Betta Tank Question?

[Tiikeria]

Hello, I'm new to owning fish, but, a few months ago I bought a male crowntail betta. He is now in a tank in my dorm room, but I was hoping to get a bigger tank for my home, but I was curious as to what fish would go well with a betta?

The tank my beta is in right now is a TopFin 2 gallon tank, with an air filter. I would be hoping to get a 10 gallon for home. So, my question is what kind of fish go well, how many should I get to keep them happy, and what other info should I know about the species?

I'm considering neon tetras and zebrafish with my betta. Good idea?

 

[aakaakaak]

From bettafish.com:

-What fish can I keep my betta with?
Any fish that is tropical, is not nippy, and does not have long fins. Bettas are very slow fish and should not be housed with fish like Male Guppies, Tiger Barbs, Angelfish, Goldfish, and most Minnows. You can also keep ADF’s, some shrimp, or snails all depending on the personality of your betta. Bettas do best with peaceful bottom dwellers and/or inverts.

 

[achase]

I wouldn't suggest neon tetras or zebra fish (danios?) for a betta.
I agree with the statement above that bettas do best and should be kept with ADF (aquatic dwarf frogs), shrimp, otos (possibly) or snails. They have tendency to get aggressive or stressed with other fish.

 

[Onyx!]

Hmm... now granted I am not an expert but every time I've had a community tank set up I've included a betta. The only time I've ever had a problem, personally was with male guppies and bettas - the guppies were nipping my betta's tail really badly so I had to remove him.

Currently I have a male betta in my community tank that includes zebra danios, platys and a female guppy and her variously aged fry. They all get along... well, swimmingly, if you'll padon the pun. If I drop a sinking shrimp pellet in, my betta will catch it and then carry it around the tank like a dog with a bone, with the other fish nibbling bites off it right out of his mouth, lol!

However, about half the bettas I've had have been short tailed, as is the one I have now, so I'm not sure if that makes a difference as far as other fish being inclined to nip fins. I have actually never had any aggression going the other way - bettas attacking or showing aggression to other fish in the tank.

I think a lot depends on the personality of the individual fish you have. So, how adventurous you want to get depends on how easily you can re-home your current fish if it turns out that they don't get along with the betta after all.

 

[achase]

What is size your setup?
I do agree that certain individual betta's can be in community tank but like you said one has to be prepared to re-home the betta if anything negative occurs.

 

[betta lover22]

I keep mine with white cloud minnows. They are doing very well together. I am also keeping 1 of mine with cardinal tetras, and know people who have theirs with neon tetras. It depends on your betta.

 

[Tiikeria]

The max setup I could have would be a 10 gallon tank. I would also love to have a couple types of fish.

I also saw that cory cats were a good match, too, as they were bottom feeder, is this true?

I do have another tank I can put him in if he has a negative reaction to a community setting. I'm just very interested in starting a bigger tank, as I have found watching fish is very calming. I just have found contradicting things about what fish are the best matches though my research.

 

[achase]

I don't think 10 gallons is really enough space to keep a school of tetra's anyways but I could be wrong. I think bottom dwellers would be fine with a betta. I have always kept my betta's alone and enjoyed them all the same but it's up to you.

Bass needs to stop by this thread and comment!

 

[Tiikeria]

Most places I have found said tetras would be alright in a minimum of 10 gallons, and that they were okay with bettas, though, however, I am now leaning towards corys and possibly white clouds.

Though I'll take any advice, as I am pretty much fish illiterate, I'm learning as I research.

 

[betta lover22]

Wanted to add: Some people have had a harder time with theese fish. You really need to make sure that they are doing well, and if not- be able to seperate them. I think they would be fine in ten gallons. I have also heard minimum of 10 gallons.

 

[achase]

You could try it but just be prepared to re-home fish or fish deaths (not saying they will die but anything can happen). It's good your doing research!!
Keeping betta's in community tanks is pretty controversial and you will find people supporting both sides. In the end it's your choice! Do what you feel comfortable with.

