas…..which I call “betta blue” and if you have seen those intense colored ones at pet stores you know what I mean. He also had a white mask on his face which I had never seen before.
The name Kai means sky and I couldn’t pick between it and Sky so he just became Sky Kai. I added Samurai because bettas are Asian in origin. Plus it all rhymed haha. It reminds me of that meme of the wolf/husky named Moon Moon.
My Acclimation process: When adding him, I floated his cup for 45 minutes to an hour. I put in a couple of drops of water conditioner. I also kept the lights on the tank while acclimating him so that he could see the other fish and vice versa. I also fed him a little bit while he was floating so he wouldn’t be hungry and perhaps be a little sluggish. I also fed all the other fish when doing this so they would be full and possibly less interested in him. When I added him I turned the tank lights off…to cut down on the stimuli. I did not add his cup water to the tank.
Aggression: When I added him, there was no initial aggression, however the next two days I started seeing 3 different cases of nipped fins. One was my most aggressive male guppy who probably deserved it. After adding my betta, I saw a decline in overall aggression from my male guppies. One was a black female guppy who has since healed all the way, though the color has not returned simply the tail tissue. One other female was nipped once by him and then I saw that the one aggressive male guppy nipped her fin too (which I did not know was a possibility). She couldn’t swim very well after that and I eventually lost her.
I believe this first bit of aggression was due to his being new in the tank, probably not having been around other fish before. As well as not knowing there was no shortage of food so he didn’t need to be aggressive. Being in a 55 gallon aquarium has given him plenty of space.
I keep a planted tank, and I specifically leave some plants floating for him so he won’t have to rest all the way at the bottom of the tank and then have to go up and breathe air. I think it cuts down on his aggression considerably. The less floating plants or tall plants I have, the more stressed he seems to be. The female guppies and fry in my tank also love them and he doesn’t mind sharing the same plant. Though the less plants I have, the less he is willing to share. So I think the more plants you have the more success/luck you will have when attempting this.
Coloration: His coloration has changed since I have gotten him. The white ring on his tail has seen been taken over by the blue in his tail, however this has also led to him having varying shades of blue on it as well. He had more white around his head when I first got him and has since been swallowed up by the same shade of blue that is on the rest of his body. The white mask that made me first notice him is still there though, thankfully.
I mention the coloration changes, because he looked like an adult betta when I got him, and his coloration still changed. He was also not one of the unhealthier options I had to choose from. So if you get a betta because you love its color, note that it has the possibility of changing. Especially when you see them in a small cramped cup, with no filtration, no heating and surrounded by other bettas. Odds are that you are not seeing them at their best, and when you improve their conditions their coloration, health, and behavior may improve.
I feed him omega one tropical fish flakes intermixed with pellets specifically designed for bettas. He also like to munch on some of the shrimp pellets I give to my bottom feeders in the tank. This varied diet might also contribute to his color changes. His fin spread and body size has also increased since I have gotten him.
Bacterial Infection
One day I noticed that he had some some bits of red in his tail. Knowing that his coloration has changed a little bit since I got him…I just thought that this was a new development, though the other changes seemed to be more gradual and this seemed to happen overnight. After noticing this coloration pattern, I watched him and it seemed that the red got stronger where it was, but didn’t spread throughout his tail. I then noticed, seemingly in the center of these red additions, was a slight rip in his tail which the more I tried observing it the deeper I saw the rip was. I believe he got it on a piece of driftwood I keep in the tank. I then tried looking online for any trace of what this might be. I found one vague reference that in bettas sometimes bacterial infections can change coloration and one person said that their betta had a bit of red coloration. I then immediately started dosing my 55 gallon tank with tetra life guard because I thought if he had a bacterial infection….perhaps it was affecting other fish in my tank in ways that I couldn’t see. NOTE: Petco has cheaper tetra lifeguard than petsmart, and not every petsmart has the same price on it. One Petco near me had it for about 12 dollars but everywhere else had it for 18-19 dollars. I bought the 32 tablet set but I bought multiple packs of it. By the time I finished dosing, the red was gone and the rip was not noticeable (I was very impressed with his healing rate). I’m lucky that my betta was a blue and white color so that I could see and deal with this infection. On a red betta, I might not have been so lucky.
