Acceptable betta tankmates

[iankent]

I only added my fish about 2 weeks ago, but my betta seems to be happy enough with all his new tankmates! Swimming around and exploring He's only little so I'm assuming he's quite a young betta!

At the moment he's living with 6 corydoras, 12 neon tetra, 10 glowlight tetra and 2 african dwarf frogs in a 110L tank - the betta has even joined the cory's in their crazy playful swimming in the stronger currents lol. not really had any problems with fin-nipping (did have one or two little attacks from the neons in the first few days, but nothing serious and it stopped after a day or two). don't know whether its because he's so young but he does seem to get on with everyone else in there!

had seen a few things suggesting showing the betta a mirror - tried it out today and it was the cutest thing I've ever seen lol. my betta swam near the mirror and paused for a second, then swam past it. after a few seconds he seemed to stop, think for a second, then go back and have another look - he kept doing this for a while before looking straight at the mirror and just moving his head from side to side to watch his reflection! he's enjoying it so much i'm even thinking about adding a small mirror to one corner of the tank for him!!

 

[razberri]

I have:

1 male veil tail betta
4 black neon tetras
1 western pygmy perch
2 julii cories
1 mystery snail

The cories and snail I only got today, but my Betta snuck up behind them and kinda stared at them until they realised and swam away. He seems curious but doesn't mind them. EDIT: Betta just tried to eat snail And I think I've finally figured out why they're called "mystery"...

The betta and pygmy perch are best of friends! They swim in the same area sometimes and the perch will actually rub up against the betta and he won't mind! They've been together a few months now and I've only seem pygmy nip the betta once, and I was quite shocked that it happened! It hasn't since.

The black neons - ripped into my Betta for a while I was so upset but as I didn't have a spare tank I thought I'd stick it out a bit and see what happens. Frosty - the betta - started getting quite annoyed and chased the neons a bit when they'd nip. Now they don't dare go near him!!! His fins are healed and it's been a very, very long time since I've seen anyone nip! Frosty does still give a half-hearted chase every now and again to show who's boss though.

Here's my partners experience:

He's had 3 bettas now, the first two died The first got nipped to death by a sucker-fish (NEVER GET ALGAE EATERS WITH BETTAS). The second died of some fungus buildup in his 'cave', or so the pet shop guy said...

The first betta also had 4 cherry (or rosy? I can't remember which) barbs in with him but they were just way too aggressive so they went back to the petshop to be fed to a big fish (my partner really liked his Betta and couldn't forgive the barbs).

Now he has:
1 Betta (male, crown tail)
1 fancy guppy with a nice long flowing tail - unnipped
1 peppered cory
1 neon (who I feel very sorry for and might offer to adopt so he has other tetra friends).

Sounds like it all boils down to the individual fish but as a rule I'd say if you want a bottom feeder, get a cory of some sort. I have yet to hear of anyone have issues with those....

I carefuly inspect my Betta's fins every single day to make sure no nipping is going on. If I ever see a problem (other thanw ith new fish maybe) they will get seperated. I've grown quite attached to my Frosty and pygmy and would never want anything to happen to them!

Oh.. btw.. the black neons chase each other a lot and it looks like they nip but they never tear fins. From what I've read that seems to be a game they play.

 

[kasey69]

Hello! I'm brand new to this forum and hope I am asking this question in the right place...

I recently moved my male crowntail betta from a 5 gallon tank into a 20 gallon tank (my other fish were upgraded to a 50, so the tank became available...). Anyway, Butch has been in his new heated and filtered home, with lots of live plants, for about 2 weeks now and seems happy, but maybe a little lonely. I don't want to know how many fish I can jam into this tank. I just want to know if there are any other fish that could happily share his home. I've heard that catfish or pleco would do alright. Is that true?

Thank you for your help,
kasey

 

[Kets]

Hello! I'm brand new to this forum and hope I am asking this question in the right place...

I recently moved my male crowntail betta from a 5 gallon tank into a 20 gallon tank (my other fish were upgraded to a 50, so the tank became available...). Anyway, Butch has been in his new heated and filtered home, with lots of live plants, for about 2 weeks now and seems happy, but maybe a little lonely. I don't want to know how many fish I can jam into this tank. I just want to know if there are any other fish that could happily share his home. I've heard that catfish or pleco would do alright. Is that true?

