Never trust a Betta.
- Thread starter gibson324
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I've had my male betta in a lightly planted 20L with two snails, a balloon molly, orange platty, three ghost/glass cats, one glass fish, eight neon tetras, five x-ray tetras and a rubber lip pleco for a few months. Only time the betta showed any aggression was when the tank was undecorated and bullied the platty for two days.
I've attempted to mix bettas with several types of gourami (all pretty temporary situations) and found they seem to get along well with the pearls no problem, I no idea why. Then again, the pearls have been the easiest gourami for me to mix with other fish, yet to have one cause any mischief.scrup;3899010; said:
Definitely don't mix bettas with paradise fish! Wasn't thinking, came back to find the blue paradise chasing that poor betta all over the tank.
No obvious fin damage, thankfully. They don't seem to bother the female bettas at all though.I've had 3 paradise in with about 5 female bettas for a few months now and everyone is cool with each other.
My favorite betta set up right now is a blue/silver themed tank with bleeding heart tetras, a pair of golden wonder killifish and a bright turqoise betta, he really stands out. Is nice.
The safest way to keep bettas is singly. They need friends like you need teeth in your colon; bettas are solitary, territorial, aggressive predators by nature. This is compounded by selective breeding for aggression over hundreds of years since these have been a popular fighting animal in their countries of origin.
While some bettas are more peaceable and will interact passively with other fish, especially bottom/middle dwellers with small finnage and dull colors, many will feel the need to constantly defend their territory against anything that moves. From what I've read time and time again on the betta forum I moderate, it isn't uncommon for them to be fine in a community for months, then one day randomly "snap" and kill tankmates. And it's not just the males; females can be equally nasty as males, particularly in their interactions with one another. Likewise, many community fish harass bettas by nipping their fins, and because that cumbersome finnage is lousy for fast retreats, they often get beat up or killed when another fish decides to be the aggressor in the situation.
Providing a wide, shallow, well-planted tank with the betta and no tankmates is the least stressful and safest to the betta; they're fun to make small, naturalistic habitats for and make a great centerpiece fish, so why not save everyone some grief? If they are to be housed with other fish, any attempts at integrating them into a community should be done carefully with a good deal of research and constant observation.
This photo pretty much sums up my opinion of keeping bettas with other fish as a seasoned betta keeper of many years.
While some bettas are more peaceable and will interact passively with other fish, especially bottom/middle dwellers with small finnage and dull colors, many will feel the need to constantly defend their territory against anything that moves. From what I've read time and time again on the betta forum I moderate, it isn't uncommon for them to be fine in a community for months, then one day randomly "snap" and kill tankmates. And it's not just the males; females can be equally nasty as males, particularly in their interactions with one another. Likewise, many community fish harass bettas by nipping their fins, and because that cumbersome finnage is lousy for fast retreats, they often get beat up or killed when another fish decides to be the aggressor in the situation.
Providing a wide, shallow, well-planted tank with the betta and no tankmates is the least stressful and safest to the betta; they're fun to make small, naturalistic habitats for and make a great centerpiece fish, so why not save everyone some grief? If they are to be housed with other fish, any attempts at integrating them into a community should be done carefully with a good deal of research and constant observation.
This photo pretty much sums up my opinion of keeping bettas with other fish as a seasoned betta keeper of many years.
RandomWiktor;3900862; said:The safest way to keep bettas is singly. They need friends like you need teeth in your colon; bettas are solitary, territorial, aggressive predators by nature. This is compounded by selective breeding for aggression over hundreds of years since these have been a popular fighting animal in their countries of origin.
While some bettas are more peaceable and will interact passively with other fish, especially bottom/middle dwellers with small finnage and dull colors, many will feel the need to constantly defend their territory against anything that moves. From what I've read time and time again on the betta forum I moderate, it isn't uncommon for them to be fine in a community for months, then one day randomly "snap" and kill tankmates. And it's not just the males; females can be equally nasty as males, particularly in their interactions with one another. Likewise, many community fish harass bettas by nipping their fins, and because that cumbersome finnage is lousy for fast retreats, they often get beat up or killed when another fish decides to be the aggressor in the situation.
Providing a wide, shallow, well-planted tank with the betta and no tankmates is the least stressful and safest to the betta; they're fun to make small, naturalistic habitats for and make a great centerpiece fish, so why not save everyone some grief? If they are to be housed with other fish, any attempts at integrating them into a community should be done carefully with a good deal of research and constant observation.
This photo pretty much sums up my opinion of keeping bettas with other fish as a seasoned betta keeper of many years.
great writeup and pic. Couldn't agree more. For most tanks under 50G having more than one is just a bad idea. I only have 10 in one tank because its a 225 Gallon 8 foot long tank(yes I am the weird guy who puts tiny fish in big tanks)
Each betta has ample room to be by itself, and I have learned quite a bit about betta interactions. The males do more of a dance with each other than actually fight, and never get within 2 inches of each other. The females all initially, and when we added any new ones, would get into a tiny scuffle, usually lose a mouthful of fin, then be done with it once they figured out who was in charge of who.
I really must have lucked out with my betta, as he was extremely passive. He lived in a 1g tank with an albino cory for almost a year (was a roommate's), and then when I got a 30 gal he moved into that tank with guppies, cories, and gouramis. He was the coolest fish and would just chill. He got picked on quite a bit by the gouramis, who eventually killed him. 
its a damn neon tetra!! they are like 50cents and you can find them at any old lfs