Can I Put Betta With My Other Fish

[Matty P]

bettas long flowing fins would make it a target.

adding a betta to a tank full of barbs would lead to a betta death, even with the nicest of barbs.

This is somewhat of a blanket statement. I am willing to bet that there are some people who have successfully kept tiger barbs with bettas.

It certainly isn't recommended but can be done.

Many people say you can't keep bettas with guppies, yet I have never had any issues with such a combination. Just because something doesn't usually work, doesn't mean it will never work.

That is a good point Andy, it really just depends on the personalities of the fish you own.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

On the other hand though Andy, its all about the risk factor involved. Keeping brightly coloured male guppys with a male betta is a high risk combination, just as putting a betta in tiger barb tank is- you may have been one of the few people to get such a combo to work, however because of the risk factor is not not an adviseable thing. Afterall, do you really want to put your fish at risk when for so many people it has been well proven and documented that such fish stocking combo's are very risky?


Right now Grimmy has two types of fish which will both outgrow his tank and both have the potential to make a betta's and each others lives a misery, if i were him, i would not even be considering getting new fish, but rather concentrating on saving up money for the 18inch high and 3ft long tank minimum his barbs and angels are going to need .

 

[Aurora]

I have a 5 gal with a dark blue male betta and a pineapple sword male. The color contrast it great and they get along fine.......been buddies for almost a year. I also have a blue male betta with a female platy in a 5 gal and again no problems for several months now. I have also had a male sword, male betta, and female platy in a 10 gal and they got along great. I just have to make sure my betta gets his pellets before i put in the flakes for the other guys.

 

[grimmy]

thats why im cycling a 50 gallon

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I have a 5 gal with a dark blue male betta and a pineapple sword male. The color contrast it great and they get along fine.......been buddies for almost a year. I also have a blue male betta with a female platy in a 5 gal and again no problems for several months now. I have also had a male sword, male betta, and female platy in a 10 gal and they got along great. I just have to make sure my betta gets his pellets before i put in the flakes for the other guys.

Swordtails in my opinion grow too larger for a 5gallon tank as they will grow to 3-4inchs long given the space, you are also neglecting the needs of your platys and swords as far as their own kind goes, as they are sociable fish and do best in carefully stocked numbers of each gender and do best in at least trio's of their own kind etc. So although the betta may not be attacking your livebearers, the livebearers are not really suited to your tanks as they currently are stocked either way.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

thats why im cycling a 50 gallon

If so i would put the betta in the 10gal once you have cycled your 50gal and move the tigers and angels into the 50gal, and then just revolve a fish stocking more suited to a betta in a 10gal.

Ideally though, male bettas tend to thrive best on their own as they are solitary fish by nature and can easily get stressed out by other fish, they are slow swimmers and not competetive quick eaters so easily get out-competed at feeding time in community tanks, while on the other hand they can be agressive and tempermental towards other fish, but at the same time they are prone to getting picked on by other fish because of their selectively bred overly long flowing fins slowing them down all the time making them easy targets etc etc.

 

[grimmy]

ok

 

[andywg]

On the other hand though Andy, its all about the risk factor involved. Keeping brightly coloured male guppys with a male betta is a high risk combination, just as putting a betta in tiger barb tank is- you may have been one of the few people to get such a combo to work, however because of the risk factor is not not an adviseable thing. Afterall, do you really want to put your fish at risk when for so many people it has been well proven and documented that such fish stocking combo's are very risky?

I see little risk with bettas and guppies. At least 4 times with different bettas and guppies in different tanks I have had bettas in with guppies and never seen a single problem. While I respect the views and experiences of others, I value the experience that I know I have viewed with my own eyes above anecdotes from others.

Many on this forum will trot out the "don't mix guppies and betas" line without any experience of keeping the two together, but because a couple of people say it is bad.

Right now Grimmy has two types of fish which will both outgrow his tank and both have the potential to make a betta's and each others lives a misery, if i were him, i would not even be considering getting new fish, but rather concentrating on saving up money for the 18inch high and 3ft long tank minimum his barbs and angels are going to need .

Indeed, though you may notice that I was not responding to the OP, but rather to someone who seemed confident enough to accurately predict 100% of the time the outcome of putting a betta in with tiger barbs.

Ideally though, male bettas tend to thrive best on their own as they are solitary fish by nature and can easily get stressed out by other fish, they are slow swimmers and not competetive quick eaters so easily get out-competed at feeding time in community tanks, while on the other hand they can be agressive and tempermental towards other fish, but at the same time they are prone to getting picked on by other fish because of their selectively bred overly long flowing fins slowing them down all the time making them easy targets etc etc.

Really? All of mine were the first ones to get the food once it was dropped in, outcompeting a rosey barb, dawn tetras and guppies to the point of pushing them out of the way. I often think I must keep completely different fish to everone else when I read how they are described on this forum.

 

[starrynightxxi]

must be the case, andy

I had a betta with neon tetras, which is also considered a bad idea because they can be nippy and are colorful, and they never once went after one another. The tetras definately outcompeted him for food though. I had to seperate them in the end to prevent him from starving.

There are bettas that defy the "rules", of course. There are people in the betta forum keeping bettas with inadvisable stocking and it does work, there have been stories of bettas that would purposefully swim in the filter current, and, when I first joined, there was someone keeping male and female bettas together - though he had a large heavily planted tank.

Grimmy - I don't think you should put a betta in your tank because you are already overstocked. When your big tank is cycled and you've moved those fish over, though, I see no reason why you couldn't put a betta in the ten gallon. After that you can stock other fish depending on your betta's personality. Always be ready to seperate if you need to, though, whether that means returning fish to the store, or removing the betta to a different container.

 

[grimmy]

must be the case, andy

I had a betta with neon tetras, which is also considered a bad idea because they can be nippy and are colorful, and they never once went after one another. The tetras definately outcompeted him for food though. I had to seperate them in the end to prevent him from starving.

There are bettas that defy the "rules", of course. There are people in the betta forum keeping bettas with inadvisable stocking and it does work, there have been stories of bettas that would purposefully swim in the filter current, and, when I first joined, there was someone keeping male and female bettas together - though he had a large heavily planted tank.

Grimmy - I don't think you should put a betta in your tank because you are already overstocked. When your big tank is cycled and you've moved those fish over, though, I see no reason why you couldn't put a betta in the ten gallon. After that you can stock other fish depending on your betta's personality. Always be ready to seperate if you need to, though, whether that means returning fish to the store, or removing the betta to a different container.

ok will do thanks