Betta Combined With Other Fish?

[*Fishkies*]

Okay so, so i've been reading up on whether or not to keep other fish with betta's. I've only seen about adding guppies, that is a possibility, but not really. I was just wondering this in general, i'm not thinking about adding anything else with my betta. Because he is happy by himself and having fun exploring his new setup that I was able to buy for him today. So my questions are...

Is there any type of fish out there that can live with or get along well with the betta??

Could cory cats live with him??

 

[sorrow]

Im not one for knowing much about putting other fish with my bettas, but i have put a pleko in there with one, and they seemed fine.

 

[zoekin8yg]

Whatever you do dont add guppies!!!!! The best tank mates are ottos and cories (or dull coloured non agressive non nippy fish if you really want a community). They are a solitary species so they arent bothered by being alone. A group of bottom dwellers looks really good though balances out the tank as the bettas are top level dwellers most of the time.

 

[Jozlyn]

Apparently shrimp are ok, but your Betta might eat them, but then again he may not.

Guppies, Neons, Gouramis are all no-no's. LoL in fact just about all fish are no-no's except for those bottom dwellers that are absolutley placid, not aggressive, could care about no-one else in the world type fish.

Hmmmm maybe snails?

Edit for typo's !

 

[Liam]

My betta lives in a four foot heavily planted tank with dwarf loaches, Brigitte and other micro rasboras, cardinals, cories, amano shrimp, a CAE and SAEs ottos and a pair of blue rams. The betta chases the rams the odd time if they go in his corner but otherwise all is peace and tranquillity. I have always kept male bettas in community tanks, the fish that definitely don’t work with bettas are rummynose tetras neons guppies and dwarf gouramis from my experience. If the tank is big and not too busy and the tankmates are chosen with the betta in mind they can work as community fish but not I think in small tanks.

 

[fiki]

it really all depends on the personality of the betta...

friendly guppies w/ friendly bettas get along perfectly fine. every lfs i go to that puts bettas in their tanks have bettas coexisting w/ guppies

just a sure nono are angelfish... barbs... nipping fish... gouramis... and other aggresive fish...

it really all depends on the betta

imho - guppies are ok... platies... mollies... ottos... bottom dwellers... shrimpies...

 

[fishboy619]

ive found in general guppies and most other livebearers don t make good tank mates.it all depends on your bettas personality but mine have lived well with corys,ottos, cardinals, ADF's, shrimp, and rasboras. they are more but thats all the fish ive had with bettas. females ive found tend to be less agressive and can live hapilly with livebearers and colorful fish.

 

[lljdma06]

Based on what I have done, if I put a betta in a community, it'll be in a community where most of the other species are slower-moving, drab, smaller, shoaling and/or schooling fish. My most successful betta community tanks have featured harlequin rasboras, espei rasboras, hengel rasboras, boraras briggittae, boraras maculatus, etc. Corydoras, again a drab-colored peaceful shoaler, also work well. Otoclinus also worked well for me. I've not tried platies and other livebearers, but since they also tend to be surface dwellers, they may compete with the betta for space, so I've not put them together. I'm sure small loaches would also work well.

 

[dsingleton]

From what I've heard in the past, Betta's can become aggressive towards Guppies with fancy tails. They want to have the fanciest fins. A guy in one of my LFS put it like a comparison between two blokes comparing their 'wangers'.

I've also had bad experience with an overly lively mollie, who chases anything around the tank, not good considering how slow Betta's can be!

 

[mommyof2bettas]

they want to have the fanciest fins

this is not why they hurt guppies, they see the fancy tails and they mistake them for another betta.
I've heard bettas are ok with shrimp, otos, and sometimes corys. It all depends on the betta though. Some bettas are better alone, others are ok with tank mates.

 

[*Fishkies*]

Thanks for all the responses! I'm thinking about possibly looking at cories to keep the bottom of the tank clean.

 

[zoekin8yg]

cories wont eat the algae as far as I know, ottos will though

 

[fishboy619]

more bettas are being bred for their colors and finnage and les for their fighting skills, so now a days, the majority or bettas are pieceful, thats what ive found anyway

 

[Tessla]

What size tank are you using? If it's anything under 5 gallons, adding more fish to "clean" the bottom will do more harm than good. If it's tank cleanup you're after, live plants do a much better job than any fish you could add.

I currently have a five gallon setup with one veiltail and three dwarf corydoras, and a ten gallon with one veiltail, four neons and four kuhli loaches (sandy substrate and lots of hiding places for these guys.) I also have two very friendly, very chubby females in with a kissing gourami, a few loaches and two rescue guppies. My gourami is very shy and my neons don't nip, but I wouldn't try either of them without first knowing the personality of the fish. Tried the guppies with the males briefly and they didn't work out at all. Always make sure that you have enough space in another tank to rehome the betta (or the others) if you're adding new fish and you should be fine.

 

[lljdma06]

What size tank are you using? If it's anything under 5 gallons, adding more fish to "clean" the bottom will do more harm than good. If it's tank cleanup you're after, live plants do a much better job than any fish you could add.

Agreed, especially if the tank is well-maintained and filtered though as a nano keeper, I think experienced fishkeepers specializing in this nitch have already proved successful in keeping certain fish species in tanks smaller than 5g. But, that is not a debate to get into in this thread. Planting is a lovely option, and surprisingly not expensive nor difficult.

llj