Can i put any fish in with my male betta? maybe 2-3 females?

[newtropical]

Im hearing alot of mixed things about put other fish in with my male betta midnight i would liked to have put in a few females but hear i should not If not what can i put in with him?

 

[jasurf21]

How big is the tank?

 

[newtropical]

about 2 foot i would say

 

[newtropical]

maybe a foot i own a 4 foot tank as well and midnight's tank dont even come half way across that tank so may well be one foot long

 

[BigJim]

It really depends on the size of the tank and the personalities of the fish. I have kept a male with three females in my 29g community with no issues.

 

[silver_rose42]

Do you know how many gallons? Not just feet, but gallons? That could change the combo of fish you could have with your betta.

 

[newtropical]

its fairly big to be honest my friends had one the same size and they use theres for breeding whatever fish they have (to be honest not sure what fish they are). His a very happy fish i just feel his in a bigish tank on his own. And people keep telling me i cant put females in with him! I know two males cannot go together. any help would be great as im going to look at fish in a few hours.

 

[newtropical]

i would say 5 gallons

 

[silver_rose42]

What Is Compatible With Siamese Fighting Fish?

Somewhere you might want to look. The have a small list of other fish, if you're not looking specifically at female bettas, that could go with your betta in the right sized tank.

 

[BigJim]

I wouldn't put more than one betta in a 5g.

 

[silver_rose42]

With a five gallon tank, you have to be careful to not overcrowd it. The general rule is an inch of fish per gallon of water, although others would say more room is better. So I'm not entirely sure what you'd be able to get that would prevent overcrowding and still allow you to have other fish.

I agree with BigJim though, you'd probably not want to have more than him... you might be able to get away with an African Dwarf Frog, but even that's iffy.

 

[jasurf21]

I would put a betta with a school (6) of neon tetra's.

 

[silver_rose42]

I would put a betta with a school (6) of neon tetra's.

But not in a five gallon tank. That would overcrowd like crazy and stress them all out. There isn't enough room for hiding places, plants, all of those tetras and the betta. That's asking for disaster.

 

[newtropical]

is my tank size not good?

 

[jasurf21]

But not in a five gallon tank. That would overcrowd like crazy and stress them all out. There isn't enough room for hiding places, plants, all of those tetras and the betta. That's asking for disaster.

is my tank size not good?

A betta with 6 neon tetra's is nowhere near overstocked for a 5 gallon tank.

Your tank size is fine for you to keep one betta along with a school of smaller 1 inch tetra's, 6 of them.

 

[silver_rose42]

Your tank size is good for the single betta, but by adding more fish, you'd be overcrowding it, which could stress out him and whatever other fish you would get. You would most likely end up with a dead fish either way, due to the conditions. If you wanted to get other fish, you'd have to consider upgrading to at least a 10 gallon, if not a 20 gallon. And even then, you still couldn't overstock it too much, or you'd still run into the stress problem.

 

[silver_rose42]

A betta with 6 neon tetra's is nowhere near overstocked for a 5 gallon tank.

Your tank size is fine for you to keep one betta along with a school of smaller 1 inch tetra's, 6 of them.

You'd be overcrowding the 5 gallon with the 6 tetras alone! Add the betta, and you're asking for trouble. Again, the minimum rule for space is an inch of fish per gallon of water. You'd potentially start overcrowding your tank at 5 tetras, let alone adding another one and the betta.

 

[jasurf21]

You'd be overcrowding the 5 gallon with the 6 tetras alone! Add the betta, and you're asking for trouble. Again, the minimum rule for space is an inch of fish per gallon of water. You'd potentially start overcrowding your tank at 5 tetras, let alone adding another one and the betta.

Neon tetra's have very minimal bioload. The one inch per gallon rule does not apply in this case. I would say 6 neon tetra's equat to maybe 2 inches.

 

[newtropical]

ok thank you

 

[BigJim]

The inch per gallon "rule" is a complete farce. Stocking is really more of an art than a science. There are no broad general rules for it. You have to rely on experience and research to properly stock a tank.

newtropical, your tank isn't bad. It's just very limited when it comes to stocking. I wouldn't add any neons to the tank. You could add a group of dwarf shrimp like RCS, but be warned that your betta may decide he likes the taste of shrimp. If you started with 10-20 RCS and provided something like java moss for cover, you should be able to start a breeding colony.