Thank you for your help,
kasey

I would think that you would have sufficient room for a school of 6 cories. (I suggest either C. aeneus or C. sterbai as they can tolerate the high temperatures that bettas like)

 

[Peto]

Woha!

Hello there, people.

I just went through this thread and all my planning has collapsed . Now, this is what I pretended in a 84 l tank:

Betta Splendens 1
Colisa Lalia 4
Aphyosemion Australe8
Otocinclus Afinis 2

I was only worried about the killis , but now I am getting worried about myself. As far as I understand from what I have read, the Betta will kill anything alive, provided they are in the right (or wrong) mood and this cannot be foretold because it comes to depend on the betta's personality.

So, am I planing just a "risky" fishtank or a killing zone?

Thanks, guys.

 

[rdd1952]

All bettas act differently. Some do fine in with other fish while others don't. The biggest potential problem is when you put them in with fancy-finned fish like guppies and angels that they can mistake for another betta. I don't keep bettas or gouramis but since the gouramis are also bubble-nesters, I would think the potential is there for problems too. Try posting in the regular Betta section (this is the FAQ section and very little traffic in here) for more replies.

 

[Peto]

All bettas act differently. Some do fine in with other fish while others don't. The biggest potential problem is when you put them in with fancy-finned fish like guppies and angels that they can mistake for another betta. I don't keep bettas or gouramis but since the gouramis are also bubble-nesters, I would think the potential is there for problems too. Try posting in the regular Betta section (this is the FAQ section and very little traffic in here) for more replies.

Thanks!

 

[millie1]

mine lives happily with clown loach, Black knife ghostfish (or is that the other way round lol), plecs - hes a male and absolutely loves living in that tank - he will even feed from my hand (bloodworms) and is a happy fishie lol

 

[mollymae12]

Really great info. Thanks!

 

[killudead]

My betta lives with the following company in a 75 gallon tank.
I need to update my journal actually....

2 red wag platy
1 sun burst platy
1 blue ram
5 neon tetras
3 black tetras
2 rummy nose fish
3 black phantoms
1 cory cat
5 amano shrimp
2 crystal red shrimp
2 bumble bee goby's


they are small fish right now.
the betta is the king pin, with the sunburst platy and cory cat right behind.
all the rest are half their size
Wow, now that i count them, thats alot of fish.. hmm.. better stop buying for now.

 

[aimsley_87]

My male Betta is a very aggressive fellow and is currently trying to kill my guppies (have been seperated). He only fights with them at night time, is this a normal Betta thing?
I also have 7 neon tetras and so far they all seem fine with Midnight(my Betta), a bristlenose Pleco, which couldnt care less about Midnight and 2 apple snails which also dont seem bothered by his presence.
My question is:
Can i keep mollies in a tank with Midnight? Is this advisable? He seems quite aggressive to the guppies and im wondering would he be the same with mollies? What other fish can i keep him with as i would like to add to the tank but obviously i need to be careful with what i put in.
Thanks.
Aimsley.

 

[knig6]

Never put a betta with a fancy fish, i accidently letted 1 of my comet goldfish be in the tank with my male betta, it big it fin then there was alot of water, so i broke it up and putted the comet in with the other comet,

(reason why 1 of the commet was with the betta because i thought he will feel more friendly, cause he distacted from all the other comets)

 

[pippoodle]

my betta lives with

reticulated corys
javanese rice fish
pygmy corys
shrimps and snails - though he doesn;t like the snails and knocks them off the glass and plays with them all the time

 

[Platygirl11]

Planning on getting a new tank for my current community, so.
1. How many female bettas could I put in a 10 gal tank?
2. Could I put any african dwarf frogs in?
3. What about a 20 or 30 gal tank?
Hypothetically, of course.

 

[Dragonslady]

I have been keeping my male betta in a 5gal with three pygmy corys and an oto. They all seem to be fine together since everyone except the betta is dully colored, small, and fast.

So far, the betta seems little more than slightly confused and interested in the corys. I'm not sure if he's registering the oto at all!