Behavior
It’s now after having a betta in a 55 gallon that I realize how wrong people are about keeping them in such small containers. My betta swims all around my tank. I jokingly call him my little policeman because he patrols all around the tank. He is very curious and follows me whenever I walk around the room. Whenever I add something new or change my tank in anyway, he always has to check it out. I think if I had to describe his behavior/personality it would be very much like a cat. Not too social, but not looking for a fight...he just does his own thing. I think he has a unique personality and that just because my betta behaves this way....doesn't mean that others will do as well.
Community tank
His tank mates include 5 corydoras (aneaus; 4 green/bronze, 1 albino), 14 guppies (2 male endlers, 3 male fancy guppies, 1 male cobra guppy, and the rest are female), countless guppy fry, 3 mystery snails, and 7 kuhli loaches. My kuhlis when doing their happy dance sometimes collide with him. He sometimes runs into my corydoras as well. When this happens he doesn’t chase after them or try to bite them, he just continues about his business. He even swims about my guppy fry and doesn’t care……though honestly I would like it if he could maybe put a small dent in their numbers. I also have added 5 cherry shrimp and he doesn’t bother them. I do not know if he preys on their young quite yet because they are relatively new additions.
I think having different fish would change the success/luck you would have with having a betta in a community tank.
Conclusion
Bettas in a community tank are a risky experiment. Even if you copied my tank exactly, you might get a different result. Bettas have different personalities as well as different fish in the community. There are many different variables…..and I feel as if I got my result more from being lucky than any real skill on my part.
I continue to be vigilant in case things don’t work out. I have a different empty tank in case I need to separate him from the community. If you attempt this, you should always have a back up plan….and possibly have a backup plan to your backup plan. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
Good luck attempting this! I would be interested in knowing if anyone else has had success with this or has failed and why they think they got the outcome they did.
He was kind of an impulse buy (though I did extensive research on bettas in community tanks previously) from Petco. He was a 14.99 butterfly male. I was previously never really interested in bettas before I saw him, but there was just something about him that I couldn’t say no to. He was not the typical blue color of bettas…..which I call “betta blue” and if you have seen those intense colored ones at pet stores you know what I mean. He also had a white mask on his face which I had never seen before.
The name Kai means sky and I couldn’t pick between it and Sky so he just became Sky Kai. I added Samurai because bettas are Asian in origin. Plus it all rhymed haha. It reminds me of that meme of the wolf/husky named Moon Moon.
My Acclimation process: When adding him, I floated his cup for 45 minutes to an hour. I put in a couple of drops of water conditioner. I also kept the lights on the tank while acclimating him so that he could see the other fish and vice versa. I also fed him a little bit while he was floating so he wouldn’t be hungry and perhaps be a little sluggish. I also fed all the other fish when doing this so they would be full and possibly less interested in him. When I added him I turned the tank lights off…to cut down on the stimuli. I did not add his cup water to the tank.
Aggression: When I added him, there was no initial aggression, however the next two days I started seeing 3 different cases of nipped fins. One was my most aggressive male guppy who probably deserved it. After adding my betta, I saw a decline in overall aggression from my male guppies. One was a black female guppy who has since healed all the way, though the color has not returned simply the tail tissue. One other female was nipped once by him and then I saw that the one aggressive male guppy nipped her fin too (which I did not know was a possibility). She couldn’t swim very well after that and I eventually lost her.
I believe this first bit of aggression was due to his being new in the tank, probably not having been around other fish before. As well as not knowing there was no shortage of food so he didn’t need to be aggressive. Being in a 55 gallon aquarium has given him plenty of space.
I keep a planted tank, and I specifically leave some plants floating for him so he won’t have to rest all the way at the bottom of the tank and then have to go up and breathe air. I think it cuts down on his aggression considerably. The less floating plants or tall plants I have, the more stressed he seems to be. The female guppies and fry in my tank also love them and he doesn’t mind sharing the same plant. Though the less plants I have, the less he is willing to share. So I think the more plants you have the more success/luck you will have when attempting this.
