[OrkyBetta]

Hey wuv, you still want to pin this? It's ok I forgot about it too.

[FalconStorm]

For those of you wondering about apple snails vs. mystery snails, I had it explained to me this way. They are the same species. The difference is that the mystery snails are the wild type, while the apple snails have been bred to have several different color shells. Beyond that, there is no difference and they can breed together. Good luck figuring out which ones are male and which are female, though. *grin*

[SRC]

I think onle female bettas should be kept together in a "community". Otherwise you are just waiting on the inevitable to happen. Eventually your betta or other tank mates are going to have a bad day..and someone is going to end up on the wrong end of the stick.

Better to me to just not risk it. I just let my bettas see each otehr for about an hour a day..after that they are usually tired of being in each others face and prefer to retire to a leaf and chill out for a while.


Good thread though .

[OrkyBetta]

Thanks for all of the awesome input. I agree, SRC I wouldn't ever chance my bettas with ANYTHING. They live alone, but can see eachother through the holes in the background paper dividers on occasion, so they aren't bored. But some people want to keep bettas with other things, so they might as well know what will work, and what will cause you to have dead fish in a matter of hours.

[Saucy]

I really don't know how I missed this thread the first time... I'll have to disagree with you, Wuv. 15 girls is too many for a 20. There's the rule of 1" of fish per gallon of water. Girls like to have thier territory. The odds of getting 15 girls that will get along perfectly is slim to none. I have a 20 gallon high which holds 7 girls, 2 white tip tetras (only because they came with the tank), a small spotted cory and a clown pleco. Honestly, I would only think about putting one more female betta in there. I'm probably going to get rid of the tetras when I'm done quarantining my neon lite tetras.

And yes, no more than 6 in a 10-gallon, no less than 4. It really just depends on your females, I guess. I have one who's quite the alpha female. And I have another that just sits in the shadows in the back of the tank.

Anywho, back to the actual topic at hand. Ok, good tankmates... peaceful tetras (white tip, neon lite, etc), cories, small plecos, some mollies. Nothing aggressive or with flowy tails. Honestly, girl bettas are just like middle school girls. Fine one moment and freaking out the next.

[hello kitty]

pjfish, on Jun 26 2005, 04:02 AM, said:

hello kitty, on Jun 25 2005, 09:11 PM, said:

Mariah, on Jun 25 2005, 10:07 PM, said:

hello kitty, on Jun 25 2005, 09:04 PM, said:

my bettas fine in my community, my black neons have never bothered him they stay away!

Is your betta male or female and what else do you have in your community?
Thanks

hes male veil tail, have in 1 gold gourami 6 black neons, 1 veil tail bristlenose 3 panda corys, and 1 rtbs and 1 silver shark, both to be moved when they grow. ive never had any probs with rocky the betta in this community

How long have you had your betta with the black neons? About a week ago, I put 3 black neons with a male betta in a 20-gallon tank. So far, the betta and black neons seem to ignore each other. I only tried 3 black neons because I spent an hour and that's all I could catch in another tank. I'd like to put in more black neons, but I was wondering if it would work long term before I spent another hour trying to catch some more. Therefore, I'm real interested in your experience.

about a month, they are fine with each other

[eudielynn]

After yesterday I don't believe there is any foolproof tankmate for a betta. Booker had been in his community tank for almost 2 months when he attacked and killed my golden gourami and my female guppy last night. (See my BE WARNED post) PLEASE, anyone, if you don't want your other fish to die, take your betta out of community tanks. I'd hate for anyone else to go through this, and I'd hate for anymore fish to die because, "they've been fine together so far."

Edited for spelling -

This post has been edited by eudielynn: 28 June 2005 - 05:15 PM

[OrkyBetta]

Actually, I have found a foolproof tankmate, ANY freshwater fish can be put with a betta...just make sure you put dividers in the tank first!

[tacofrano]

whould a guppy be ok to go in with an extremly stupid betta?(stupid in a good way like whouldent harm a fly)

[oneponygirl]

Guppies aren't a good idea because of their colors and fins. It's best to have something dull colored ... and fast.

[OrkyBetta]

Dull colored and fast...hmm, that sounds like a danio I've never heard if danios are OK with bettas, but IMO, if in doubt, leave it out.

[daudy_dojo]

some one said that these are the only excepted tank mates for bettas:

Quote

African Dwarf Frog
Bala Shark
Cherry Barb
Clown Loach
Cory Cats (Corydoras)
Cardinal/Neon Tetra
Guppy
Ghost Shrimp  Mollies
Platies
Plecostomus

Snails (one per tank)
Swordtails
White Cloud Minnow
Zebra Danio

[OrkyBetta]

Well, IMO, I wouldn't put a lot of those things with a betta. Actually, I don't put ANYTHING with bettas. And I won't. I'm not one to gamble. But it CAN be done if you are super careful.

[daudy_dojo]

bala sharks get HUGE!!! so who ever it was (cant member) that said that is S-T-O-O-P-I-D

[FishEnthusiast]

daudy_dojo, on Jun 29 2005, 03:07 AM, said:

bala sharks get HUGE!!! so who ever it was (cant member) that said that is S-T-O-O-P-I-D

All I am going to say to this is that is really not a nice thing to say about anyone. I don't know enough about balas and how they interact with a betta, so I will not comment about their compatiablility. However, if you read the list, almost at the bottom it says a betta can be kept with a Plecostomus. I believe this to be true because pleco's are very dull in colouring, are bottom feeders and pretty much keep to themselves. They get huge too. I don't think it has so much to do with the size of the fish, but more to do with the fishes attitude and how they would interact with a betta.

Personally I would not keep a betta with anything except adf's. And even then it would depend on the temperment of the betta. They have been bred to be loner fish, so that is what I do, I keep them alone.

[daudy_dojo]

bala sharks are agressive though... and plecos arent!! (well some)

[FishEnthusiast]

That is fine. And a valid reason to say balas and bettas should not be kept together. Your original argument was they get huge. You then insulted someone. IMO that is wrong and uncalled for. As what I am thinking is totally off topic, I am going to stop typing.

[Kiarra]

One thing about White Clouds, though, is that they are coolwater fish, and shouldn't be kept above 75 degrees (that's the high range for their safe zone). So, if a person wanted to keep them with Bettas, the compromise would have to be 75 degrees, which isn't bad for the Betta, and isn't bad for the Clouds.

Balas are much too large, and much too aggressive, to be kept with Bettas.

Barbs and Tetras are BIG no-nos (too nippy).

Guppies, Mollies, Swordtails, and Platies simply DO NOT work in the long run. They either nip, or get nipped on.

Ghost Shrimp get eaten joyfully.

Snails sometimes get eaten, depending on type.

[OrkyBetta]

Bumped, because someone asked me to find it.

[aloaring]

You forgotten to mention algae eatting fish in this article i've always had male bettas with either Dwarf plecs or otos and they get along great. And i've never found a snail to be messy just got to watch that the bettas don't start taking chunks out for them.
And i've always had females in a community tank at the moment my four female bettas live great with 5 sparkling gourami and 6 ghost shrimp but i have supplied them lots of plants to hide in. i've found shrimp to be far to fast for bettas to bother with.
You said its unnatural for females to be in a community tank but being in any tank is goign to unnatural and i'm sure inthe wild female bettas don't hang out together!!