Aggressive Betta

[LunaBug]

I've had a (supposedly) halfmoon male betta for a couple months now in a solitary situation, and I must say he is probably the most beautiful betta I have ever seen in person, and he's from Petco, go figure (so horrible, they had him in about an inch and a half of water). I recently upgraded him to my old 5.5g tank and decided to get two cory cats today to help keep the bottom clean. I've had bettas in the past that coexisted with other fish wonderfully, but unfortunately this one (so keenly named Spartacus) keeps harrassing the cories. I have not witnessed any actual biting or fin damage to the cories (yet), but he keeps chasing after them and has flared his gills at them twice that I have seen. I know that if he really wanted to do some damage he easily could, but I also do not want to take the chance of him hurting the cories or stressing them out so much that they die. Could this just be the bettas way of securing his dominance in the tank seeing as this is the first day they have been together and he is used to being alone? I was also thinking it could be because they are smaller than him because they are not full grown. He doesn't seem to be quite as relentless as he was earlier today and the cories are pretty active and not really trying to hide (there are many 'soft' fake plants and a cave). I have noticed though that if no one has been in the room for a while the betta is happily sitting at the top of the tank and the cories are at the bottom, everything peaceful, but as soon as you go near the tank the betta 'wakes up' and then harrasses the cories. It's very strange. I was going to wait a few days and see if things get better, and if not I am going to have to take the cories back to the store or give them to a friend. Do you guys/girls think this is a hopeless cause or should I wait a few days and see what happens? Please respond ASAP I don't want anything bad to happen to the cories.

 

[smarsh7903]

I've never had a problem with bettas and other fish either (other than gouramis). Maybe the betta is claiming the 5.5 for himself since its a small tank. If you move him out of it for a while and put him back in the 5.5 later it might solve the problem

 

[LunaBug]

I've thought of that too, but if I wait too long the pet store probably won't take them back, then again it's a small family owned place and I go in there a lot. I have also considered getting a 10g tank, but I dont want to end up spending the money for a new tank and filter for the betta just to do the same thing. I live in Boston most of the time and the tap water, well sucks, and i don't have enough room or patience for a big tank (not that 10g is big) which is why I wanted to stick with my 5.5g and get a couple bottom feeders.......if only I had the time, money, and ability to convert my lizards old 75g tank....lol

 

[siva]

Well unfortunately a 5 gal tank provides only room for the betta. He may do better in a larger tank with tankmates, but he may just be the type that isn't right for a community. Cories really shouldn't be in anything smaller than a 10 gal. I think there is just not enough space for 3 fish in there especially if one is possibly aggresive like a betta. One of my male bettas is just a stinker and could never have tankmates. He has a nerite snail and he's over there flaring at it right now...ridiculous

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

Though I've seen aggression, I've never actually seen a Betta physically attack or damage another fish like I have with Tetras amongst themselves. Granted, I'm not an expert on Bettas either.

Some fish are just cantankerous like that. My sister's Betta flares its gills at anything it sees. Whenever someone goes near the bowl he flares his gills and tries to shoo us away. As long as there's no assault, I think your Betta is probably just being territorial.

Though as mentioned before, cories in a 5 gallon really isn't that great of a living situation for them. Sucks because they're so cute too... I would say get the 10G anyway, or maybe a 20 if you can, but not in hopes of improving the flaring. Just to get a decent living environment for the cories.

 

[LunaBug]

when I woke up early this morning he was still going after them pretty good and i noticed one of the cories had a small nip in his tail so i pulled the betta out and the cories are now safe and sound in my friends 10g which they have all to themselves at the moment because she just moved to a new place, they are very small only about an inch long....and yes they are very cute. I will just have to deal with only having one fish for a while and at some point in the future set up my 29g as a community tank (without the betta of course)

 

[Homedog98]

Definitely get those cories out of the 5 gallon. Just a tip... When adding fish to a betta's tank, rearrange the decor. It takes away his territory markers, and makes him/her less aggressive towards the new additions.

 

[LunaBug]

please read previous post...it was hopeless he is just an unusually aggressive/territorial betta.

 

[Homedog98]

please read previous post...it was hopeless he is just an unusually aggressive/territorial betta.

I did...

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

The sooner you get that 29G tank, the sooner you can get those Cories out of there and have a suitable home for your Betta. Plus I think you'll like the nice jump in living space, when it comes to your tank.

I know I did anyway, haha.