 

[skjl47]

Hello: I've kept bettas and seem to recall that they like water temps in the upper 70's and low 80's. It seems that I have read that white clouds are more comfortable at lower temps, say lower 70's to high 60's. A search can verify this I guess.
I also recall thinking that bettas do better with a tight enough cover that will keep the air over their tank warm and moist. It came to mind, but I do not know if it is something I picked up along the way or just a notion developed on my own. The working theory will be that when they come to the surface the get a gulp of air that warm moist air is better than cold dry air. Most modern commercially available covers provide a tight fit anyway.

 

[achase]

I have never heard of breathing warm moist air to be better but that doesn't mean it isn't true.

I know that betta's should have lids since they like to jump and a heater because they are tropical fish.

 

[Meleemaker]

I have never heard of breathing warm moist air to be better but that doesn't mean it isn't true.

I know that betta's should have lids since they like to jump and a heater because they are tropical fish.

That is correct, bettas need lids because they had a tendency to go airborn and commit bettacide. I lost two females this way(out of a 55 gal tank with the opening the size of a deck of cards). And as for the breathing warm moist air, it is completely and 100% true. Betta are labryth fish. They have an organ in their body to take oxygen from the surface because their native waters are very shallow in most situations and depleted of oxygen. You should a tightly covered tank with bettas to keep the heat and oxygen in the air for them especially during the winter months when it tends to be dry and cold as the cold air will destroy the labrynth. Much like we get pneumonia, fish can contract diseases from the cold air. So it is accurate to say they need warm moist air.


As for housing multiple fish with bettas, betta fish are VERY tempramental. They all have thier own personality. I have had some males be completely okay with having eachother in the same tank and enjoy eachothers company without and fin nipping and carnage. I have had other males that can not be kept together with ANYTHING as they will go after anything alive in their tank(shrimp, frogs, and even a pleco). The same goes for females.

If you insist on adding them, I would go with fewer fish, maybe a pleco or a couple shrimp or froggies. A half dozen shrimp and a full grown male would be enough for a 10 gallon tank. And if you insist on fish, stay away from nippers, aggressive, and gourami fish. I wish you the best of luck

I have kepted bettas a while and know them quite well.

 

[bassbonediva]

I am staunchly against male bettas in community tanks. I tried it once and it ended very poorly for the betta (he was literally stressed to death).

Also, as Melee said, bettas and white clouds have different temperature requirements. I have white clouds in my 46gal bowfront and they love it when the temperature is around 65-68F. My bettas are quite unhappy if the temperature dips below 78F. Also, white clouds are WAY too active for a 10gal, as are most tetras. You'd be better off going with something like galaxy rasbora (celestial pearl danios) or some other microrasbora for a 10gal. If you do cories, the only kind that would work in a 10gal would be pygmy cories. All the others get too big (at least 2") and are too active for a 10gal. Basically, you're severely limited on what kind of fish you can keep in a 10gal, period.

 

[achase]

What about a shrimp, ADF (aquatic dwarf frog) and betta combination?

 

[bassbonediva]

As long as you don't care if you lose some shrimp, they'd be fine.

As for the ADFs (actually stands for AFRICAN dwarf frog ), I wouldn't do them in anything other than a species-only tank. They are difficult to feed (require being target fed most of the time) and I would be worried about the betta out-competing the ADF for food. That's just my opinion on that one, though. Some people have had success with that combo.

 

[achase]

Lol! ADF stands for African dwarf frog....good to know!! Not going to lie I like ADF standing for aquatic dwarf frog better but that's just me!
I have never kept the combination myself but I kept seeing members on this forum doing the setup so I assumed it was relatively successful. Do betta's attack shrimp? I never realized ADF's were difficult to feed. Are they somewhat blind or have a bad sense of smell?

 

[bassbonediva]

Bettas are carnivores, and as such will try to eat anything smaller than them that they can. So, shrimp (unless they're ghost shrimp, but they're just evil) are naturally a target.

And ADFs have very poor vision, so if you don't target-feed them, the chances of the betta snatching the food before the ADF can get it are very high.

 

[achase]

I should have assumed betta's as carnivore might attack shrimp. Lol! I have a puffer for heaven sakes! Thanks for answering my question though, Bass.