Coloration: His coloration has changed since I have gotten him. The white ring on his tail has seen been taken over by the blue in his tail, however this has also led to him having varying shades of blue on it as well. He had more white around his head when I first got him and has since been swallowed up by the same shade of blue that is on the rest of his body. The white mask that made me first notice him is still there though, thankfully.
I mention the coloration changes, because he looked like an adult betta when I got him, and his coloration still changed. He was also not one of the unhealthier options I had to choose from. So if you get a betta because you love its color, note that it has the possibility of changing. Especially when you see them in a small cramped cup, with no filtration, no heating and surrounded by other bettas. Odds are that you are not seeing them at their best, and when you improve their conditions their coloration, health, and behavior may improve.
I feed him omega one tropical fish flakes intermixed with pellets specifically designed for bettas. He also like to munch on some of the shrimp pellets I give to my bottom feeders in the tank. This varied diet might also contribute to his color changes. His fin spread and body size has also increased since I have gotten him.
Bacterial Infection
One day I noticed that he had some some bits of red in his tail. Knowing that his coloration has changed a little bit since I got him…I just thought that this was a new development, though the other changes seemed to be more gradual and this seemed to happen overnight. After noticing this coloration pattern, I watched him and it seemed that the red got stronger where it was, but didn’t spread throughout his tail. I then noticed, seemingly in the center of these red additions, was a slight rip in his tail which the more I tried observing it the deeper I saw the rip was. I believe he got it on a piece of driftwood I keep in the tank. I then tried looking online for any trace of what this might be. I found one vague reference that in bettas sometimes bacterial infections can change coloration and one person said that their betta had a bit of red coloration. I then immediately started dosing my 55 gallon tank with tetra life guard because I thought if he had a bacterial infection….perhaps it was affecting other fish in my tank in ways that I couldn’t see. NOTE: Petco has cheaper tetra lifeguard than petsmart, and not every petsmart has the same price on it. One Petco near me had it for about 12 dollars but everywhere else had it for 18-19 dollars. I bought the 32 tablet set but I bought multiple packs of it. By the time I finished dosing, the red was gone and the rip was not noticeable (I was very impressed with his healing rate). I’m lucky that my betta was a blue and white color so that I could see and deal with this infection. On a red betta, I might not have been so lucky.
Behavior
It’s now after having a betta in a 55 gallon that I realize how wrong people are about keeping them in such small containers. My betta swims all around my tank. I jokingly call him my little policeman because he patrols all around the tank. He is very curious and follows me whenever I walk around the room. Whenever I add something new or change my tank in anyway, he always has to check it out. I think if I had to describe his behavior/personality it would be very much like a cat. Not too social, but not looking for a fight...he just does his own thing. I think he has a unique personality and that just because my betta behaves this way....doesn't mean that others will do as well.
Community tank
His tank mates include 5 corydoras (aneaus; 4 green/bronze, 1 albino), 14 guppies (2 male endlers, 3 male fancy guppies, 1 male cobra guppy, and the rest are female), countless guppy fry, 3 mystery snails, and 7 kuhli loaches. My kuhlis when doing their happy dance sometimes collide with him. He sometimes runs into my corydoras as well. When this happens he doesn’t chase after them or try to bite them, he just continues about his business. He even swims about my guppy fry and doesn’t care……though honestly I would like it if he could maybe put a small dent in their numbers. I also have added 5 cherry shrimp and he doesn’t bother them. I do not know if he preys on their young quite yet because they are relatively new additions.
I think having different fish would change the success/luck you would have with having a betta in a community tank.
Conclusion
Bettas in a community tank are a risky experiment. Even if you copied my tank exactly, you might get a different result. Bettas have different personalities as well as different fish in the community. There are many different variables…..and I feel as if I got my result more from being lucky than any real skill on my part.
I continue to be vigilant in case things don’t work out. I have a different empty tank in case I need to separate him from the community. If you attempt this, you should always have a back up plan….and possibly have a backup plan to your backup plan. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
Good luck attempting this! I would be interested in knowing if anyone else has had success with this or has failed and why they think they got the outcome they did.
