what can go with a betta?

[munoza]

I have a male betta fish in my 5.5 gallon tank. Also living in that tank; there is one dwarf pleco and two dwarf frogs. They have no problems with eachother. Bettas are very slow swimmers so I had bought Black Neon Tetras ;hence, they are faster swimmers. If its a slow swimmer such as the Guppie, that could most likley be an issue. Try not to over crowd a tank that has a Betta in it; it stresses out the Betta and could cause health issues such as (Ich) and also(Fin Rott). Tetras are the smaller fish that can be in the same tank, but they are more vulnerable to have issues. I would make sure if you put the Bettain the big tank; that he has hiding spots.

 

[mariah]

I wouldn't mess with anything but you could remove a corner of gravel and carefully add some very well washed sand.

If they don't NEED it then... i probably won't do it unless i find some on sale

 

[Rivercats]

If they don't NEED it then... i probably won't do it unless i find some on sale

Some would argue they need it and some not.

 

[mariah]

Some would argue they need it and some not.

Okay. Sounds good ill see what I think once I have them. Thank you guys!

 

[Aquaenthused]

Some would argue they need it and some not.

Might I say- I love this response! I have been studying my horse head loaches in a mixed substrate tank since this discussion started- my observations are humorous and tragic at the same time (this is my personal bedroom tank and has no relation to my research project in any way- sorry, just covering my butt ). My school of 4 is now a school of 3- I believe my largest one (5 inches) accidentally uncovered a fertilizer pocket under a piece of slate while twirling into the sand and pushing anything out of the way, apparently, that got in his way (his nose was bent and looking pretty tattered). I guess I didn't do as good of a job cleaning my substrate as I thought :-( but other than that tragedy the rest is comical. All my tanks are interconnected and maintained individually to support my personal curiosity about life's little 'brain turds'. Original preset water flow is completely neutral and water is conditioned (aged). 2X a day my system (based on a hydroponic garden 'ebb and flow' system) replaces 15% of water and vacuums/ processes waste gathered from filter for my aquaponic hybrid experiment) I know that seems way off topic but I think it may help a few people that are 'fish nazis' around here understand a little more about their hobby versus what it's TRUE ROLE in the broader spectrum of REAL LIFE APPLICATION. My balanced ecology allows me to move my fish from one tank to another with none of the real issues worried about in the normal home aquarium set up, so pardon me for forgetting ornamental aquarium rules and standard practices by not having enough time to research the biochemical breakdown and release processes for chemicals and their correlated biological impact on water chemistry yet- all I know is- my lettuce and rice are dying, hmmmm, looks like my water is a little acidic and my garden needs potassium, calcium and phosphorous. Ok then, this is my additive mixture- ADDED TO THE OUTGOING GROW MEDIUM FOR TERRESTRIAL PLANTS- the resulting water is filtered by the root systems of said plants, and the resulting filtered water is primed and conditioned for the next water cycle. This and more be topics in a rant I'll post in off topic to respect the OP and AA.
Back to my loach findings- they pushed all pebbles, gravel and small rocks to the outer edges of the tank and piled the sand high into a mound. Because I sold my soul and my 'thinks' lol, to the devil with deep pockets I am not allowed to show pictures until the patents aren't pending anymore, but once I can I have a picture of them atop their sandy mountain side by side by side, sifting for gobs of thawed frozen tubiiflex worms. That being said- in my observations sand is definitely appreciated, a necessity- not for kuhli, IMO for they don't have 'faces' they can get caught in between gravel or pinned by rocks. I'd say to just make sure your decorations (including substrate) are free of rough surfaces and jagged edges and maybe provide them some water sprite or other floating plant and some java moss to give them some comfort and keep them from feeling too exposed and satisfy their burrowing habit... On to the next part of my rant, lol.

 

[Samdaman]

Just to state I have a 80l with
2 female betta
1 make betta
5 mollies
5 guppies
They are all fine even though I am overstocked it has a layer of hit grass at the front the betta will occasionally hide in but besides that all fine

 

[mariah]

