Betta in five gallon
- Thread starter FishQueen
- Start date
There is a chance your molly might be nippy and want to go after your betta's tail. If your betta is of the really expensive type, like a nice half-moon, I'd say no go. If it was only a pet-store vailtail I would say try it.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, so there is no hard-fast answer to your question.
The only truth to the matter is like Vyache said, mollies and platies like to have a little salt to their tank while bettas do not. Given this different preferance in water chemistry, I would personally not keep them together. Consider purchasing another dalmation molly (of the opposite sex of your current one) and another red wagtail platy (of the opposite sex of your current one). Mollies and platties do their best in trios of two females for every one male, but you can occassionally do well with just pairs. If both your molly and platy are female, then definatly keep only females. This will prevent breeding and help reduce mating aggression. But try not to keep a tank of males, they will often fight, a lot.
~~Colesea
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, so there is no hard-fast answer to your question.
The only truth to the matter is like Vyache said, mollies and platies like to have a little salt to their tank while bettas do not. Given this different preferance in water chemistry, I would personally not keep them together. Consider purchasing another dalmation molly (of the opposite sex of your current one) and another red wagtail platy (of the opposite sex of your current one). Mollies and platties do their best in trios of two females for every one male, but you can occassionally do well with just pairs. If both your molly and platy are female, then definatly keep only females. This will prevent breeding and help reduce mating aggression. But try not to keep a tank of males, they will often fight, a lot.
~~Colesea
aah. Well, I haven't put any salt in the tank. The molly isn't nippy. I've kept him with a guppy, a marble molly and the same platy for about two months. The marble molly died and I'm giving away the guppy... they are all males, though. They haven't fought...if i were to get just a normal vail tail beta, would it overcrowd the tank?
You only have two fish in there currently, right?
Again, there is no hard-fast answer about the crowded issue. It all depends upon how much maintance you do on your tank (aka water changes) and how big your fish are. A five gallon tank would be considered crowded for one 4 inch fish, but not crowded for two one inch fish. It would be crowded for a fish that requires five gallons of water for territory, but not crowded for a schooling fish that has no territory imperative.
Personally I would stop at the three fish if you decide to put the betta in there. It is very easy to get carried away on smaller tanks, especially when the fish don't seem that large (I once had 15 fish in my 6 gallon but they were all tiny quarter-inch in size) so you will have to prepare to get a larger tank when the fish grow. Also, the more crowded the tank, the more water changes you must do. On the tank I mentioned above, I was doing 4 gallon water changes twice a week.
So it is all up to you.
~~Colesea
Again, there is no hard-fast answer about the crowded issue. It all depends upon how much maintance you do on your tank (aka water changes) and how big your fish are. A five gallon tank would be considered crowded for one 4 inch fish, but not crowded for two one inch fish. It would be crowded for a fish that requires five gallons of water for territory, but not crowded for a schooling fish that has no territory imperative.
Personally I would stop at the three fish if you decide to put the betta in there. It is very easy to get carried away on smaller tanks, especially when the fish don't seem that large (I once had 15 fish in my 6 gallon but they were all tiny quarter-inch in size) so you will have to prepare to get a larger tank when the fish grow. Also, the more crowded the tank, the more water changes you must do. On the tank I mentioned above, I was doing 4 gallon water changes twice a week.
So it is all up to you.
~~Colesea
I have three fish, but I am trying to give away the guppy... The two fish I have are about two inches. yeah, I'd definitely stop at three fish. Just wanted to be sure it wouldn't be extremely overcrowded... if i got a female, what is the liklihood that it would be pregnant? I'm trying NOT to have any babies and overcrowd my tank...
FishQueen.....
I bought 10 ghost shrimp once....
A young female guppy was mixed
in.
A couple months later I had 15
babies...... before you know it...
the female babies were preg.....
So I took the preg guppies and
put in community tank.... l'll let
the tetras take care of the babies
this time! 
I bought 10 ghost shrimp once....
A young female guppy was mixed
in.
A couple months later I had 15
babies...... before you know it...
the female babies were preg.....
So I took the preg guppies and
put in community tank.... l'll let
the tetras take care of the babies
this time!
Bettas have very low metabolisms (asyou can see by watching them), they dont need alot of food to stay alive and happy... on the other hand i had a betta that was a pig...
Well anyway it is normal for a fish to not eat right after he was put in a new envoirment.... give him a few days and he'll start eating. Any pics?
Good luck,
Daniel
Well anyway it is normal for a fish to not eat right after he was put in a new envoirment.... give him a few days and he'll start eating. Any pics?
Good luck,
Daniel