beta's in community tanks??

sushi*roll

sushi*roll

Large Fish
#1
Jan 5, 2010
177
0
0
vancouver bc
#1
I've heard from a few people that you can put male bettas in community tanks with many other fish as long as there is no other betta's in the tank. I've tried this once before and had success, however any betta I put in the tank I have now gets very angry, flares out his gills and charges at other fish. My friend recently tried putting her betta in with her goldfish and was also unsuccessful. What are we doing wrong? or have I been mis informed.
 

A

ayrtoninst

Small Fish
#2
Nov 23, 2009
20
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0
#2
You won't sucessfully house a Betta with a Goldfish.

Bettas, being TROPICAL, require a temperature between 25-30 celcius, Goldfish are Coldwater fish and prefer vastly lower temperatures. Goldfish are better off in outdoor ponds. They should not, IMO, be kept in aquariums.


For a Betta to accept a community setup, you should be looking at stocking fish such as Corys, Otos, smaller Plecs & Loaches and wisely chosen smaller Catfish (do not stock microglanis iherengi the South American Bumblebee Catfish unless you want your Betta to get a crew cut).

I would recommend steering clear of all Tetras, Gouramis, Male Guppies, Mollys, Swordtails, etc. Anything that is brightly coloured or is known to fin nip should be excluded.

I have generally had sucess with FEMALE guppies, WCMM and Kribs in a Betta community setup. However, it is wise to provide lots of vegetation, especially if you decide on Kribs as they can get territorial in breeding season.
 

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OrangeCones

Elite Fish
#3
Feb 27, 2009
4,395
0
36
#3
sushi*roll said:
I've heard from a few people that you can put male bettas in community tanks with many other fish as long as there is no other betta's in the tank. I've tried this once before and had success, however any betta I put in the tank I have now gets very angry, flares out his gills and charges at other fish.
Click to expand...
What is in the aquarium are you trying to put the betta in?
 

tom91970

tom91970

Superstar Fish
#4
Jan 2, 2007
1,305
5
38
Tejas
www.myspace.com
#4
I keep bettas in nearly every tank, including those with tetras (neons, black phantoms, glolight, black neon), guppies, otos, cories, etc etc...and have NO problems. Had 'em with pearl gouramis before...again...NO problems. Just keep your eye on the betta and watch for any visible signs of nipping, etc and you should be fine.
 

sushi*roll

sushi*roll

Large Fish
#5
Jan 5, 2010
177
0
0
vancouver bc
#5
I tried to put him in my 38 gallon before I added the butterfly, and mollies. (and had the same ammount and kinds of fish as when I added the one before that was friendly).

I never wanted to believe anyone who said bettas could be friendly, untill one day my betta tank became infested with blue green bacteria (that stringy algae stuff), and I had no other choice but to try and house him in my community tank. He was very lethargic and stayed on the bottom mostly, he eventually became back to normal, but died a few months later (old age I think since he was probably about 6 years old). I wanted to put in my new betta and when I did he flared gills out and tried nipping at my phantom tetras.
 

bassbonediva

bassbonediva

Superstar Fish
#7
Oct 15, 2009
2,010
0
0
Northern Arizona
#7
What Newman said. :) However, with the mix of fish you have, I'd be a little wary of putting a male betta in that tank. The loaches are really my concern. I've seen loaches rip apart a male betta's fins before (some idiot at Walmart dumped a beautiful cellophane male in with two red-tailed botia, which are members of the loach family). I'd also be wary of the CAE once he gets bigger...not just with the betta, but with any of your fish. One or more female bettas would probably be great with the fish mix you have right now, though.
 

sushi*roll

sushi*roll

Large Fish
#8
Jan 5, 2010
177
0
0
vancouver bc
#8
What will the chinese algae eater do?? They get mean or something? mines only an inch and a half long right now.
Could a pleco be so big that he might eat other fish?? Mines sucker is about as big as a nickel.
 

BadRedTerror

BadRedTerror

Large Fish
#12
Jan 8, 2009
106
1
18
Richmond,Va
#12
Well.....if the topic is about adding a betta to a community tank: i recommend not adding a betta to a community for many different reasons.#1-and all i really have to say is that the betta will actually die if added with cichlids because the betta will have no possible way of gaining its own territory.

example:I tried as a test, to add an adult male crown tail to my new world cichlid set-up and within one day my Green terror(clive) ate him for dinner.So i wouldnt recommend it unless you have a (PEACEFUL) community.

Territory would be the main reason a betta cannot be a community fish!
 

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Popplefish

Small Fish
#13
Dec 7, 2009
38
0
0
Somewhere in the Depths of Washington State
#13
I second Terror's thing about not putting a betta with a cichlid of any type. I just recently got rid of all my cichlids because I disliked them fighting amongst themselves, let alone with other fish in their tank.

I usually put a male and female betta in my bigger tanks, and they usually do just fine as long as they have something to hide in (hornwort mostly). If you have any territorial fish, though, I wouldn't put them in with a betta.

I've had goldfish in tanks for quite awhile (almost 6+ years) and they are happy and healthy. You can easily grow goldfish in tanks. Mine will actually stop growing when they don't have enough room, though every fish is different. I don't keep my goldfish with anything that can't survive warmer temperatures though. The silver dollars I have in their now seem to do just fine and are active and healthy.

Good luck!
 

Newman

Newman

Elite Fish
#14
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#14
you obviously wouldn't put Betta in a tank with cichlids.... -_-

I was talking about the peaceful community, mentioned above, with enough space.

Sushi, you wouldn't want to put a Betta into your tanks...I was just speaking generally.
 

vampirefish

vampirefish

Medium Fish
#15
Feb 23, 2009
75
0
0
York, UK
#15
I've had bettas with tetras 3 times and bettas with guppies twice and have had no problems, except with blue tetras which had a tendency to fin nip. I might have just been lucky but as long as the community is peaceful and unless you are unlucky with your betta's personality, it might work well. (it could also be disastrous, so have a temporary tank or another back-up plan in place)
 

bassbonediva

bassbonediva

Superstar Fish
#16
Oct 15, 2009
2,010
0
0
Northern Arizona
#16
sushie, in regards to your question about the algae eater and your pleco. Algae eaters become very territorial and aggressive toward other fish as they get larger and will actually stop eating algae once they hit a certain size. As far as I know, the same thing goes for common plecos (if that's what you have). In fact, IMO common plecos produce more waste than they're worth.
 

sushi*roll

sushi*roll

Large Fish
#17
Jan 5, 2010
177
0
0
vancouver bc
#17
Lol no I wasn't planning on putting my betta in with my cichlids, they are far to large and would gobble him up in a second.

(I'm really angry with the guy at the fish store, because I wouldn't have bought a CAE, he sold the fish to me as a loach, my fault for not doing my research before I purchased him).
 

Newman

Newman

Elite Fish
#18
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#18
meh, that employee needed to make the sale.
I see these all the time in LFS planted tanks. only cuz they're usefulness is short-lived when they're young. they do tend to keep algae off stuff when they're young.
 

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