Might I say- I love this response! I have been studying my horse head loaches in a mixed substrate tank since this discussion started- my observations are humorous and tragic at the same time (this is my personal bedroom tank and has no relation to my research project in any way- sorry, just covering my butt ). My school of 4 is now a school of 3- I believe my largest one (5 inches) accidentally uncovered a fertilizer pocket under a piece of slate while twirling into the sand and pushing anything out of the way, apparently, that got in his way (his nose was bent and looking pretty tattered). I guess I didn't do as good of a job cleaning my substrate as I thought :-( but other than that tragedy the rest is comical. All my tanks are interconnected and maintained individually to support my personal curiosity about life's little 'brain turds'. Original preset water flow is completely neutral and water is conditioned (aged). 2X a day my system (based on a hydroponic garden 'ebb and flow' system) replaces 15% of water and vacuums/ processes waste gathered from filter for my aquaponic hybrid experiment) I know that seems way off topic but I think it may help a few people that are 'fish nazis' around here understand a little more about their hobby versus what it's TRUE ROLE in the broader spectrum of REAL LIFE APPLICATION. My balanced ecology allows me to move my fish from one tank to another with none of the real issues worried about in the normal home aquarium set up, so pardon me for forgetting ornamental aquarium rules and standard practices by not having enough time to research the biochemical breakdown and release processes for chemicals and their correlated biological impact on water chemistry yet- all I know is- my lettuce and rice are dying, hmmmm, looks like my water is a little acidic and my garden needs potassium, calcium and phosphorous. Ok then, this is my additive mixture- ADDED TO THE OUTGOING GROW MEDIUM FOR TERRESTRIAL PLANTS- the resulting water is filtered by the root systems of said plants, and the resulting filtered water is primed and conditioned for the next water cycle. This and more be topics in a rant I'll post in off topic to respect the OP and AA.
Back to my loach findings- they pushed all pebbles, gravel and small rocks to the outer edges of the tank and piled the sand high into a mound. Because I sold my soul and my 'thinks' lol, to the devil with deep pockets I am not allowed to show pictures until the patents aren't pending anymore, but once I can I have a picture of them atop their sandy mountain side by side by side, sifting for gobs of thawed frozen tubiiflex worms. That being said- in my observations sand is definitely appreciated, a necessity- not for kuhli, IMO for they don't have 'faces' they can get caught in between gravel or pinned by rocks. I'd say to just make sure your decorations (including substrate) are free of rough surfaces and jagged edges and maybe provide them some water sprite or other floating plant and some java moss to give them some comfort and keep them from feeling too exposed and satisfy their burrowing habit... On to the next part of my rant, lol.

Hahaha that was a lot to read!!! I am not going to be getting loaches anymore since my mom has now told me i can't get rid of my gourami...

 

[Aquaenthused]

Lol, horse faced (horsehead) loaches, yo yo loaches and dojos can be kept with gourami just saying... I normally keep my horseheads with my old man 3 spot gourami (over 5 years old, I've had him for 3 years, previous owner had him for over 2 years I just found out) a golden Siamese algae eater and 10 or so copelandi tetra/ rosy barbs/ or whatever my dither du jour is in a 55g with my new plants (they are the best snail killers I have found as of yet). Good luck with your gourami!!

 

[mariah]

Lol, horse faced (horsehead) loaches, yo yo loaches and dojos can be kept with gourami just saying... I normally keep my horseheads with my old man 3 spot gourami (over 5 years old, I've had him for 3 years, previous owner had him for over 2 years I just found out) a golden Siamese algae eater and 10 or so copelandi tetra/ rosy barbs/ or whatever my dither du jour is in a 55g with my new plants (they are the best snail killers I have found as of yet). Good luck with your gourami!!

Mine is a grump though. He killed three cory cats over night... i am going to put dwarf neon rainbows in and tiger barbs with him

 

[Aquaenthused]

Mine is a grump though. He killed three cory cats over night... i am going to put dwarf neon rainbows in and tiger barbs with him

I wouldn't do tiger barbs- they will kill him!! Anything with barbels confuses gourami- happens with betta as well. They confuse the barbel greeting with being attacked- tiger barbs are faster than cory cats and are just as over curious with their 'fin nipping'- bear in mind, most barbs have barbels. I have a theory that their 'fin nipping' action is a muscle memory from when the tigers had actually had barbels. I have owned more SE Asian black water biotope fish than I can name off the top of my head and combined them in every combo you can imagine for research sake. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with dwarf neon rainbows, but they look pretty. As alternates to tiger barbs I have a few suggestions that I've found to be perfect tank mates to entertain your gourami and you with little aggression

5 yo yo loaches
6 Sid the monkey (dwarf chain/ sihdthimunki) loach and 4 diamond tetra
3 yo yo loach and 10 csp (galaxy bora)
5 batman oto cats, 1 skunk botia and 7-10 long fin leopard/ ocelot/ pink pearl danio (make sure to keep floating water sprite for best effect)
1 pair rams or apistos, 2 long fin albino bristle nose pleco and 3 diamond tetra

These are all relatively inexpensive and easy to care for, the pair of rams or apistos are the only ones that could be trouble in my mind, hope you have a happy new year!!

 

[mariah]

I wouldn't do tiger barbs- they will kill him!! Anything with barbels confuses gourami- happens with betta as well. They confuse the barbel greeting with being attacked- tiger barbs are faster than cory cats and are just as over curious with their 'fin nipping'- bear in mind, most barbs have barbels. I have a theory that their 'fin nipping' action is a muscle memory from when the tigers had actually had barbels. I have owned more SE Asian black water biotope fish than I can name off the top of my head and combined them in every combo you can imagine for research sake. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with dwarf neon rainbows, but they look pretty. As alternates to tiger barbs I have a few suggestions that I've found to be perfect tank mates to entertain your gourami and you with little aggression

5 yo yo loaches
6 Sid the monkey (dwarf chain/ sihdthimunki) loach and 4 diamond tetra
3 yo yo loach and 10 csp (galaxy bora)
5 batman oto cats, 1 skunk botia and 7-10 long fin leopard/ ocelot/ pink pearl danio (make sure to keep floating water sprite for best effect)
1 pair rams or apistos, 2 long fin albino bristle nose pleco and 3 diamond tetra

These are all relatively inexpensive and easy to care for, the pair of rams or apistos are the only ones that could be trouble in my mind, hope you have a happy new year!!

I am going to do..
Current gourami
Add more to my zebra danios
Add rosy barbs