Betta Splendens Coexisting?

[itiwhetu]

My little adopted Plakat...Fred...he is really showing his personality now.

Something along the lines of a demented Springer Spaniel x wild Doberman

I go anywhere near to his aquarium and he bounces around and spins about like a totally crazy Springer Spaniel, full on zoomies and being silly

I go to feed him or do any maintenance in his aquarium and he is onto me like lightning...mouthing at me, headbutting me, attacking my hands/arms...you can almost hear him snarling at me

For a fish of under 2" he certainly has an anger management problem...and thats just with me, nevermind any other fish. There is absolutely no way I would trust him with other fish.

So, if you put him in say a 70g and covered the top with Ambulia you don't think he would chill out to the point that you could say have some Black Phantoms under him?

 

[betta4ever!]

My Betta hendra pair live together with no issues in a 6 gallon. And they have cherry shrimp too.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

So, if you put him in say a 70g and covered the top with Ambulia you don't think he would chill out to the point that you could say have some Black Phantoms under him?

No

He is at least 3 years old and uses every inch of his aquarium. There is no way he would tolerate anything. He has a good covering of frogbit and even snails that came with that have been destroyed...actually watched him do so more than once

He is absolutely a one fish = one aquarium beastie

 

[Byron]

Are you saying that in the wild there are no other fish where Bettas live?

This short aryticle should answer your question:

Betta splendens is a solitary fish

Betta splendens seems to live solitary in its natural habitat which is still and sluggish waters, including rice paddies, swamps, roadside ditches, streams and ponds. Such an environment is not conducive to fish that require oxygenated waters so one can expect few if any non-anabantid species to live in such habitats. During the dry season, most bettas are able to bury themselves in the bottom of their dried up habitat. There, they can live in moist cavities until water once again fills the depression during a rainy period. The fish can survive even if thick, clay mud is all that is left of the water. They do not survive total drying out of the bottom (Vierke 1988). There are very few fish species, and none that are found in the same habitats, that can manage life in such conditions, which is further evidence that the B. splendens is most likely a solitary species.

All anabantids are territorial; male bettas instinctively fight each other in defending their territory. Selective breeding over many years has produced fish with a heightened sense of territory defense, which explains the common name of Siamese Fighting Fish. Fish fights for money is a "sport," if you want to use the term for such animal cruelty. This means the bettas we see in stores have an even greater propensity to literally kill each other given the chance. For a fish that instinctively lives alone, and believes it must defend its territory to survive--both traits that are in the genetic blueprint (DNA) for this species--this aggressiveness is likely to extend to any fish that dares enter the betta's territory, which in most cases will be the tank space. And forcing the fish to "live" under such conditions is frankly inhumane.

Individual fish within a species do not always adhere to the "norm" for the species; this is true of all animals, including humans. But with fish, responsible aquarists should research the fish's behaviours, traits, and requirements, and then aim to provide accordingly. "Expectations" are as I said above programmed into the species' DNA, and we are not going to change them just because we may want to have a betta in the tank with "x" fish species. Sometimes the betta seems to co-operate with our experiment, but in many of these situations it may not last for long, eventually if not immediately. Fish that do succumb are likely being severely stressed, unseen to the aquarist until it is too late.

If the betta does not first attack the intruders, the intruders may go after the betta. It is a two-way street, and in either situation it is the betta that loses in the end. Severe stress causing increased aggression, or conversely severe withdrawal from being targeted by the other fish. And physical aggression is not the only concern; fish release pheromones and allomones, chemical communication signals that other fish read, and these can cause stress and promote aggression that will in time weaken the fish to the point of death. There is no reason to risk the fish in one's attempt to prove scientific understanding wrong.

References:

Betta splendens profile on Seriously Fish.com

Hargrove, M. (1999), The Betta: an Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Fish, Howell Book House.

Kottelat, M. (2013) "The fishes of the inland waters of southeast Asia: a catalogue and core bibliography of the fishes known to occur in freshwaters, mangroves and estuaries," Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement No. 27: 1-663.

Tan, H. H. and P. K. L. Ng (2005), "The fighting fishes (Teleostei: Osphronemidae: genus Betta) of Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei," Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement No. 13, pp. 43-99.

Tan, H. H. and P. K. L. Ng (2005), "The labyrinth fishes (Teleostei: Anabanatoidei, Channoidei) of Sumatra, Indonesia," Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement No. 13, pp. 115-138.

Vierke, J. (1988), Bettas, Gouramis, and Other Anabantoids, T.F.H. Publication, Inc.