betta in comunity tank?

[squidney101]

Hello everyone,
I have a 25 gallon tank with:
3 male guppies,
2 zebra danios,
3 white clouds,
1 honey gourami,
1 plecostymus,
1 khuli loach,
and a male betta. No fish are bothering him, but he seems to be always struggling against the current. He is usually in a corner resting, and is not eating much. He has no sign of disease. I was wondering whats wrong? Is it just the current?

 

[Iggy]

Bettas are not power swimmers and do not like current. Their wild cousins live in slow (very slow) flowing rice paddy fields and puddles. The betta spendin breed with its long fins make it especially hard to swim in any sort of current.

I saw your post about bettas not being aggresive to other fish, however that is not always the case. Some young males are fine for a while then suddenly get aggresive and kill other fish, especially adult guppies.

I am not a big advocate of bettas in community tanks, not just because of agression or disease, mostly because my experience with bettas is that they prefer there own space and environment (slow current, meaty foods).

 

[squidney101]

Thanx for your reply, I have not had the experience of my betta being agressive, but Ill take your word for it. It sounds like my betta would do better in my 3.5 gallon tank with a slow current.

 

[Iggy]

That 3.5 gal sounds perfect. If anything, bettas like human interaction more than other fish (who just get in their way)